THE ORCHID REVIEW. . 
Now, this same idea has come to me in the form of a question. A 
correspondent writes asking me whether it would be wise to sow some seed 
(Paphiopedium ¢ X Cypripedium ¢) now, or wait until February or 
March, when the spring-time is at hand. Before answering his letter, I 
took out particulars of all operations successfully conducted in my houses, 
of which the subjoined table is a copy :— 
Table showing the number of successful sowings of Paphiopedium seed, 
sown during the months specified, in the years 1892 to 1897 inclusive. 
January ... ... 72 s0wings ... 26 batches of seedlings. 
February ... ner ee a Soaon - - 
march ©; eo 5 5 ‘5 ” 
April 19 a 3 5 ” 
May I4 af I ’ ” 
June 10 ” I , ” 
July 13 ; ) ; 
August 31 ; 3 ‘5 
September 33 ‘i 4 yi , 
October 44 = 9 . 
November awe ae Z 17 5 - 
December rn i jee ay ‘5 ” 
All these crosses have been effected by my gardener, Mr. Thomas J. 
Poyntz, with very few exceptions, in my presence, and a most careful 
record has been kept. In giving these columns of figures, I leave it to 
anyone sufficiently interested to form a conclusion as to the percentage of 
success and failure, a task by no means so easy as would appear at first 
sight. The question arises: At what date should a sowing be written off as 
a failure? The very last find I had was two seedlings on the 16th Decem-— 
ber, 1897, the .seed having been sown as far back as the 7th December, 
1895, and I have a record of still longer intervals between the sowing of the 
seed and the appearance of seedlings. Personally, I never cross off any 
sowing as a failure until the plant on which the seed has been sown has 
been re-potted. 
From past experience, I confidently anticipate a fair amount of success 
from the sowings of 1897, while those of 1896 may reasonably be expected 
to produce a few more batches of seedlings. The number of successes in 
1896 in my collection, referring only to Paphiopedium seedlings, numbered 
30, and in 1897 they numbered 33. 
If the proportion appears small, it should be remembered that I have 
been very persistent in trying crosses over and over again that have refused 
to show any good result. Among others that may be named under this 
