Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1916-04-20
ORCHIDS CHOICE FLOWERS.
Only One Species Useful but Beauty of
ThOvSandS PIcnses.

Ask the average man if he ever tasted
the fruit of an orchid and the chances
are perhaps thousand to one that he
will repy-no. But he has-at least if
he is a normal man and eats ice cream
and cake From which statement il
may be inferred that the fruit alluded
to is not eaten like an apple, peach, or
pear but is consumed in the form of a
flavorng extract. Exactly; and it is
an extract that is one of the most widely
known and generally used in the world
vanilla. Which goes to show that most
of us are not Of very inquiring turn
Of mind after all-especialy when it
comes to things of almost daily use, and
even in regard to things We eat,
Naturally orchids are not usually
thought of in connection with things
edible. They are not expected to serve
in unitarian capacity. They appeal
| not to the gastronomic but to the aesthet-
| ic sides of the human individual, and
| are priced chiefly for their beauty and
| in some instances particularly because
of their rarity. Anything that is beau
tiful and at the same time rare and hard
| to get is certain to be wanted-whether
| II is useful or not, a characteristic
| which is touched upon in an article in
| the March number Of the Bulletin of
the Pan American Union Washington,
d. CD by Edward Albes. in which he
| introduces his subject, "Orchids in the
Americas" as follows:
| A thing of beauty that is rare and diff
| ficult to obtain seems ever to have
proved an Irresistible lure to adventur-
| Gus man. To possess 1t he will suffer
the hardships of the highest mountain
| climb, risk the almost certain dan
| gers OF disease in tropc zones; he Will
dare death at the hands of savage enc
mics ana pursue his quest far into the
regions OF unknown wilds. Now into
the depths OF shark-infested seas he
dives with the hope OF securing a
lustrous pearl; then to the topmost
Alpine peak he climbs for a rare speci-
men OF the edcweiss. \ glittcring jewel
in an idols head may tempt him to IN
wade the sacred precincts of an Indian
| temple, or beautiful flower lure nm
far into the prlmeval forests of Brazil
Colombia or Peru. To this spirit or OAR
ing and adventure the civilized world
owes not only its greatest geographic
discoveries and important additions to
| scientific knowledge but to 1t is also
! largely due the discovery OF many OF
natures choicest things of beauty,
things whose practical value may be but
slight but whose appeal is To the artistic
| and aesthetic sense. Among all the
| things of fragile beauty that nature has
produced perhaps none has greater charm
and is more highly priced than that
| radiant gorgeous flower of rainbow
colors and softened shades and tints and
infinitely varies forms-the orchid. For
it's rarer species men have travelled far,
suffered much, and often died; and yet
in it's commoner forms few flowers are
more widely scattered throughout the
| world"
| Whereupon he enters into an account
of where they grow, how they grow,
how the flowers are fertili2ed by GER
| tain insects the peculiar structure of
the flowers, and numerous other phases
| OF orchidology of more or less in
teresting character. One of the most
striking facts, however in connection
with this tremendously large order of
plants is that although there are no less
than 1900 different species, belongings
to something over 400 genera, there is
but one genus that has known practical
value, and concerning this genus Vanilla
the article states:
"Of this genus there are but few
tant Is vanilla planlfolia, from which
the vanilla beans of commerce are deriv-
ed. The genus is native in the warmer