OCR Text |
Show ORCHID COLLECTING. I M VTEUlt orchid collectors nnd cultlvntorr Rwere aroused to a high stnte of enthusiasm re cently over the report that the owner of a rar. white orchid has refused an offer cf a veri large amount for the floral curiosity. Orchid collecting and cultivating, both as a fad and as j m business, have grown to large proportions in the last few years, and. as few persons realize the hardship H attendant upon the collection of these lloral gems, it fa interesting to know that the natives of Brazil some times travel sixty or seventy miles, suffering all tth hardships of a Journey over wild country, to dellve H to the collectors a rare and valuable nlaut In the Brazilian Stnte of Pernambuco orchid co' ' le.-tlug has developed into a large Industry whicf affords employment to many foreigners as well a natives. From there orchids are either shipped dlrec to foreign ports or are sent to coast firms which act ui agents for business houses nil over the world. ) Among the many specimens gathered there are the , H I'nttleyas lublata, leopoldil, guttata and granulosa. H Besides these, other species well represented are tin H BnNinstonia fragrnns. Oncidium devarlcatlum. Ou- cidium gravesianlum aud the MIKonln spectabllis mo- H relana. The fiowers of almost all of these are spec- taeular. and some of them are remarkably beautiful, H but for market purposes only the Cattleyas have any H Importance, and of these the lablatns are the most pro- H fuse and give the greatest return. They are the large H lipped tlarlng flowers of mauve and pink, centred M with magenta and yellow, that have become in tlie M last few yenrs a feature of floral decoration for the M home. They generally grow three, four and live M blooms on a stalk, aud their delicious fragrance greatly M resembles tlie scent of lilacs. Of these Pernambuco H exports more than 17,000 eight leaved plants a season, j H The plants are gathered at three central points J H Carunra, Gambhuns and Timbnuba. Bepresentatives M from business firms and individual collectors who jtfl pursue the study of the orchid as a hobby visit the 1 M country and announce they are ready to purchase, j H The news soon spreads, nnd it Is not an unusual sight M to. see poor peasants carrying one or two plants, to- H gethor with goatskin or corn for the market, who have M travelled miles, bargaining with an agent H "Tlie plants are immediately sorted according to H qunlltv aud the number of leaves lu good condition. m The lablatns having less than eight leaves are dia- H carded, as they aro too small for profitable shipment, v )jH Plants of eight leaves arc received In great quantities vH nnd are paid for at the rate of about ten cents eaclL H There Is a graduating scale of prices, the plants with , H fifteen, twenty, thirty leaves aud up commanding , f m higher prices. H Itocently nu extraordinary plant was brought In vH whlcli had more than two hundred leaves, and a col- "kH lector bought this ;at a great bargain, paying only H about five dollars fq'r it This plant sold In the United H States for many time its purchase price. It was -iH taken to the market strung on a pole carried by three B men. who said they had travelled more than fifty jH miles. ,' vH -An excecHllngly rave but occasionally found plant is 1 the, Cuttieyu llbiatja alba. It Is a diseased plant. H whqgc exquisite blconi is snow white. Vroperly- "M p;ipkel. orchids will Man.! from forty to fifty days' jH confinement and remain lu a healthy condition. H ' H |