41-2 



JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



nearly fifty years ago. The Royal Horticultural Society, througli its 

 far-seeing Secretary, the Rev. W. Wilks, took a leading part in the 

 introduction of Mendel's work to English readers some twelve years 

 ago, and in the meantime the Society has in many ways helped to 

 advance the new science of Genetics. 



It is therefore fitting that the Orchid Conference held to-day under 

 the auspices of the Society should have the opportunity of discussing 

 the question of the application of Genetics to Orchid breeding. 



The word " Genetics " was first used by Professor Bateson at the 

 time of the International Hybridization Conference held by the Royal 

 Horticultural Society in London in 1906, and was used by him as 

 a convenient word to express the modern science of breeding on 

 Mendelian lines. Technically the word " Genetics " covers not only 

 the primary principles of heredity as understood and expounded by 

 Mendel himself, but also the secondary developments of Mendelism 

 that have taken place during the past decade in consequence of the 

 experiments and observations of Mendelians in all parts of the world 

 not only with cultivated plants, but also with domesticated animals, 

 including Man himself. 



Perhaps the most remarkable feature in the progress of the modern 

 science of Genetics is the extraordinary way in which experiments 

 with plants have led to the solution of important problems in 

 animal breeding; while, on the other hand, experiments with animals 

 have in their turn led to the solution of many difficulties in plant 

 breeding. As experiment follows experiment, and discovery succeeds 

 discovery, the word Genetics" will still cover the ground, and its 

 influence and utility will become increasingly marked as time rolls on. 



Orchids are truly regarded as the aristocrats of the plant world, 

 and the results achieved by Orchid breeders during the past twenty 

 years constitute one of the seven wonders of the world of horti- 

 culture. No other family of cultivated plants has yielded so many 

 beautiful hybrids in so short a time as the Orchidaceae. A reference 

 to the "Orchid Stud Book" shows that at least 40 genera and 

 300 distinct species have been already utilized by Orchid breeders 

 in the making of their hybrids. About 2000 of these are primary 

 hybrids, while no fewer than 300 are generic hybrids. Besides these 

 botanical hybrids, there are on record some thousands of horticultural 

 — secondary and multiple — hybrids, to say nothing of multitudinous 

 varietal and individual forms which no man can number. 



When one remembers that most of these remarkable results have 

 been achieved in less than a generation (one might almost say, since 

 the last Orchid Conference was held), and that the raising of 

 such delicate exotics from seed under purely artificial conditions is 

 by no means an easy matter even for the expert, one cannot but 

 admire the practical genius of British and Continental Orchid breeders 

 that has brought about such a consummation. Those who had the 

 good fortune to see the remarkable display of Orchids at the Inter- 

 national Exhibition at Chelsea last May must have been impressed 



