38 THE ORCHID REVIEW. 
THE RAISING OF ORCHID SEEDLINGS. 
By R. EICHEL, Bradford. 
Tue fascinating hobby of “ Orchidlore,” the raising of Orchids from seed, 
has a great deal of pleasure as well as many disappointments, though a 
certain amount of pecuniary interest may be derived from this source, if 
carried out in a proper systematical manner. The fertilising organs of an 
Orchid flower have been fully described in previous pages of the Orchid 
Review (vol. Il., p. 50), and it is needless to recapitulate the process ; 
one thing, however, I wish to emphasise and point out to the intending 
operator, namely, that he should pause a moment and well consider the 
possible chances of his labours before proceeding to hybridize. Several 
exhaustive lists of the existing garden hybrids have been published, and 
these should be consulted and act as a guide. The blending of colours, 
the shape of flowers, increased floriferousness, are matters of no small 
consideration. The cardinal point, however, is the selection of seed 
parents, plants of robust health, which will stand the strain of seed- 
bearing and produce good seed. Experienced hybridizers will know the 
difficulty encountered with some plants which do not produce good seed, in 
spite of unremitting trouble and care. The published lists will again act 
as a guide as to those which it is best to select as seed-bearers; such plants 
as have previously acted in the same capacity, and of which I intend 
publishing a list later on. 
Cypripediums are easily raised from seed, as proved by the numerous 
crosses effected by various raisers; Dendrobiums also have enriched our 
collections by numerous crosses, and some varieties appear to have been 
raised with good success; while Cattleya and Lelia seedlings have not 
been raised so numerously, owing, perhaps, to being very subject to decay 
when in a thalloid state. The least success has been achieved with 
Odontoglossums, which have baffled the skill and ingenuity of the most 
experienced growers. 
It is most essential to keep a proper record of all the crosses effected, 
and for this purpose a book should be kept, each page being ruled into six 
columns, the first column indicating the number of the cross effected, the 
second one for the name of the parents, the third for the date when the 
cross was effected, the fourth for the date when the seed germinated, the 
fifth for the date when the seedlings were pricked off or potted, the sixth for 
general remarks as to quality of parents, &c. As soon as the flower is 
fertilised a corresponding number should be attached ; and for this purpose 
small celluloid labels (§ x } of an inch) can be highly recommended as 
neat and indestructible, as when attached to the stalk of the flower with 
thin copper wire they will last for years. 
