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Orchids grow wild in parts of the tropics, but cultivating them under glass at a California farm is a task requiring skill and patience, for it takes nearly five years for a plant to mature from the seed and only about one seed in a million produces blossoms. The flowers will remain fresh and colorful for three weeks to three months, if left on the plant, and from ten days to two months in water after cutting. Healthy plants can be counted on to live for fifty to 100 years if properly tended. How successful cultivation has reduced prices is shown in the case of one variety that formerly sold for $1,250 a plant. It can now be purchased for $15. The California producers are trying to grow and orchid twelve inches across.

 

Firing a railroad locomotive stands fifth among the most dangerous American occupations in a table prepared by the labor bureau. The percentage of deaths from accidents among this class of workers is 43.6, while that of the highest, drivers in coal mines, is 82.1 per cent. Powder makers are second and railroad brakemen and electric linemen third and fourth.

