I''cl)ruar\-, 191 3. 
I'HI-: ORCHID WOKl.l). 
105 
Lionel Crawshay) and Odontioda Lutetia 
(C. N. X luteopurpureum) do not give us 
much encouragement m getting" a crimson 
crispum that way, and I fear that triumjihans 
Ajax and luteopurpureum Vuylstekeanum will 
not help us at all, for all hx'bnds as )-et raised 
from the latter m i)lace of an ordinary dark 
luteopurpureum have proved a darker race 
than those from the darker luteos. I prefer 
a cross of a good unspotted crispum roseum 
with C. Noezliana as the means of getting a 
really crimson crispum, and this is no doubt 
already made. 
These hybrids are daily becoming more 
comi:)lex, and, therefore, more interesting, 
and really one life is far too short and narrow 
wherein to work (especially when we begin m 
the latter half of it) to get a great measure of 
success. But if we all do our utmost thought- 
fully and keep careful records, that will go a 
long way towards having done a great deal 
in the direction of the ends we desire to 
attain. We want a few more earnest 
scientific and practical men combined, as we 
are still short of them. 
T LOE B. Crawshay. 
January 13th, 191 3. 
ORCHID BREEDING. 
CONSIDERy\BLE interest is always 
attached to the various means by 
which a good hybrid Orchid is 
obtainable, and before going further into the 
matter it will be desirable to secure a correct 
impression of what a good Orchid really is. 
Hybrids of one kind are not compared with 
those of another. That is, no one could 
reasonably express an opinion as to whether 
a certain Cattleya is better than a selected 
Odontioda ; all Orchids are compared with 
others of their own kind. Thus, we might 
mark one variety of Cattleya Iris as first-class, 
and, at tlie same time, distinguish a certain 
Odontioda as second-class, although it is quite 
possible that the latter hybrid might be more 
valuable than the former. We could, how- 
ever, easily determine the merit of either 
hybrid by comparing it with a painting of the 
previous best result of its kind, and this is the 
VOL. III. 
recognised method in vogue at the present 
time. 
Now the constitution of a good (Jrchid is 
]3urely arbitrary ; in other words, it is deter- 
mined .solely by one's own jud^^nent. Not 
so many years ago an\- Odontoglossum having 
a few spots was considered worthy of a 
varietal name ; then the blotched forms came 
rapidly to the front ; and, shortly after, all 
interest spread into those Odontoglossums, 
now known as Odontiodas, ha\'ing more or 
less of a scarlet hue inherited from Cochlioda 
Noezliana. It is hardly necessary to remind 
one of the high value which was set upon the 
early Odontiodas ; they were considered first- 
class Orchids of the highest standard. 
To-da_\-, many of these actual plants have 
fallen in dignity to the ranks of ordinary 
Orchids. They have lost none of their 
original shape and colour ; in fact, they are 
now stronger and produce finer flowers than 
when they first saw the light of day, yet very 
few of these once famous plants would receive 
the lowest grade of certificate if again 
e.xhibited at the Royal Horticultural Society. 
To those who ask the reason there is but one 
answer -the Orchids remain the same, Vjut 
fashion alters. The logical conclusion is that 
any definite method of breeding, whether 
scientific or otherwise, cannot always prove 
successful. 
It is plainl)- evident to one and all that the 
essential points of an Odontioda are size and 
colour. Every primary hybrid between an 
Odontoglossum and Cochlioda Noezliana pro- 
duces flowers with the scarlet cokjur strongly 
inherited, although the amount varies more or 
less in the various parts of the flower, and in 
some flowers it is broken up into blotches by 
the influence of the Odontoglossum parent. 
The chief attraction of these hybrids is the 
scarlet colour ; while the ambition of the 
hybridist is to enlarge the flower without 
losing any of this valuable pigment. 
In Odontiodas the colour parent is the 
smaller of the two, and whenever the char- 
acters of the hybrids run in the direction of 
this species, as the\- nearly alwa} s do, small 
flowers, but with plenty of colour, are the 
result. 
14 
