28 ORCHID HYBRIDS. 



A Word to the Orchid Committee of the 

 Royal Hort. Soc. of London. 



It is to that body of men that we have to look for en- 

 forcement of rules which may be adopted and endorsed 

 by the orchid-growing fraternity. If you can agree 

 upon a line of proceeding, subject to it every hybrid 

 which may come before you for judgment. It must be 

 hard for a grower, after having raised a hybrid Cattleya 

 in years of care and watchfulness, and glorying over it 

 at the time of flowering by attaching his illustrious 

 initials to it, to be told then in cold language, that such 

 plums have been picked long before he got to the top. 

 But law is law, even if applied to such nonentity as the 

 boldest of the gorgeous orchid hybrids. It also should 

 be remembered that when a name has been attached to 

 a plant once, it has claim to existence, if it be only 

 under the obscuring cover of synonymy. If you cannot 

 relieve us from the Oregon boot we drag about already 

 now, at least avoid adding to its burden; 



A Word to the Raisers of Orchid Hybrids. 



The first orchid hybrids were raised in the early six- 

 ties, and they were but scattered pioneers of the army 

 which has been following their appearance in endless 

 number ever since. The hybrids of Cypripedia only, 

 that is to say the actual crosses perfected (not to count 

 the aggregate numbers of seedlings raised), has reached 

 the embarrassing number of one thousand. If it was 

 nothing but the idea of perfecting a cross between 

 orchids which induced the patrons of those nestors 

 among the multitude to raise that advance-guard, the 

 .appearance of Selenipedium Sedenii taught us at once 



