EXPORT OF ORCHIDS.

Clutha Leader, Volume XXXV, Issue 2125, 26 January 1909, Page 7

EXPORT OF ORCHIDS.

There is much activity in the orchid exporting business of Brazil, and the United States has a great portion of the increased business. So far there has been no great volume of exports of live plants of various sorts from Brazil, although there is a constant but small business in the export of young palms and palm seeds.

In the line of orchids there are a number of firms operating in the several coast ports of the country, buying plants as they may be secured in the interior and selling them as opportunity offers, generally at the present time on a commission and consignment basis. From time to time several of such firms send men into the interior to secure specimens, but at present most of the goods are coming down to the coast apparently as a result of previous work on the part of the hunters. One of the leading American houses making a specialty of orchids has had a man in the interior ranging over a wide stretch of country. His work has been very successful, and the shir-

One of the leading American houses making a specialty of orchids has had a man in the interior ranging over a wide stretch of country. His work has been very successful, and the shipments of his goods account for much of the increase now noted. Most of the orchids taken in the past have been shipped to England, where there ore a number of great houses doing a world-wide business in such plants alone. The increased interest in them in the United States has followed largely from European interest. While the plants are somewhat difficult to handle with safety in a commercial way, there is comparatively little loss from damage in transit. There are something over 6000 varieties of orchids recognised and described by the authorities in the botanical gardens of Rio de Janeiro.