THE PROGfKESS OF OKCHID CULTURE IN AMERICA. 127 



their own conntiy, have never been successfully crossed, and we 

 have no artificial hybrids in this large section of the Orchid fam- 

 il}'. The hybrid orchids which have been produced by artificial 

 fecundation, and which have been put into commerce so far, or 

 named, number about eighty-eight, and they are divided nearly 

 as follows : Ansectochilus, one ; Calanthe, five ; Cattleya, seven- 

 teen ; Ch3'sis, two ; Goodyera, two ; Dendrobium, eight ; Cypripe- 

 dium, thirty-nine ; Loelia, eight ; Masdevallia, two ; Phaius, two ; 

 Thunia, one ; Zygopetalum, two. It will be noticed that the most 

 numerous progeny of the hybridizer's skill are among the Cypripe- 

 diums, and next among the Cattle3'as. There is every reason to 

 believe that sooner or later crosses will be made among the 

 Odontoglossums, the Phaltenopsids, and other genera which have 

 hitherto failed to produce seed, or whose seed when produced has 

 failed to germinate. One of the reasons given for failures to get 

 good seed in England is the absence of strong sunlight ; and, as 

 we have ample quantities of almost tropical sunlight in this 

 country, there is ground for hoping that hybridizers on this side of 

 the water ma}" succeed in making crosses which have not hitlierto 

 been accomplished ; though whether the patience necessary for the 

 subsequent development of the seed into growth, and the plant into 

 maturity, is possessed by our horticulturists, remains to be proved. 



In summing up the general results of orchid-raising from seed, 

 with its attendant care, watchfulness, an"d long waiting, it may be. 

 questioned whether it will ever prove in the popular sense a- 

 profitable undertaking : more probably we must depend for our 

 supplies upon Nature's own handiwork amidst the forests of the 

 tropics, where orchids are at home. 



It is but a few years ago that the great family of Orchids, with 

 its members represented in nearly if not quite all the temperate as 

 well as the tropical countries of the world, was comparatively un- 

 known among the flower growers and flower lovers of the United 

 States ; and even at the present time the great mass of intelligent 

 people have but a vague and indefinite idea of the habits and won- 

 derful variations of this family of plants ; and of its startling 

 eccentricities of growth and flower. This is not more remarkable, 

 however, than the superficial knowledge of the mass of people con- 

 cerning the more common flowers ; which, indigenous to their own 

 State or County, and springing up under their very feet, are rarely 

 known by name or regarded with more than passing interest. It 



