74 



REPORT ON THE 



all be considered as a successful beginning of the Orchid 

 question, rather than in any sense final and absolute. At 

 the same time, were we to compare this meeting with those 

 held in connection with (1) Apples, and (2) Daffodils, it would 

 not be quite fair, seeing that in the case of Apples one thousand 

 five hmidred and forty-five varieties of one species (Pyrus 

 mains) only were under consideration, and in the second only 

 a solitary genus (Narcissus) of about twenty species, and, say, 

 five or six hmidred varieties and forms was discussed. On 

 the other hand, when we consider that in the natural order 

 of Orchids we have at least three hmidred and thirty-four yenera, 

 comprising, according to various computations, from six to ten 

 thousand species, the vast difference between the wider scope of 

 our present Conference and former ones becomes strikingly 

 apparent. Even when we grant that we have only about one 

 thousand five hundred or two thousand species and varieties of 

 Orchids in cultivation, and for a moment remember that some 

 or other of these entirely fill up a whole year by their flowering, 

 it becomes at once apparent that no one Conference or exhibi- 

 tion can include more than a portion of that number. As a 

 matter of fact, only fifty-seven genera of Orchids were repre- 

 sented on this occasion by about three hundred and fifty species 

 and varieties. We thus see at a glance what a mere fringe 

 of the subject was touched upon after all, albeit that the 

 finest of all the seasonable kinds were exhibited. Besides all 

 this, one must not fail to point out the fact that the great 

 trade collections were but poorly represented, owing to the 

 principal nurserymen having semi-public exhibitions of their 

 own on view at the same time. It is when we look at the late 

 Conference hi this light that its real importance is seen, notwith- 

 standing that its necessarily limited representative or seasonable 

 character becomes also more fully apparent. 



It is, however, much to be desired that a meeting so successful 

 and instructive should be followed by other Orchid meetings of 

 a similar calibre from time to time. It is almost needless to say 

 that our climate renders the exhibition of tropical Orchids 

 nearly impossible, except during the warmest months of the 

 year ; but if a permanent Orchid Committee were appointed, 

 much good work might be done by its members, even at the 

 ordinary flower shows and meetings of the Royal Horticultural 

 Society. 



