THE ORCHID WORLD. 
SOME IDEAS ON HYBRIDISATION. 
By J. M. BLACK. 
{Continued from page 186.) 
1 jarumised some time ago to acKise the 
man with empty glass-houses of the right 
kind — and with no previous or scanty know- 
ledge of Orchids — how to fill them. If I 
have had his ear up to now he will be satisfied 
that I do not want him to make any pods 
that will be useless, and he will also appre- 
ciate the hopelessness of being able to fill his 
houses at once with the choicer productions 
of the hybridist or the best \-arieties of the 
importer. Now, while I want hiin to make 
no pods that he may not hopefully expect to 
beat the mean average of Nature with, yet 
it is with the mean average that I venture to 
recommend those empty houses to be filled. 
Let us begin by knowing the species and be 
able to differentiate between the good, the 
bad, and the indifferent. Good, sound, strong 
plants of all the more important genera can 
be purchased at a few shillings each, plants 
that will flower within the twelve months, 
yielding flowers the first year equivalent in 
many cases to the price paid for the plants. 
Surely this is cheapness with a vengeance ! 
I would recommend the purchase of Cattleyas 
in batches, so as to have a continuation of 
flowers during all the summer, and, if possible, 
I would buy them unflowered. If they are 
semi-established or in the dry imported con- 
dition care should be taken to see that they 
are supphed with their normal leads, and that 
the leaf-buds at the base of these leads are 
uninjured. The plants will then start freely, 
and flower in due season. Shapely pieces 
should be chosen, so that they may have a 
neat and orderly appearance when potted up 
and arranged in the houses. Being un- 
flowered there will always be the cheerful 
prospect of a " three-star " variety disclosing 
it?-elf,when thoughts of hybridisation will assert 
themselves. The most important among Catt- 
leya species are Schroderse, Mossias, Mendelii, 
Gaskelliana, Warneri, labiata, Trianae, gigas, 
and Dowiana. These, with a few more, be- 
long to what is called the labiata section, as 
all are built after the same mould, having 
the same structural features and flowers of 
great similarity ; but each has a well-defined 
flower season, and they are regarded gener- 
ally as being geographical varieties of the 
same type. Cattleya Dowiana, with its 
variety aurea, is the most strongly char- 
acterised, and IS unique in the section 
— in fact, it has more individuality than any 
other Cattleya in the genus, and is invaluable 
for hybridisation. The other species that 
approaches it most nearly may be Cattleya Rex, 
but there is a close affinity between Dowiana 
aurea and gigas, and growing together, 
natural hybrids appear between the two. 
Both Dowiana and gigas are rather difficult 
to flower unless grown m a sunny locality, 
and it will be advisable not to stock too many 
of these for fear of disappointment ; but both 
are indispensable to the hybridist, and we 
shall want them when they can be purchased 
in flower in the early autumn. 
Distinct from the labiata section in having 
longer and more slender bulbs, which are two- 
leaved, is a type of Cattleya, the best species 
of which are well worth cultivating. In this 
section the flowers are smaller and lack the 
rich and clear tones of the best species of the 
labiata group, particularly in the labellum, but 
by way of compensation they carry, when 
strong, many more blooms on a spike. They 
make excellent seedbearers, and have been 
much used in hybridisation, and a noteworthy 
peculiarity of this section is that the seed 
generally takes a much shorter period to ripen 
than is required by the labiata species, the 
latter taking about twelve months from pol- 
lination until the shedding of the seed. I 
would recommend the growing of guttata, 
Loddigesii, granulosa, bicolor, velutina and 
Bowringiana ; but the most important from the 
hybridists' point of view, judging from results 
achieved, are undoubtedly bicoIor and Bow- 
ringiana. Aclandiae is a pretty, dwarf-growing, 
two-leaved species, and a few plants of this 
with Schilleriana and superba should be 
added. The last-named is the parent of 
