50 THE ORCHID REVIEW. 
ORCHID HYBRIDISATION. 
THE raising of new Orchids from seed is undoubtedly the most fascinating 
work in which the cultivator of these charming plants can engage. The 
gradual maturing of the capsule, the germination of the minute atoms in 
which so much potential beauty may be hidden, and at length the unfolding 
of the blooms as the flowering period is reached, are all matters of the 
deepest interest to the enthusiastic operator. Who can describe the 
moment when the resulting capsule from some carefully effected cross is 
seen to be opening, and the operator, lens in hand, examines its contents, 
and, fearful of finding nothing but chaff, detects a number of plump 
embryos, each wrapped away in its curiously wrinkled testa? And, after 
this minute dust is committed to the soil, who shall describe the careful 
watching for the first signs of germination, and the care bestowed on 
the young seedlings until the perils of infancy are past? Ask not our 
Sedens and Cooksons and Maynards; rather let it be described by the 
humble follower who has just been successful with his first cross. 
The interest felt in the subject of Orchid hybridisation is apparent from 
recent communications to our columns, besides which several other corre- 
spondents have expressed a wish that we should publish a series of articles 
on the subject. With this request we will endeavour to comply, and, as all 
of our readers are not experts, it will be best to begin at the beginning. 
The materials to work with naturally resolve themselves into such as 
are readily accessible to the operator; plants flowering in his collection at 
the same time, or, in some cases, pollen may be obtained from a neigh- 
bouring collection. The beginner will probably be content to commence 
with some easy subject, whether the cross has been made before or not, 
and thus gain confidence. But every cross should be made with some 
definite object in view, and an effort should be made to break new ground 
wherever possible. Our last volume furnishes a nearly complete list of the 
crosses which have flowered up to the end of 1893, and by consulting it 
many repetitions may be avoided. Some good hybrids, however, are 
excessively rare, and the crosses might with advantage be repeated. 
The next question is how to proceed. If any of our readers should not 
be familiar with the structure of an Orchid flower, they should pull two or 
three to pieces, and thus familiarise themselves with it, for the details are 
so different from those of an ordinary flower—a lily for example—that at first 
sight the stamens and pistil would appear to be wanting altogether. But 
the veil of mystery has long been rent asunder, and the old-time gardener 
who grew Orchids and Cacti because they were “the only plants that those 
fiends the hybridists could not touch,” no longer hugs his fond delusion. The 
stamens and pistil are present, but changed out of all knowledge, being 
united into one fleshy body called the column. Two distinct types of 
