i84 THE ORCHID WORLD. 
SOME IDEAS ON ORCHID HYBRIDISATION. 
By J. M. BLACK. 
(Continued from page 160.) 
THE same process of reasoning which 
convinced us last month that only the 
best varieties of the various species 
should be selected for the purposes of hybri- 
disation may be carried a step further. Just 
as there are gocci, bad and indifferent varieties 
in each species, so there are good, bad and 
indifferent species in each genus. Any scien- 
tihc interest or instruction that might have 
been claimed as an excuse for using the bad 
or indifferent species in Orchid breeding when 
Orchid crossing was m its infancy can hardl) 
be said to survive to-day, and as we want to 
go onwards and upwards, the introduction of 
the weedy species into our hybrid strain can 
onl^^have a retarding effect. A good variet)- 
of an inferior species may be infinitely worse 
than a bad variety of a superior species, so 
that we must in fairness to ourselves elimi- 
nate all inferior species from the stud. To 
introduce one of the weedy species into the 
primary hybrid and then strive in the suc- 
ceeding generations of secondary, etc., hybrids 
to get rid of its influence would not be reason- 
able. Species of poor shape may be used 
for crossing if they are of exceptional and 
rare colour, and we must be prepared to 
sacrifice size and shape in the first generation 
in our quest of this. A good many cases 
arise where, for reasons of colour, not only 
may large and small species be intercrossed, 
but alsO' large and small genera, as, for in- 
stance, the illustrious examples of Cochlioda 
with Odontoglossum, Oncidium and Miltonia, 
and Sophronitis with Cattleya and Laslia. In 
these cases if we lose in the size of the larger- 
flowered genera we gain enormously in colour, 
and frequently in shape — and we are just 
beginning with them. Yellow is a rare and 
desirable colour in Cattleyas, and we must 
be prepared to sacrifice both shape and size 
by going to the comparatively small and poor- 
shaped Ladias — flava, Cowani and cinnaljarina 
— for it. This latter is an instance where we 
find exceptional and valid reasons for inter- 
crossing good and bad shaped Orchids. 
These are, however, exceptions. A good 
maxiin to follow would be never to go to a 
small flower for a desired colour if it can at 
all be obtained from a larger and better- 
shaped one. I hope to return later to the 
discussion of " the yellow " in Cattleyas, for 
it offers considerable latitude for speculation. 
Where exceptional reasons do not exist an 
inferior species should never be used with 
an inferior one. ISlo one would now think of 
using Lajlia Perrinii or the ordinary coloured 
Cattleya intermedia for parents. Could one 
hope with these to produce anything better 
than a type that can be imported at little 
cost — if as good? This is the question that 
the hybricli.ser should keep continually putting 
to himself. Who would now think of using 
Odontoglossum gloriosum, O. I_.indle)'anum, 
or O. cristatum ! Yellows and chocolates are 
not scarce m this genus, and as long as there 
are better species to tap for these colours — 
such as luteopurpureum and triumphans — our 
ordinary intelligence should dictate to us to 
avoid the poorer ones. 
Of course it is permitted one to become 
discursive afterwards, and assume a deep con- 
cern in the spot or blotch metamorphosis, 
but all the interest that can be adduced from 
an anal)sis of a bad hybrid derived from 
worthless parents could be found m a good 
one, and with a much less barren reward. 
A peculiarity of those species that are 
deficient in the quality of their flowers is that 
they are as a rule excellent parents physically, 
germinating freely and growing afterwards 
with such freedom as to exalt your opinion 
of yourself as a grower, and notably so is this 
the case with Odontoglossums. There is a 
danger lurking in this readiness to germinate 
1)1 the hybrids from these worthless species. 
