May 14, 1885. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
889 
life under circumstances so different from what they would have been in 
their native land, that it is not at all surprising that multitudes of them 
perish in their earliest infancy. The capsules are not only less perfect in 
our houses than they would be in a state of nature, but they also require 
a longer time to arrive at maturity, a circumstance that must tell against 
the progeny. The cause of this is also climatic, chiefly, of course, the 
enormous diminution of sunlight and sun heat. To make this clear, I 
will adduce one illustration, and for that purpose I select the New Grana¬ 
dian Cattleyas of the labiata group, because they are amongst the best of 
subjects for the operations of the hybridist. These Cattleyas have their 
home chiefly in the ravines and valleys of the Cordilleras, at elevations 
ranging from 2000 to 5000 feet above sea level, and between the second and 
tenth parallels of north latitude. The plants, by being transferred from 
proximity to the equator, where on clear days the sun darts his rays 
either perpendicularly upon the place in which they are growing, or at a 
comparatively small angle to them, to a high latitude like ours, where 
the smallest angle at which the sun’s rays can fall upon our houses is 
about 28°, and that only for a few days at midsummer, an angle which 
daily increases, till at midwinter it reaches 75°, suffer an enormous 
diminution of solar light. Now 
light, in passing through the 
atmosphere, even under the 
most favourable circumstances, 
is subject to absorption, or is 
intercepted by it, but the 
amount varies with the angle; 
thus, it has been shown that, 
of a given quantity of light 
falling perpendicularly upon a 
given point, one-fifth of it is 
absorbed or intercepted by the 
atmosphere ; if it fall at an 
angle of 50° more than one- 
fourth is intercepted, and at 
an angle of 75° fully one-half. Hence, in the winter months, even when 
the days are clear and bright, we can get no more than five-eighths (a 
little more than one-half) of the solar light these New Granadian Cat¬ 
tleyas receive in their native country, on the assumption that other cir¬ 
cumstances remain the same. It is quite evident, then, at what a disad¬ 
vantage we are placed as regards the ripening of capsules of Orchids 
whose native home is near the equator, to say nothing of local difficulties, 
such as the smoky atmosphere and fogs of London. 
Fig 75.—riialamopsis, 2} years. 
Fig. 76.—Plialamopsis, 3 years. 
It is not unreasonable to infer, in the absence of more accurate know¬ 
ledge obtained by direct observation, that the capsules of the New 
Granadian Cattleyas require hut a short period to attain maturity in their 
native country, and that this period extends only over the two or three 
months of what is there called the dry season, but which in that region is 
subject to frequent showers. In our houses the time required for maturing 
the capsules of Cattleyas of the labiata group ranges from eleven to 
thirteen months, for Lielia purpurata it is about nine months, for Phalae- 
nopsis Schilleriana six months, Cypripedium Spicerianum eleven to twelve 
months, Cyp. insigne ten months, Masdevallia four months, Calanthe 
three to four months, Zygopetalum Mackayi when crossed with maxillare 
about six months; Odontoglossum maculatum, Dendrobium aureum, 
Anguloa Clowesi, Chysis bractescens, and Maxillaria Harrisoniana each 
above twelve months. But, of course, these periods are only approximate ; 
the time required for the ripening of the capsules is considerably in¬ 
fluenced by the state of the weather and external circumstances, especially 
by the amount of direct sunlight during the year, I note that our ex¬ 
perience does not differ essentially from that of M. Bleu of Paris, who has 
published in the Journal of the Soci6t6 Nationale d’Horticulture the 
periods of ripening of the capsules of several Orchids crossed by himself, 
although it might be expected that in the warmer and drier climate of 
Paris the periods would be somewhat shorter. 
Adverse as are some of the influences under which we work to obtain 
capsules, there is but little difficulty in getting them, and in abundance 
too ; sometimes even from crosses that, to the systematic botanist, would 
seem almost beyond belief ; but then comes the enter. Good seed is the 
all-important factor in producing healthy seedlings, and this, unfortu¬ 
nately, from causes already partially adverted to, is obtainable but in a 
very minute proportion of the whole. Seed we get in profusion, but so 
little of it germinates that the 
patience of the most persevering 
is put to a severe test. The 
seeds of hundreds of capsules 
have been sown without yielding 
a single result. In very many 
cases only a solitary plant had 
been raised from a capsule that 
must have contained thousands 
of seeds ; in very many in¬ 
stances indeed has the number 
of seedlings from one cross 
reached a hundred. It is true 
that we have raised many seed¬ 
lings in the aggregate, but many Fi 7 7.-Seed of Eucypripedium. 
ot them have appeared when 
least expected, and when we consider the myriads of seeds that have been 
sown, and the comparatively few plants raised, we cannot be said to 
have achieved very great success. It may here be noted that with the 
exception of Cypripedium, which hears the stress of fruit-bearing better 
than any other genus, many plants bearing capsules become greatly 
debilitated. During the season the capsule is being matured growth 
frequently ceases altogether, and when the plant operated upon is not 
strong it not infrequently perishes even before the seed is ripe. 
Fig. 78.—Seed of Selenipedium. 
Fig 79.—Seedling Fig 80.—Cypri- 
Cypripedium, pedium, 
6 months. 9 months. 
If the ripening of the capsules takes place under such adverse in 
fluences, the same influences are by no means propitious to the early 
infancy of the progeny. The period from germination to the formation 
of the first roots, which, for want of a better phrase and for the present 
purpose, I will call the thalloid state of the young plant, and which some¬ 
times occupies several months, is the most critical in the life of seedling 
Orchids raised in glass structures. It is especially so with Cypripedium, 
Calanthe, and Phalsenopsis, and seedlings of these we accordingly find to 
be the most difficult to preserve prior to their getting firmly rooted. A 
succession of dull cloudy days in winter, and even a few hours of London 
fog, will cause a great mortality, not only among these, but among all 
seedlings in a similar stage. 
The cares and solicitudes of the raiser of Orchid seedlings are by no 
means diminished when the infant plants are fairly rooted ; they must be 
Fig. 81.—Cypripedium, 12 months. Fig 82. Cypripedium, 16 months. 
constantly tended with the most assiduous care. To neglect the watering, 
for instance, for a single day, or even for a few hours in the height of 
summer, may prove fatal ; and so, on the other hand, an excess of 
coddling, giving them too much heat or too much water, by stimulating 
them into growth before their natural season arrives, is equally a source of 
danger. Nor is it the only one. We know of an instance of the splendid 
Dendrobium nobile nobilius being crossed with D. aureum ; the capsule 
was matured in due course, and the seed sown, but only one seedling was 
raised. This, as may be readily supposed, was tenderly cared for, but all 
to no avail ; the seedling had grown to about half an inch, when one night 
a vulgar snail devoured the precious morsel at a single meal. We, too, have 
