JuLy, 1911] THE ORCHID REVIEW. 195 
ORCHID HYBRIDISATION; 
AT the last meeting of the Orchid Committee of the German Horticultural 
Society (Deutsche Gartenbau Gesellschaft) a discussion about Orchid- 
raising took place in reference to the new book of Dr. Burgeff, The raising 
of tropical Orchids from seed. 
In the opinion of Professor Dr. N. Witt only the best plants of an 
importation ought to be chosen and fertilized amongst themselves, so as. 
to obtain home-raised seedlings (not hybrids) of the best possible type, 
The raising of hybrids, in his opinion, has outlived itself. Generally he 
has had no good experience with hybridising. 
Mr. Beyrodt expresses a similar opinion, remarking that secondary 
hybrids, especially, have often disappointed him. This continual inter- 
crossing, in his opinion, will probably come to an end. 
Mr. Janke, too, has often had little satisfaction with crosses, and he 
specially complains about difficulties in the germination of the seeds. 
Prof. Dr. Witt mentions several hybrids which flowered in different 
years with different, partly very poor, flowers. In one year they resembled 
more their father, in another more their mother. One only succeeds in 
raising Orchid albinos if one hybridises two individuals of the same species. 
In crossing albinos of different species the seedlings mostly turn out to be 
coloured, often darker than the non-albino progenitors. 
Mr. Beyrodt gives examples from his experience, that hybrids are often 
‘less beautiful than their parents. Thus crosses of Cypripedium insigne 
Sanderianum X C. insigne prove to be inferior to ordinary C. insigne. 
This is extracted from the official report of the last meeting of the 
Orchid Committee, published in the Orchis, the German Orchid 
paper, but, in my opinion, bad experiences with hybrids can, as a rule, be 
put down to the choice of worthless or unsuitable parents. On the other 
hand, one cannot expect to obtain showy flowers from parents which may 
.be botanically interesting, but are neither attractive in form, colour, nor 
size. Most of the above-mentioned opinions are contrary to my personal 
experience, and do not agree with the observations made by other Orchid- 
raisers. Especially I cannot agree that we have arrived at the end of 
‘hybridisation. On the contrary, in my opinion, we are at the beginning of 
a most interesting and instructive development, which, in some of the 
secondary hybrids, has brought us descendants surpassing in beauty all their 
ancestors, and, in the future, may bring us more magnificent surprises. 
“It would be very interesting to hear the opinion of your readers, as 
England, so far, is the country with the greatest knowledge of Orchid 
culture, and is playing the leading part in hybridisation. 
ey ’ C.F. Kartuavs. 
