SEPTEMBER, 1906. | THE ORCHID REVIEW. 263. 
and sown in a sterilised tube, on a suitable nourishing medium, the spores. 
developed freely. They could be transplanted from tube to tube without 
losing their power to grow. He had pure cultures of spores living after 
four years, without their having been replaced on the Orchids. He had 
found three species of these Orchid fungi, but he had not yet named them. 
Although the fungi could live away from their host-plants, the Orchids. 
themselves required the presence of their guests for their own development. 
He had sown the seeds of numerous Orchids aseptically, with every 
precaution, but the grains had not germinated freely, and their growth was 
insignificant. On the other hand, if spores of the appropiate fungus were 
sown with the Orchid seeds, they commenced to germinate almost 
immediately in a very regular manner. With the fungi which he possessed 
he had obtained not only the germination of Cattleya and of Cypripedium, 
but also the germination of species of Odontoglossum, Phalaenopsis and 
Vanda, which were regarded by practical men as more difficult. In 
Nature, or in the glasshouse, the same thing took place as in the culture 
tubes. He had examined a large number of young Orchids which had 
germinated in very varying conditions, and he had always noticed that they 
were invaded by the fungus from the beginning of their life. The Orchids 
were therefore practically dependent upon their parasitic fungi, since they 
did not grow without them. One of the greatest difficulties was to procure 
the fungus suitable for each kind of Orchid. As a rule he used the fungus 
collected from the roots of an Orchid of the same species, or of one nearly 
allied to that which bore the seeds. That was the best rule he could give, 
but it might not be an absolutely sure one. Making all reserve necessary 
in a subject so complex, he believed it was possible that the mere change 
of the fungus might result in a variation of the species of Orchid in question. 
The extension of the researches would possibly one day indicate to practical 
experimenters new ways in the rational methods of culture of a large 
number of plants, as Orchids were not by any means the only plants which 
lived in association with fungi. 
Various other papers followed, including one on “The application of 
Mendel’s Laws to the Improvement of Cultivated Plants,” by Mr. R. H. 
Biffen, of Cambridge, in which the lecturer expressed the opinion that by 
the application of Mendel’s principles the desired results could be attained. 
The subjects he had worked with were chiefly cereals. 
The afternoon session was the final one of the Conference, and was 
devoted to several papers of practical importance, not, however, including 
any Orchid subject. But there were several references to Mendel’s 
“Laws.” Mr. A. Worsley, of Isleworth, for example, pointed out the 
absence of Dominance in the cases he had investigated among the 
Amaryllidez, in reply to which the chairman pointed out that Dominance 
