182 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



very unlikely couples ; but on the other hand many have defied 

 the wiles of the hybridist. Among these may be mentioned 

 Laelia (Brassavola) Digbyana, which, although useful as a pollen 

 agent, yields no seeds itself so far as yet known, not even the 

 fine, dust-like husks often produced by other unsuccessful crosses. 

 There are, of course, many causes why the seeds of some crosses 

 effected between widely differing parents should be unproductive, 

 and the wonder is that so many strange hybrids have been suc- 

 cessfully raised. One cause probably arises from the difference 

 in the time required from pollination to fertilisation, and to 

 maturity, by the seeds of the plants used in effecting the cross. 



To begin with the seed capsule, we will suppose that the 

 operation of hybridising is understood by all who care to closely 

 examine the flowers, or that they can refer to what has been 

 already written on the subject. As soon as the seed-vessel 

 becomes heavy it should be supported by a piece of matting or 

 tape to prevent it bending abruptly, and thus interfering with the 

 flow of the sap. 



It is the general belief that the capsules of cultivated plants 

 take a longer time to mature, or rather to show that they are 

 mature by splitting, than they do in a wild state ; and it is also 

 thought that therefore the seeds contained in them are often 

 perfect, and quite ready to sow, long before the pods burst. This 

 is a reason why no time should be lost in sowing the seeds, and 

 some of the most practised operators say that immediate sowing 

 should be made (or at least within a few days after the removal 

 of the capsule), no matter at what season the ripening takes 

 place, and that the risk of retaining the seeds until spring is 

 greater than that of sowing them in winter. 



As to the manner of sowing, Mr. John Seden, V.M.H., our 

 oldest and most experienced hybridist, who has worked both 

 head and hands in Orchid hybridisation for over thirty years, 

 says that, notwithstanding many experiments with a view to 

 getting a more certain means both for raising and recording the 

 cross than his old one of sowing the seeds on established plants 

 of a similar nature, and in a temperature suitable to plants of the 

 class from which the seeds resulted, he has never yet been able 

 to find a better or indeed so good a plan. A suitable plant is 

 selected, one suspended being preferred if possible, the material 

 in the pot or basket being sweet and sound, and if there is any 



