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lllilji'lllllllli i 



RAISING ORCHIDS 



FROM SEED 



SHiK'c Quarntdinr ■'>? hamd (i)tr<ti\(( of on hid pJimls I'nnn tdnifin 

 raiDitrifs, (hr riiisliu/ of fh( phuits from srrds Ixis Ix i ii oth m j)i( d Ini uiiinn 

 (/rowers. Muvh V(duablc adricr to ihrsr ('jp( rum iit( r^ is i/imi in this 

 iirticic bij one who has Ion<j experience and iride Imowledije of tin siihjtrt. 



UK :u-tio)i (if tho Federal 



THoilieultural Board in 

 piittinj^ Quarantine .'57 in 

 t<ircc was a hard blow to 

 tlir Ameriean orchid in- 

 dustry. Wliothor, as one 

 of tlie lioard 's apologists 

 6 B) (^ stated at a iiostoii meeting 

 ^"^ J| wlien l)eing severely eriti- 

 ei/.ed, this quarantine has 

 Ik'cu enacted "to stay in foree for- 

 ever" is open to serious doubts. The 

 lioard lias to date been unable to prove 

 that inijiorted orchids have been the 

 carriers of any dangerous pests or dis- 

 eases. It is true that the board has 

 jirepared a list of insects detected on 

 iin|iorted orchids, but the most import- 

 ant of these are cockroaches, mealy bug, 

 cattleya lly, orchid midge, hemispherical 

 scale and others which are in many 

 cases peculiar to (ir(diids. Since these 

 were here, in a number of cases, before 

 any orchids were imported, are not 

 major pests and do not 

 damage our farms, gardens, 

 (irchards an<l woodlands, it 

 would seem that the coni- 

 jilete shutting out of or- 

 chids is a narrow |Hilicy, 

 not t(i be defemled nor 

 pcitn.-i ncnt ly cnut inueil. 



The compl(>te stoppage 

 of imports, however, has 

 given something of an im- 

 petus to iir<-liid hybridi/a- 

 tidu and >eedlin;; rai'-ing. 

 In this licid America has ^^d 

 fai' been siniiulariy back- 

 \\:iicl ;:iicl thi' i|uarantine 

 ha^ pi rfoiincd two good 

 p n I- p II V (■ s : First, it has 

 I auyht ;^r(iwii- tn t a k e 

 ^icatcr ciirc dt' tlic [dant- 

 tliev lia\c and, secdud, it has 

 (■ncour;ii:ei| them tn embark 

 ill sriMllin;; lai-^in;;. 



Economy Taught. 



It is ;i I: ct lnyciLd iplcv 

 ti(in that when c;ittley;is 

 and other ]to])ular cut flower 

 nicliids could be imported 

 ad libitum, too many grow 

 crs thought it necessary to 

 buy fresh plants e\ciy sea- 

 son or two, flower these for 

 a t'cw ye;trs and then dis- 

 i-ard tliem. The large coni- 

 mer<-ial growers uei'e the 

 bigfiest sinners in this re 

 spect, and tliey have lieen 

 taught a. salut;iry lesscui. A 

 number of them are now 

 <'mbarked in the seedling 

 business, and, furthermore, 



By W. N. CRAIG. 



they are taking much greater care of 

 tiu' standard cattleyas they own. 



There are great possibilities in orchid 

 hybridization. Already many thousands 

 of crosses have been made and llowereil, 

 and the naming of tlu^ bigeneric, tri- 

 generic and other hybiids has become so 

 intricate and complex that few, even 

 of the experts, can determine the gen- 

 ealogy of some of them. Many of 

 these hybrids are wonderfully beautiful, 

 others the reverse. Some arc lusty 

 growers and floriferous, others just as 

 frail and shy-blooming. Everything de- 

 jiends upon the vigor of the parents. 



Hybrids vs. Forest Species. 



Whether hybrids will in time disjilace 

 the forest species as cut flowers in our 

 markets is doubtful. If the bars stay 

 down they may eventually do so, but 

 as yet for size, substance, color, form 



Our Doors Are Now Shut Against Foreign Orchid Plants. 



and other all-;iround cpi.-ijit ies. sucfi 

 species as iabiata, Trian.e, Mossite, 

 Mendelii, gigas, Caskelliinia, Schroederar 

 and Percivalianit still hold tiie center of 

 the .stage. There is this to be said for 

 hybrids, that manv ot' them bloom 

 when there is a marked si-;,rcity of tht: 

 forest species, that some will give two 

 crops of flowers a year and tiiat they 

 seem to thrive better without the rest- 

 ing jieriod usually considered necessary 

 for the im[iorte(l species. 



Orchid hybridization commenced some 

 seventy years ago, wlien .1. Dominy. with 

 the noted liritish firm of .Fames Veitch 

 \- Sons, introduced it. His first hvbrid, 

 <'a!ant!ie Doniiuyi, flowered in IS.'G. This 

 pioneer hybridist gave us in all twenty- 

 live hybrids, his last and best. I.a-lio- 

 c;ittley;i Domiiiiana, flowering in 1S7S. 

 He was followed by .bdin Sedeii and a 

 small army of amateur and commercial 

 hybridizers in Great Britain, on the 

 Kurope;iu continent and in America. 

 l»eterr<'Mts to (iri-hi(i hybrid 

 i/'llidll li;n-e been tlie.long 

 tillli' lietweell ^ced sowin<'' 



and llouering. it used to 

 t,-il<e I we|\-e to I u ,. II t y 

 yi;irs, but I ills IS now mucb 

 ledllced. I li:i\e MoWered 

 c-:it tley,-i si-,.,||iii_i^ ill ilir(.e 



to I'olir \e;irs. .-iliii while 



sonic may not Mdoiii i'dr 

 eieht or ten years, a large 

 |i|op(-rt i(]ii <-a n be rel ieil upon 

 !o (Id -d ill |i\,- (,r ^jx vi'ar-- 

 w ii li nidrirrn met hods. Hut 

 this ii^ itsel i' IS a |oi|d- wa it 

 \\ i t lidin any ret urn on i-api 

 'a! diillav. Tlii- ili-terrent 



i~ beilld d\ ,| , nine ill S(,me 

 nieaslllr |,v dtTelin;; nil- 

 lld\\,re,| seeiilinu- dl' the 



vaiidus ,-|-i,s>r-., and thi^ 

 pla II will li,'i\ e Id In' ;Hiopte({ 

 t'l allow the raisers to re;i- 

 li/e some! li iiig oil t lieir long- 

 time ill/est nielit s. 



Selecting Seed-Bearers. 



I n s,.li.,-t iii^' seed Ilea I iiid; 

 pi; Ills, rejei-t those i,\' weak 

 idiisl il III ion or feeble 

 loaltli. The str.ain of liiir- 

 t i tii-at ion is ,a se\ ere one :i nd 

 e\ iMi st iird\' pl.-ini s sntTer 

 t'lom it ;ni.| need i-aret'ul 

 Ireatlllellt t lierea I'tel'. Also 

 ,i;i\e rarel'ul foret lonigli I to 

 I lie select idll dl' \ a I iet les. 1 n 



A nierica tlie ra isiii;; of cat 

 t leyasseemsot greatest com- 

 mercial importan<-e, as they 

 are the or(diids par excel- 

 lence in our markets. la 



