THE ORCHID WORLD. 



[April-May, 1916. 



MODERN CYPRIPEDIUMS. 

 A REJOINDER. 



I AM glad that my remarks on Modern 

 Cypripediums have brought a " defence " 

 from Mr. H. A. Farmer, of Tunbridge 

 Wells. We are not very far apart m our 

 ultimate opinion in regard to the qualities 

 of Cypripediums in general, but as my note 

 only referred to some large modern Cypri- 

 pediums, which seem to take a lead as 

 standards of excellence, many of Mr. Farmer's 

 criticisms are illogical and quite outside the 

 question under consideration. 



First of all, I do' not wish to be " down " on 

 m'odern Cypripediums, so there is no necessity 

 for Mr. Farmer's kind offer " to lift me up a 

 bit ! " On the contrary, I much admire the 

 genus as a whole and cultivate a good many 

 varieties, but, even so, this does not blind me 

 to a proper criticism of examples put up at 

 the Shows, and I thought it somewhat useful 

 to draw attention to what I considered were 

 wrong lines of development in our interesting 

 plants. However, it may be only a matter of 

 taste, as I before said, but there must be 

 something in it ; more than this, as a number 

 of growers and laymen tO' whom I put the 

 matter for an unbiassed opinion fully agreed 

 with me that many of the m^odern Cypri- 

 pediums are ugly and do not satisfy the 

 aesthetic sense. 



Mr. Farmer says " it is m the natural mind 

 of mankind to desire everything large." This 

 is much too sweeping, and I absolutely refute 

 this where refinement is of any value. In 

 estimating beauty surely we do not " pound " 

 it upon mere size alone ! A large dorsal, of 

 course, is not to be despised, but to make too 

 much of this character, unpro-portionately to 

 the other lesser qualities of the flower, is, I 

 think, scarcely sane. I have no quarrel with 

 large dorsals or with large flowers, but what 

 I do say is — mere size of the whole flower is 

 not a merit of supreme importance if the 

 flower lacks other essentials. A well-formed 

 and balanced flower is infinitely to be pre- 

 ferred to one that is much larger, but ill- 

 proportioned. 



The second paragraph of Mr. Farmer's 

 article is, I respectfully venture to assert, 

 sheer floundering, and puts a construction on 

 what I originally said which no one could 

 ever contemplate. " To reduce the dorsal 

 sepal to the dimensions of the petals would 

 indeed transform the whole character of the 

 flower." Quite so, and whoever wants to effect 

 such a thing ? I humbly suggest the contrary 

 is the endeavour of growers, viz., to increase 

 the size and substance of the pvetals. 



And, again, Mr. Farmer, in derision, asks 

 us to " imagine a Cypripedium with a roundish 

 flower ! " Well, we can, and aim to get it, 

 too! I again humbly assert that it is a 

 quality much sought after to avoid "hollow- 

 ness." The point to which I still adhere is 

 that " mere size should not be put before good 

 general form and colour, as the last para- 

 graph in my note states (p. 102). This 

 seems to be in opposition to Mr. Farmer's 

 ideas, but that I cannot help. 



Mr. Farmer wants to know what I say in 

 regard to Maudia?. Well, the last paragraph 

 of my note (p. 102) is an answer to this. 

 Unfortunately, a printer's error ruined the 

 sense of it, but the misprint has been put right 

 on p. 137. — A/f. J. Paine, Athenlay, Wan- 

 stead. 



U U ^ 



Modern Cypripediums. — I was interested 

 in the article on " Modern Cypripediums " 

 (page 136), and may say that last Christmas 

 week we had over 4,000 blooms open. I can 

 hardly understand how anyone can compare 

 the old species with many of the new 

 varieties, m which we get not only brighter 

 colours but much larger flowers, many on tall 

 stems and with beautifully coloured dorsals, 

 which make a most effective display during 

 the winter months. As to the lasting proper- 

 ties of Cypripedium flowers, I have a 

 customer to whom I paid a visit on New 

 Year's Day and took a few Cypripedium 

 flowers, and he informed me yesterday (March 

 2nd) that some of them were quite fresh in 

 his drawmg-room. I think that is almost a 

 record as to the lasting properties of Orchid 

 flowers. — /o/in Cypher, Chelienham. 



