SEPTEMBER, 1917.] THE ORCHID REVIEW. 203 
Bese GERMINATING CATTLEYA SEEDS. [| 2aay35 
ITH respect to the article in your August issue on Germinating 
Cattleya seeds (p. 189), I would suggest that our Japanese friend 
should sow his seeds on the compost in which other Cattleyas are 
growing, provided, of course, that it is in good condition. I have had 
some good results by this method. The watering question is the difficulty, 
as the minute seeds are so easily washed away. The surface may be kept 
moist by means of a sprayer, and when the compost beneath becomes dry 
partial dipping may be resorted to, the pot being immersed up to a little 
below the rim for a short time. It would be interesting to know the 
conditions under which the seeds were sown, and particularly what other 
plants are grown in the house, for without knowing something about these 
it is difficult to suggest a possible cause of failure. The great thing is to 
have the conditions right. J. T. Barker. 
The historical side of the question is interesting in this connection, and 
we may recall some of the early experiences of Messrs. Veitch, the pioneers 
of Orchid hybridisation, as given in a paper read by Mr. Harry J. Veitch 
(now Sir Harry) at the Orchid Conference held at South Kensington in 
1885 (Journ. Roy. Hort. Soc., viil. pp. 22-36, with numerous figures). He 
remarked :— 
It was Mr. John Harris, a surgeon, of Exeter, who ead to 
Dominy the possibility of muling Orchids, and who pointed out to him the 
reproductive organs seated in the column, and showed that the application 
of the pollinia to the stigmatic surface was analogous to the dusting of the 
stigma of other flowers with pollen. This simple fact being once fairly 
grasped the work of hybridisation proceeded apace. The flowers of showy 
species of Cattleya, Lelia, Calanthe, &c., were fertilised with the pollinia 
of other species, and even the flowers of supposed different, but of course 
allied, genera were also operated upon in the same way. Capsules were 
produced in abundance, which in due course proved their maturity by 
dehiscing, and thus the long and anxiously desired seed was at length at 
hand. Then arose a great difficulty, a difficulty which still exists, and 
which our long experience has enabled us to make only a short step 
towards overcoming, to discover the most suitable method of raising 
the seedlings. 
The seeds of Orchids are minute chaffy bodies of extreme lightness. 
So minute are they that an ordinary pocket lens is powerless to enable one 
to know whether the seeds are likely to contain a germ or are mere lifeless 
dust. When growing wild, it is evident that the contents of the mature 
