THE ORCHID REVIEW. Be 
another of C. Trianz, containing some wonderfully strong plants, and a 
third of the new and interesting Cypripedium Charlesworthii—all of them 
having arrived in excellent condition. 
ORCHID HYBRIDISATION. 
(Continued from page 52.) 
WE may now assume that our hybridist has a fine plump capsule fast 
approaching maturity, and the next question is what to do with it. Hitherto 
all has been comparatively straight sailing, but now his troubles begin. It is 
a much easier matter to get plenty of plump capsules than to get the seed 
to germinate, and bring the young seedlings safely through the perils of 
infancy. Difficulties, however, must be met and overcome, and the 
hybridist, having travelled so far on the road to success, is not likely to be 
lightly turned aside by a few obstacles. 
Mr. H. J. Veitch, in a very interesting paper on Orchid Hybridisation, 
read at the Orchid Conference (Fourn. Roy. Hort. Soc., vii. pp. 22-36), 
speaking of the early experiments made at the Royal Exotic Nursery, states 
that every method that seemed at all favourable was tried—blocks of wood, 
tree-fern stems, strips of cork, and the moss of the pots in which other 
Orchids were grown—but only with moderate success, while at first failures 
were innumerable. The latter method is the one now generally adopted. 
Not every capsule, however, by a long way, contains good seed, and to 
sow chaff and expect to reap a subsequent harvest is as futile as it would be 
in the case of the agriculturist. Orchid seeds, however, are so minute that : 
the aid of a good lens is necessary in order to determine whether they are. 
perfect. As soon as the capsule shows the least sign of bursting, it should 
be cut off, and placed in some receptacle to prevent the seed from being lost. 
When the valves open, the seeds appear almost innumerable. They should 
then be examined with a lens, or a few of them placed under a microscope. 
If the elongated and wrinkled testa is plump in the centre, and shows a 
darker rounded embryo inside, all is well, but if only an empty husk 
appears, it may be thrown away without hesitation. But it is necessary to 
proceed with caution, as a very few good seeds may be present among an 
intolerable deal of chaff. Generally speaking it may be said that not one- 
tenth of the seeds contain an embryo, and frequently the proportion is 
infinitesimal, even when some good seeds are present. A little care and 
experience will soon enable one to judge whether the contents are of any 
value. Every hybridiser now knows that many an apparently good capsule 
contains nothing but chaff, and practical cultivators do not sow chaff. 
Hundreds of capsules, however, are said to have been sown without any 
result, but it is at least probable that many of them never contained any 
good seeds. 
