5° 



'IHH ORCHID WORLD. 



[D<^cember, 191 5. 



Cypripedium Boltonii. — The general 



experience of hybridists is that many 

 ordinary varieties are flowered before the 

 expected wonder makes its appearance. The 

 exact reverse has happened with Mr. Wm. 

 Bolton, of Warrington, who, in raising 

 Cypripedium Boltonii (insigne Sanderas x 

 niveum), found that the first plant to bloom 

 produced a china-white flower absolutely 

 spotless ; every plant since flowered is more 

 or less spotted. So in his case the best 

 variety appeared first, while the anticipation 

 of securing better ones has not been realised. 



Obituary. — The death of Mr. T. Stafford, 

 well-known in the North of England as a 

 successful Orchid grower, recalls many 

 incidents of the past, for his early experience 

 was gained in Mr. George Hardy's celebrated 

 collection at Pickering Lodge, Timperley, 

 Cheshire. It was in 1884 that Mr. Hardy 

 first flowered that elegant natural hybrid 

 between Cattleya aurea and C. Warscewiczii, 

 now universally known as Cattleya Hardyana. 

 At the sale of this collection in 1894 many of 

 the best plants were purchased by Mr. Fred 

 Hardy, who engaged T. Stafford to cultivate 

 them at Tyntesfield, Ashton-on-Mersey, 

 where he remained until his last days. At 

 the Pickering Lodge sale, Mr. F. Hardy paid 

 260 guineas for a small plant of Cypripedium 

 insigne Sanderas, the stock of which was 

 increased whenever opportunity presented 

 itself, so much so, that not long ago Mr. 

 Hardy diminished his holding by disposing 

 of 1,000 growths to a certain trade grower. 

 Mr. Hardy also purchased Cattleya Mendehi 

 Quorn House var. for 150 guineas and C. 

 Skmneri alba, a grand specimen, for 160 

 guineas. Other interesting figures realised at 

 this sale were Cattleya Mossiae Reineckiana, 

 160 guineas ; C. Mendelii Firthii, 70 guineas ; 

 C. Mendelii Bluntii, 100 guineas ; C. Gaskel- 

 liana alba, 38 guineas ; C. Schroderae alba, 

 160 guineas ; Dendrobium Statterianum, 20 

 guineas; Laslia purpurata Hardyana, 130 

 guineas ; L. crispa superba, a grand specimen, 

 52 guineas; Laelio-Cattleya befla, 150 

 guineas ; and Sobralia Lucasiana, 46 guineas. 



SOPHRONITIS Hybrids. — Considerable 

 success m the cultivation of Sophronitis 

 hybrids is achieved in the collection of Mr. 

 H. S. Goodson, Fairlawn, Putney, and a 

 selection of flowers, sent by Mr. Geo. E. Day, 

 proves that an endless variety of tints exists 

 in these neat little Orchids. Four examples 

 contain Laelia tenebrosa in their parentage : 

 they are S.-L. Gratrixiae (S. grandiflora x L. 

 tenebrosa), crimson-red ; S.-L.-C. Irene (S. 

 grandiflora x L.-C. Gottoiana), scarlet with 

 rose vemin";; S.-L.-C. Sibyl (L.-C. Haroldiana 

 X S.-L. heatonensis), rose-red with purple 

 lip ; and S.-L.-C. Niobe (L.-C. Gottoiana x 

 S.-L. Felicia), rose-purple. Two other 

 meritorious flowers are S.-C. Doris (S. 

 grandiflora x C. aurea) and S.-C. Atreus (S. 

 grandiflora x C. Lawrenceana). Mr. Day also 

 sends a flower of Odontoglossum George 

 Day, rose tinted with neat reddish spotting, 

 doubtless containing O. Rossii in its 

 jKirentage. 



^ S| 



Cattleya amabilis The Knowle var. 

 — The re-making of some of the older 

 primary hybrids is often effected with 

 improved results, more especially when care 

 is exercised in the selection of the parents. 

 C. amabilis, which was first flowered in 1904, 

 has for its parents labiata and Warscewiczii, 

 while the more recently raised examples have 

 been produced from varieties having white 

 sepals and petals and a coloured hp. Mr. 

 John Hartley, of The Knowle, Morley, kindly 

 sends a realistic painting of a beautiful 

 variety exhibited by him at the Manchester 

 Orchid Society, October 7th, 1915, when it 

 obtained a First-class Certificate. The thick- 

 textured sepals and petals are pure white, 

 while the large, open labellum has the disc 

 evenly coloured with mauve-purple, the throat 

 golden-yellow inside and light rose-purple on 

 the portion enveloping the column. With 

 many amateurs the contrast made by the 

 coloured labellum and the white sepals and 

 petals is considered a meritorious point, and 

 is as much valued as the alba or entirely 

 ])ure white flower. 



