40 THE ORCHID REVIEW. 
P. x Arthurianum (32) x Spicerianum = x Minos. 
P. X ,, pulchellum (3) x a de: x Alonzo. 
Pek = (3) x Leeanum a x Mary Lee. 
(The first and second columns give the two parents, and the third the 
resulting hybrids. The Fairrieanum hybrids are placed in the first column, 
and the signs “9 ,’ “ 3,” following the names, indicate respectively 
whether they were used as seed or pollen parent.) 
Considering the difficulty of propagating P. Fairrieanum by division, 
and the comparative ease with which seedlings of other kinds can be raised, 
it has been suggested that attempts should be made to increase it by seed. 
Of course, there is the risk of seed-bearing to be considered, and, if a 
perfectly natural, it is sometimes a weakening process. There is the record 
of the late Mr. John C. Bowring, that in attempting to obtain a capsule he 
had lost, among others, ‘‘a good plant of the rare Cypripedium Fair- 
rieanum ” (ante, vi. p. 70). If this was in some hybridization experiment, 
as the context suggests, the risk might have been avoided by making the 
other species the seed bearer. But this is only possible in the case of 
hybrid seeds. We should like to know if an attempt to raise true seeds of 
this species has been made by anyone, and with proper care we do not see 
why a reasonably strong plant should succumb under the process. It would, 
however, be wise to secure a duplicate plant before making the experiment. 
Another very interesting experiment which might be tried is that of 
eliminating the non-Fairrieanum blood from any of its hybrids by. repeated 
crossings with Fairrieanum pollen. Let us suppose that the hybrid “ Niobe 
x Fairrieanum” has really flowered, and we will call it x. Now suppose * 
X Fairrieanum = y, and y X Fairrieanum = z, the hybrid z would be 
composed of Fairrieanum blood fifteenth-sixteenths, and Spicerianum blood 
one-sixteenth, and would in all probability so closely resemble Fairrieanum 
as to pass for a form of it. Any Fairrieanum hybrid would serve to com- 
mence with, and one might soon get a form very similar to the type, with 
an improved constitution. The rarity of this cherished species is really due 
to its weak constitution, and the difficulty of propagating it. Its hybrids 
soon increase by division, as do also the allied species, and it would be 
interesting to hear of anyone who has overcome the difficulty, and to know 
how they treat it. 
Since the above was written we have found a note, stating that four 
flowering examples of P. Fairrieanum were exhibited at a meeting of the 
Société Nationale d’ Horticulture de France, at Paris, on October 12th last, 
by M. Opoix, of Luxembourg. The plants are described as being in perfect 
health, and worth more than their weight in gold, even including the pots- 
A First-class Certificate was awarded, with the warmest congratulations of 
the Committee.—Le Jardin, 1899, p. 319. 
