Grae ORCHID REVIEW: 
VOL, 3X] JUNE, to912. [No, 234. 
OUR NOTE BOOK. 
THE event of the month is the long anticipated Royal International 
Horticultural Exhibition, which at the moment of writing is in progress in 
the grounds of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea. The Orchids—with which 
alone we are concerned—are by common consent the great feature of the 
exhibition, the magnificent group staged by Sir George L. Holford, to which 
His Majesty the King’s Cup was awarded, as the most meritorious exhibit 
in the Show, never having been equalled anywhere. The extensive groups 
staged by Messrs. Charlesworth & Co., and by Messrs. Sander & Sons, are 
an advance of anything before attempted by them, and other trade firms 
made a special effort to eclipse their previous records. The competitive 
groups staged by F. M. Ogilvie, Esq., and Sir Jeremiah Colman, were also 
superb, and a few very choice groups came from abroad, the result being 
such a display as has never before been seen at any exhibition. 
There is nothing with which it can be compared except the Temple 
Shows of recent years, for the Orchid Conference of 1885, which produced 
such a fine display, is too remote, and a world of progress has been made 
since the last great International Exhibition was held in London in 1866— 
forty-six years ago. Hybridisation was then in its infancy; and the 
number of hybrid Orchids that had flowered could almost have been counted 
on the fingers of both hands. Incredible as it may seem, the first hybrid 
Cypripedium had not then reached the flowering stage. To-day we are in 
the Hybrid Age, and a glance round the Exhibition will show how much we 
owe to the persistent efforts of the hybridist ; in fact, in some of the more 
popular genera the hybrids far outnumber the species. Such progress has 
well been termed a revolution, and wé may cite an example in Odonto- 
glossum, which for so, long defled the efforts of the hybridist, while the 
union of Odontoglossum with Cochlioda has given in the hybrid genus 
Odontioda a new and brilliant race to our gardens., The latter were 
represented literally in hundreds, and no more striking horticultural 
development has been witnessed during recent years. 
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