390 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ May 14, 1885. 
had our troubles. Among our earliest Phalasnopsis amabilis crosses we suc¬ 
ceeded in raising a single seedling from a capsule of Phalsenopsis amabilis 
crossed with P. rosea,which we were particularly anxious to save,as it would 
have solved the question of the parentage of P. intermedia or Lobbi,which is 
a supposed hybrid between the same two species. The plant had made three 
healthy leaves ; it was well established in a small pot, which, to be the 
more secure from danger, was placed upon an inveited pot that stood in a 
pan of water. One morning, to the great dismay of Seden, it was dis- 
Fig. 83.—Cypripedium, 2 years. 
covered that a slug had eaten off two of the best leaves, and would, if not 
trapped, certainly devour the remainder. Anxious to save the treasure, 
the plant was watched incessantly for hours in the expectation that sooner 
or later the marauder would make his appearance ; to induce him to do 
so the moss was constantly plunged into water. The repeated duckings 
had at length the desired effect, the culprit issued from his lurking place 
and the plant was saved. The two little circumstances I have narrated 
speak for themselves. 
And now, how long must the hybridist wait before his labours are re¬ 
warded with a sight of the flower whose appearance he has been waiting 
Fig. 84.—Seed of Dendrofcium. Fig. 85.—Seedling Dendrobium 
4 months. 
with longing expectation, and upon which many hopes have been built, 
too often, unfortunately, to end in disappointment ? 
The shortest periods from the germination of the seed to the produc¬ 
tion of the flower yet observed are those of Dendrobium—that is, D. aureum 
crossed with D. nohile and vice vena, three to four years ; Phaius and 
Calanthe about the same ; Masdevallias four to five years ; Chysis about 
Fig. 86.—Dendrobium, 7 months. Fig. 87.—Dendrobium, 12 months. 
the same. Then come longer intervals : Zygopetalum five to nine years, 
according to the cross. Thus, Z maxillare crossed with Z. Mackayi five 
years, vice versa nine years, a curious, but to us unaccountable circum¬ 
stance, as is the case of Cypripedium Schlimi which, crossed with 
C. longifolium, flowers in four years, but the vice versa cross takes six 
years, Lycaste takes seven to eight years ; Lrelias and Cattleyas may be 
said to flower from ten to twelve years from the seeds. 
[Seedlings of different genera at various stages of growth were here 
shown.] 
I will now glance at some of the results obtained by us from muling. 
Dominy began to hybridise Orchids at our Exeter nursery in 1853, and 
continued his operations for some time after removal to Chelsea in 1864. 
Seden began at Chelsea in 1866, and has worked uninterruptedly from that 
time to the present. Our experience, therefore, extends over a period of 
more than thirty years, during which the field of operations has been 
greatly enlarged, especially of late years, our experiments being made upon 
a vast number of cultivated Orchids, including many hundreds of crosses, 
not only between allied species, but also between species of different 
genera. 
Among the results obtained by Dominy at Exeter, Calanthe Domini, 
raised from C. masuca x C. furcata, will always be regarded with interest 
as being the first hybrid Orchid that flowered. It flowered for the first 
time in October, 1856, on which occasion the spike was shown by my father 
to Dr. Lindley, who exclaimed on seeing it, “ You will drive the botanists 
mad,” an expression quite characteristic of the rigid systematists who 
flourished prior to the publication of Darwin’s “ Fertilisation of Orchids 
by Insect Agency.” The first hybrid Cattleya that flowered was C. hybrids, 
a plant now lost, but which was soon followed by the flowering of C. 
Brabantige. The first hybrid 
Cypripedium to flower was C. 
Harrisianum, which justly com¬ 
memorates the name of Dr. 
Harris. Among other note¬ 
worthy acquisitions raised at 
Exeter were Cattleya Domini- 
ana, Lselia exoniemis, Calanthe 
Veitchi, and Lgelia Veitchi. The 
last-named flowered for the first 
time at Chelsea. Dominy also 
raised some seedling Vanda9, 
but they were afterwards lost. 
Seden’s acquisitions are more 
numerou 0 , and many of them 
unquestionably prove that sub¬ 
stantial progress is being made Fig. 88-Dendrobium, 18months, 
in spite of the innumerable 
difficulties that beset the raising of seedling Orchids. To anyone who 
has compared Cypripedium cardinale, C. Schrcederae, and C. Sedeni 
candidibulum, with the original C. Schlimi, the progress is manifest 
enough. And so with C. oenanthum superbum, C. Leeanum superbum, 
and C. Morganiae ; nor ought I to omit mention of Laslia flammea, still 
unique in colour among Orchids, Masdevallia Chelsoni, Calanthe Sedeni, 
also obtained by other operators, and Dendrobium micans. 
The following details may prove to be of some interest. Among 
Cattleyas we find that all the members of the labiata group and also the 
Brazilian species with two-leaved btems, as C. intermedia, C. Aclandia?, 
C. superba, &c., cross freely with each other and with the Brazilian 
Laelias, which also cross freely with each other. It is worthy of note 
