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 
Lgelia (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, Y.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 
