ORCHIDS 
141 
Hybrid 
Orchids 
almost entirely of them. The professional collector is still busy 
stripping orchids from the trees of the Andes and elsewhere, and 
shipping them home, but his labours are confined to 
fewer species, these being the showier and more easily 
cultivated ones like Odontoglossum crispum. But he has 
now a rival who is rapidly ousting him from his position as the 
primary agent through whom the orchid houses of Europe are 
kept replenished. The hybridiser is everywhere at work. It is safe 
to say that there are at the present time millions of orchids in the 
gardens and nurseries of Europe which have been raised from home- 
saved seed, and it is equally safe to predict that in the not distant 
future the majority of the orchids in hothouses will be of artificial 
origin. The raising of orchids from seed is a fascinating pursuit. 
As each young plant reaches maturity, and is about to flower for 
the first time, there is always the exciting possibility that it may 
turn out to be something quite distinct from anything the world 
has seen before. And hybrid orchids are now known to have one 
other great point in their favour : they are almost invariably of 
stronger constitution and more easily cultivated than their parents. 
Kew, however, has never concerned itself deeply with these cross- 
bred orchids. Of surpassing interest in the early days of hybridising, 
they, as individuals, are rapidly becoming of as little scientific import- 
ance as members of the commoner races of garden plants like begonias 
or rhododendrons. With comparatively few exceptions, it is the 
pure wild types that are treasured at Kew. This side of orchid 
cultivation becomes all the more important now that the private cul- 
tivator is neglecting it more and more. 
The first exotic orchid was introduced into Great Britain from the 
Bahamas in 1731. It was Bletia verecunda, a species that still finds 
a place in the Kew collection. In 1789 the number 
of exotic species cultivated here was fifteen. By 1813 
they had increased to eighty-four. It was not until 
1830 that any great interest was taken in orchids by 
private cultivators. But after that date a rapid increase in the 
number of species introduced into England took place. By 1850 
the collection at Kew had grown to 830 species. At the present 
time, including the comparatively few British ones, it contains some- 
where about 1,800. Considering the small amount of space there 
is at Kew to accommodate this large number of distinct types, it 
Growth 
of the 
Collection. 
