THE ORCHID REVIEW. 
VoL. XI1.] SEPTEMBER, 1903. [No. 129. 
A HYBRIDIST’S COLLECTION. 
THE fascinating work of raising Orchids from seed is being carried on with 
great enthusiasm and success in the collection of R. G. Thwaites, Esq., of 
Streatham, which we have just had the pleasure of inspecting. It is but a 
few months ago that the first home-raised seedling flowered in the collection 
—namely the beautiful Dendrobium x Thwaitesiz (see page 120)—and we 
were hardly prepared to find there between twenty-five and thirty thousand 
seedlings in various stages, representing over one hundred and fifty different 
crosses. It may truly be described as a hybridist’s collection, for most of 
the species it contains have been selected with a view to using them for 
hybridising, and evidence of the work in progress was visible on every hand. 
It was interesting to find that the hybridist is a lady, Mrs. Thwaites herself, 
and few others could show such a remarkable series of successes, while the 
charge of the collection is in the capable hands of Mr. Black, who has 
proved himself an expert in the raising of seedlings. 
We first entered a medium-sized house, completely filled with young 
seedlings, in various stages, and in the healthiest possible condition, those 
from Brassavola Digbyana being a particularly interesting lot. Cattleya 
Schroederz alba, C. Eldorado alba, and C. intermedia alba have each been 
crossed with the pollen of a good form of B. Digbyana having no trace of 
purple on the flower, while the latter has been crossed with C. Mossiz 
Wageneri, and allare now represented by young seedlings of great promise. 
Seedlings from C. Dowiana aurea, C. superba, C. Mendelii with clear white 
sepals and petals, and Lelia xanthina, all crossed with B. Digbyana, were 
also interesting, and it may be added that this species has been crossed with 
most of the ordinary Cattleyas and Lelias. 
The raising of albino Cattleyas is being carried on with great success, the 
seedlings here noticed being derived from C. Eldorado alba x intermedia 
alba, C. Gaskelliana alba x Harrisoniana alba, C. X Schrceederz alba and 
C. intermedia alba x Mossize Wageneri, and the last-named self-fertilised. 
In another house we saw capsules of C. Triane alba self-fertilised, and 
C. labiataAmesiana xX labiata R. [. Measures’ variety. In the case of self- 
fertilised forms the pollen is taken from another flower or plant if possible, 
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