HYBRIDISING AND RAISING ORCHID SEEDLINGS. _ xxxvii. 
that is to say the embryo has not developed. The presence or absence of 
an embryo can be ascertained with certainty if the lens is sufficiently 
powerful. In the latter case the chaff may be thrown away at once, but in 
doing this one should be careful to see that a// the seed is bad, for occasion- 
ally a few good seeds will be present amongst a multitude of chaff (generally 
near the apex of the capsule), and these might be easily overlooked. It 
should be remembered that any good seeds are likely to fall first, so that it 
is possible to see very quickly whether any good seeds are present, and 
proceed accordingly. It is useless to sow a lot of chaff, and if that can be 
left behind so much the better, for one can seldom deal with the whole, so. 
numerous are the seeds in acapsule. If most of them appear good one need 
not trouble about separating the chaff. It is scarcely necessary to add that 
the number on the capsule should be preserved, and that any necessary 
entry should be made in the record book. 
SOWING THE SEED will be the next stage of the process, and this too is 
best done outside the house, because the minute seeds are so easily blown 
about by light currents of air, and germinate where not wanted to. In 
most cases the seed, or some of it, is best sown at once, though if the 
capsules ripen in late autumn or winter they may be kept in paper in a dry 
place until the days begin to lengthen, so that when they begin to germinate 
circumstances may be favourable to their development. A label should be 
added containing the number. 
WHERE TO Sow.—The old custom was to sow the seed on the parent 
plant, or on some adjacent one that will not require to be disturbed for 
some time, and for Cypripedes and terrestrial Orchids generally, also for 
Odontoglossums this plan is still the best. Care should be taken to choose 
a plant that will not want potting for some time, and one where the com- 
post is in a healthy condition. The plant should be removed to the shed, 
and the seeds sprinkled thinly over the compost, after which a label should 
be inserted containing the number of the cross. A light sprinkling with a 
sprayer should now be given to settle the seeds, after which the plant may 
be returned to the house. When once the seed has been sown the compost 
must never be allowed to become dry, or the young embryo will shrivel and 
quickly die. 
Epipuytic Orcuips.—In the case of certain epiphytic Orchids, par- 
ticularly those of the Cattleya group, another method of sowing is now 
generally adopted. Blocks of soft wood (both pine and willow have been 
recommended) are cut across the grain with a rough saw into thin blocks, 
which are placed on a layer of crocks in a smallish pot, and the seeds are 
sown on the rough surface of the wood. The blocks are sunk below the 
rim of the pot, which is then covered with a piece of glass, and the seeds 
kept constantly moist, by the use of a sprayer as often as necessary. 
