Norwich bulletin., 1916-04-22
oRcHIDs-THE WORLDS
 CHOICEST FLOWERS
Thousands of Species 8eautifuI-only One Really Useful-We Eat Its Fruit.

Ask the average man If he ever ,tnsted the fruit of an orchid and the are perhaps a thousand to one that he will reply-no. But he haS-at least if he is a normal man and eats ice cream and cake. From which statement it 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 fiavoring extract. Exactly: and it is an extract
 that is one of the most widely known and generally used in the world-va-
 nilla- Which goes to show that most
 of us are not Of n very inquiring turn
 Of mind after all-especially when il
 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 a utilitarian capacity. They ap-
 peal not to the CastronomiC but to the
 asSthetic side of tho human individ
 ual, and are prized chiefly for their
 beauty and in some instances partic-
 ular1y because of their rarity. Any thing that is beautiful and at the same
 time rare and. hard 10 get is certain
 to be wanted-whc:her it is useful or
 not, a characteristic r-hich Is touched upon in an article in the March num- Der cf the Bullstin of tho Pan Amer ican Union CWashin-ton. D. e. by
 Edward Albes, in which he introduces 1 his subject, "Orchids in the Ameri- cas-" as follows:
 "A thing of beauty that is rare and difficult to obtain seems ever to have proved an irresistible lure to adven- turous man. To possess it he will sIrf- | fer tho hardships of the highest noun | tain climb, or risk the almost cer- | tain dangers of disease in tropic zones; he will dare death at the hands | Of savage enemies and 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 top-moSt Alpine peak he climbs for a rare specimen of the edelweiss. A glittering jewel in an idols head may tempt him to invade the sacred precincts of an Indian temple, or a beautiful flower lure him far into the | primeval forests of Brazil, Colombia or Peru. To this spirit of daring and adventure the civilized world owes net only its greatest geographic dis ! coverics and important additions to | scientific knowledge but to 1t is also | largely due the discovery of many of | things whose practical value may be | but slight but who 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 prized than that radiant. gOrg- | eous flower of rainbow colors and I softened shades and tints and infin- | itely varies forms-the orchid. For | its rarer species men have travelled
 far. suffered much, and often died. and | yet in its Commoner forms few flow
 CTS are more widely scattered through out the world"
 | Whereupon he enters into an ac- count of where they grow, how they | grow, how the flowers are fertilized | by certain insects, the peculiar struc. ture of the flowers, and numerous ether phases of orchidolOgy of a mort 1 or less interesting character. Ont
 of the most striking facts, however
 in connection with this tremendousll
 large order of plants Is that although
 there are no less than 15,0O0 differen
 species, belonging to something owe
 400 genera, there is but one genus tha