THE EMPIRE OF THE ORCHIDS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1942, 7 February 1889, Page 10

THE EMPIRE OF THE ORCHIDS.

An Houn in thb St. Aluans Ohchid HoUstes. The case of Sander v. the Duche&s of Montroßo has suddenly brought additional fame and glory to the already famous order of the orebidacete, the Uncanny, beautiful flowers which are the pets of the aristocracy and of Joseph, the pride of gardeners and nurserymen, and the adoration of slugs and insects of many kinds. In order to inspect the place where the recent battle of the orchids had its origin,, and to learn, if possible, some details of the cultivation of orchids from the best source obtainable, our representative went down to St. Albans, where Mr Sander, the largest orchid grower in the world, has his stately dwelling and his five acres of; glass densely filled with countless orchids, some dormant, some just beginning to shoot, and some in all the glory of their delicate bloom. Our representative writes:— Truly, it is worth, while going to St. Albans in order to see an English home of orchids. The sight is unique, more marvellous than all others. Some of them, shaped exactly like some bird or insect, seem to uaifc only for a snip of the scissors to separate them from the plant and make them take to the wing. This is not the tithe of the year when orchids are generally in bloom, but even now a bouquet of orchids such as was presented to me by my courteous guide after my visit to St. Albans presents a marvellous sight. Well might the Duchess wish to have some coloured orchids among the 1000 guineas worth of white ones ! The colouring is simply perfect. There is not a harsh, loud colour among all the host of blossoms, but everywhere, in infinite variety of shade, the softest, loveliest tints of pinks and reds, and greens and browns and yellows, of blues and creams and purples, and sometimes a tiny blossom contains all the different colours, which are so exquisitely dispersed, so perfectly graduated, that there is never a discord in this harmony of Southern bloom. Wr Sander himself was away in town, but after waiting for a few moments in the oakpanelled hall, one of whose many ornaments is the stand and vase in which, on Jubilee Day, the Queen's magnificent bouquet of orchids stood at Buckingham Palace, and which has been presented to Mr Sander, one of the employes of the establishment was introduced to me, wb.o, with infinite patience, wandered with me from bouse to house, discussing orchids, and giving me tbe names of many of the various plants which ate specially interesting for one reason or another. I knew them all as I went out, although even at the time of my guide's instructions I eagerly clutched at such names as "butterfly orchid/ "swan,*' "lady's slipper," which seemed so much more telling than Cypripedium insigne, or Calanthe Sandriana, or even Aganisia e&ralea, although the cserulea threw a | ray of light on the lovely little skyblue thing I which is so rare a species. Sometimes we stopped, and I was told of this or that characteristic of orchids, of the sturdy column in the centre of the flower, of the propagation of the plant from the tiny, sawdust-like seeds, which is a tedious process, requiring in some cases 10 years before the first bloom appears ; of the manner of obtaining new varieties by putting the pollen of one species into the blossom of another, and then cultivating the seeds of the inoculated flower. As I said, I knew all the botanical names yesterday, but to-day they mean nothing to me but a confused mass of meaningless sounds, and I must leave their interpretation to other pens, and bo satisfied with f piling of such things which my lay mind was ablo to retain. One of her Grace of Montrose's complaints •<vas, I believe, that Mr Sander's charges for rockeries were abnormal ; but if he knows how to rhargp ho certainly knows how to make refcories, for our way to the empire of the orchids lay through a rockery which might have been taken out of some fairy palace for its exquisite beauty and perfection. After its winding paths have been traversed a door is opened, •»md the largest glasshouse in the kingdom (300 ft by 24ft it measures) is entered, filled everywhere

with the orchids, and orchids only, which, not being in bloom, are by no means an attractive j sight. They are like so many email cactus j plants, stiff and straight and ugly. i " Where do they all come from ? " I asked, as we Walked along the narrow path between the stands. " All in this room are from Mexico, where the cooler kinds flourish. Those requiring a higher temperature come from South America, from parts of India, and from all parts of the extreme East. .Jin the lower Mexican districts are grown a good many of those requiring a higher temperature than there is in this room, but all these are what we call • cool' orchids." " And how do yon obtain them ? " " We have collectors in all parts of the world, who either find them or buy them from the natives; but the natives everywhere have grown very sharp and cunning, and will no longer sell them at low prices as they used to do, but they begin to know the value of an orchid as well as we do ourselves, and will have their fall price for them.'* 11 How are they imported ?" n They are, as a rule, taken from the rocks or trees to whioh they cling while they are dormant—that .is to eay> during the time of apparent inactivity, which occurs after each bloom and lasts for about three months. They are then packed into boxes just as,they are and "sent off to us. When they arrive here they look all alike, and we cannot tell by the plant what tbe bloom will be like. They are hung up leaves downward till we can plant them, and they are then put into pots filled with fibrous peat and moss, if they are epiphytal or aerial plants, which most orchids are j iE they are terrestrial, we add a little earth. In their native countries they take their nourishment from the hot moist air, but we have no means of charging the air as completely with moisture as the plants require, and they are therefore occasionally syringed." Added to this, I should bere point out, they feed on the ammonia rising from layers of dry leaves put on shelves below where the orchids stand; lam not sure but that they take ammonia as a cure for headaches, from which they must often su&er in that hot air filled with the heavy fragrance exhaled by its occupants. "Which is the best blooming time of the orchids?" " May, June, and July, when our houses ere j one mass of colour, but it depends on the time , at which they are planted.'? " And is tbe flower as ephemeral as one might imagine by the fragility of most of the blossoms ? " " No, no, you must not imagine that. Most orchids look only well when they are in bloom, but their flowering season is very long, A few of them last; only a fortnight, but the great bulk flower for a month at the very least; a good many last as long as four months,' and a few indeed flower six months." " They are, of course, all perennials ? " " Yes, all of them; but the bulb which has produced flowers daring one season does not flower again, but from its base grows another bulb from which first the leaves and then the flower are developed." "But tell me, please, how you know what flowers a plant will hare if they are all alike when you pot them ?" " Thete io nd way of knowing that. We have simply to wait till the plants flower, after which they can be classed. Sometimes, but that is now rarely the case, we find a new species which wo have not had before. In that case the blossom is sent to Professor Reichenbatfh at Hamburg, who is tho greatest living authority on orchids, and who classes it and tells us the name. Wo may get a magnificent flower, worth 200 guineas, from a plant, or we may only get one which is worth 55." "How many different varieties of orchids might there bo on these premises ? " 11 We have over 1000 varieties, but there are altogether some 1700 which have been introduced into Europe." "Apropos of prices, aro they really as outrageous as they are generally supposed to be ? " " No, decidedly not. The roots, as they are imported, may be bought at 5s a-piece, and nobody knows whether they will not produce a flower which is worth 60 guineas any day. But of course the prices vary, according to colour* ingj shapes size, &o. The largest are not always the dearest, as is seen by the Lycasta Skinneraj for instantses which ia a native of Guatemala." With this my guide pointed to a splendid large flower, magnificently shaded in daintiest pinks* and which looked less ethereal than most of its companions. " If the blossom is pink, a plant may be had for 7s Od j if it is pure white, its price runs up to 50 guineas and more. It is the BRme with many others. The prices of orchids are not determined by any certain rules, although the rarest ate naturally the dearest, and those that are cultivated without any special difficulties are least expensive. We have, for instance, the Dendrobium nobila, which is sold at 3s 6d the plant, and from that price they run up to 200 guineas." " Then It does not, after all, require any special exertion on the part of the orchid grower to stock one wing of a conservatory with plants to the valne of 1000 guineas without unduly crowd* ing the place ? " " Not at all, but 1000 guineas make a good show all the same." I heard much more about orchids as we went along, now admiring a blossom which was like a great brilliant butterfly, oT like a giant spider, a miniature swan, a great speckled beetle; some were sweet as roses, others had the fragrance of honey, and others, again, had no perfume at all. They were very fair, but to me one spray of heather from au English moor or common, whish every child may pick, and which drinks in tbe fresh air of the hills, is made strong and beautiful by the wind and the sun, and has its roots and derives its food from our own plain soil, seemed worth all the orchids in the world, j —Pall Mall Gazette. ' j

The German Club celebrated the Kaiser's birthday by a dinner at Auckland on Monday night. Amongst the guests were a number of officers from the warship Eber. " Rottqh on Catarbh " corrects offensive odours at once. Complete cure of worst chronic cases; also unequal as gargle for diphtheria, sore throat, foul breath. The pianos seized by the Customs Auckland were sold at auction on Thursday, realising 700. The Government's profit is estimated at £150. "Rough on Rats."—Clears out rate, mice, roaches, flies, ants, bed-bugs, beetlef, insects, skunks, jack rabbits, sparrows, gophers. At chemists and druggists. On the 24th ult, the novel sight was seen in Auckland ©f parties of British, German, and Russian men-of-warsmen on liberty ashore together. " Rottgh on Itch."—" Rough on Itch " cares skin humours, eruptions, riHg worm, tetter, salt rheum, frosted feet, chilblains, itch, ivy poisoi* barbers' itch. The Wellington College Governors have appointed Mr James Bee, of the school at Hooper's Inlet, Otago, mathematical and ( soience master at Wellington College.