ORCHID CONFERENCE. 



vague recollection that my friend Professor Foster told me be 

 should not be astonished if before many years Greek were to be no 

 longer one of the necessary parts, at all events, of education at 

 Cambridge, and that leads me to suggest what I may as well say 

 I have suggested to Professor Eeichenbach, and that is, the de- 

 sirability that, when a gentleman gives a plant a new name, a 

 compound of the dead languages, the source from which he takes 

 that name, the words from which it is compounded, and a trans- 

 lation into English, should also be given. We must remember that 

 these names are used to a very large extent by gardeners who have 

 no knowledge of the dead languages. With regard to what fell 

 from Mr. Ridley as to Ccclogyne cristata, I had a large pan of pieces. 

 We knew that in that pan there were one or two pieces — we did 

 not know how many— of the white variety, which Mr. Goldring 

 thinks so very distinct. They were all separated, and very great 

 care was taken by competent persons to find any indication 

 which would enable us to discriminate between the two. We 

 found it impossible, and we were only able to discriminate be- 

 tween the two when the plants flowered; and, although I 

 do not believe that among Orchids there are no smaller and 

 larger varieties, I think it may be possible to cultivate the one 

 into the other, as it certainly is possible to do the reverse — to 

 cultivate the larger into the smaller. With regard to the 

 reason why all these names appear, I think it is pretty well on 

 the surface. It is the reason to which Mr. Hibberd has referred 

 — the commercial reason ; and I am bound to say I think there 

 is a certain amount of fault to be found occasionally with our 

 Floral Committee at South Kensington. I think they have 

 been occasionally guilty, unknowingly, no doubt, of giving 

 two different names and two different certificates to the same 

 plant. Where I think they certainly err is in recognizing names 

 and giving certificates to individual plants — to an individual 

 plant which does, perhaps, exist in any other form except 

 in that one plant. With regard to what constitutes a 

 distinct variety, we have heard reference made to that 

 several times. It is in a great measure a matter of colour, 

 as far as my observation goes, and we are all aware that the 

 natural energy and force which is required to produce varieties 

 in colour is very much smaller than that required to produce 

 varieties in form. With regard to Cattleyas, I entirely agree 



