ORCHIDS 



Hybridisation. 



gardeners in private establishments have hkewise taken up 

 the work in such earnest that there is scarcely an 

 establishment in this countrj' in wliich Orchids are appre- 

 ciated that does not contain seedlings of some of the 

 different genera. Continental and American horticulturists 

 have also developed the work successful 1}'. 



There are many in the past who have hesitated and 

 delayed experimenting in raising seedlings. One of the 

 principal reasons for this dela\' has been the common 

 but erroneous notion that it takes practicall}- a lifetime 

 before the plants raised from seed may be induced to 

 flower. True, it has taken over twenty years in the 

 bygone days to induce jjlants to flower, but it must not 

 be overlooked that present-da}- horticulturists have man}- 

 facilities afforded that were not \'OUchsafed to our fore- 

 fathers; and with the more advanced knowledge to assist 

 us, we are enabled to considerably shorten the time that 

 elapses between the sowing of the seed and the flowering 

 of the plants. 



The writer of these notes has been successful in flowering 

 plants in a little over two \-ears from the time of sowing 

 the seed, and there are \-er\- few indeed of the large famil}' 

 of Orchids which, with proper treatment, would require 

 more than five or six years to reach the flo«-cring stage. 

 The injury caused to plants used for hybridisation purposes 

 has also worked prejudicially against the general spread 

 of hybridisation. There is no denj-ing that "in many cases 

 the strain of fructification does considerably distress the 

 plants, and it frequently takes two or three years for plants 

 so affected to regain their normal conditions ; but surely if 

 a crop of seedlings are procured there is ample repaj-ment 

 for the sacrifice of the mother-plant. The more general 

 practice of hybridisation is sufficient to indicate that most 

 of the prejudices against it are now being overcome. 



Selecting Plants. 



The chief thing to be considered in the selection of the 

 seed-bearing parent is general good health and condition. 

 One cannot expect to procure satisfactor)- seeds from 

 plants having weakly constitutions, or that are in a con- 

 dition that they are unable to retain their seed-pods for 



