May 21, 1985. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
423 
here. Dr. Paterson of the Bridge of Allen says how deeply interested he is 
in the objects of the Orchid Conference, and he sincerely wishes it every 
success, as for half a century he has derived very great pleasure and 
instruction from the cultivation of all kinds of plants. We also regret the 
absence of plants which might have been sent from the Duke of Sutherland's, 
as more splendid species of Odontoglossums than those at Trentham cannot 
he seen in any other part of England. I do not suppose in any family of 
plants there i3 anything approaching the extraordinary variety which 
Orchids display. You get what appear to he in all respects totally different 
flowers growing on the same plants. Almost all epiphytes grow upon trees. 
A most singular circumstance connected with Orchids is the peculiar 
contrivance by which it is hardly possible for them to be fertilised except by 
the intervention of insects or the hand of man. Nothing has been more 
remarkable than the rapid increase of our knowledge of this family. Look¬ 
ing back to the first volume of the Botanical Magazine , which appeared 
in 1787, I find in the first ten volumes—from 1787 to 1796—that there 
were only two Orchids illustrated out of 360 plate3. If you go to the first 
ten volumes of the third series of the Botanical Magazine, which 
appeared in the years 1845 to 1854, you find, on the other hand, that 
there are a hundred different species of Orchids illustrated out of the same 
number of plates. Now, so far as the possibility goes, it would be quite 
possible to fill almost every number of the Botanical Magazine with new 
species of Orchids, if it were desired to do so. I may say I have occasion¬ 
ally, as a subscriber to that periodical, been disposed to complain that we 
do not get a few more Orchids in it. I think sometimes they might very 
worthily replace some of the rather insignificant foreign weeds which 
appear there. I believe there are hardly fewer than 5000 species of Orchids 
known. Of that number there are close upon 2000 in cultivation. With 
regard to one particular genus (the Dendrobium) I have had in my collec¬ 
tion no less than a hundred species in cultivation at one time. There is 
another curious circumstance in connection with Orchids. I do not see 
that with regard to most of them there is any reason why they should ever 
die. Parts of Orchids are annually reproduced in a great many instances, 
and death need not take place except through being in captivity or from 
errors of cultivation. I suppose it is quite as possible to give to plants, 
especially Orchids, such constitutional diseases as we human beings suffer 
from, such as gout and other things ; and it is quite as possible to give like 
diseases to plants by injudicious diet and by feeding them too well or on 
improper food. There is another curious circumstance with which I think 
the industry of collectors is making us better and better acquainted. There 
exist albinos in some of the principal genera of Orchids, such as Cattleya 
and Dendrobium, and this shows the contrariety of human nature in regard 
to these genera. We search and endeavour to secure albinos ; and when we 
have flowers which are white we search and endeavour to secure coloured 
varieties. With regard to the collection of Orchids, in former years col¬ 
lectors were sent out by wealthy amateurs, gentlemen who desired to adorn 
their gardens with new plants, new flowers—gentlemen such as the Duke 
of Devonshire, the Duke of Northumberland, and other persons occupying 
similar positions. Of course, this Society did a great deal of very good 
work by employing very enterprising, skilful collectors. All this, so far as 
private people are concerned, has come to an end, and I think, perhaps, on 
the whole, it is to the advantage of the cultivation of Orchids that this 
matter should have passed into the hands of business people, who collect 
Orchids as a matter of commerce. In referring to that for one moment one 
would not do justice to several of the persons to whom we owe so many of 
the beautiful species, if we were not to pay some personal tribute to them. 
The firm of Messrs. Hugh Low & Co. have for many years devoted them¬ 
selves, their capital and enterprise, in this direction. Then there are Messrs. 
Veitch & Sons, Messrs. B. S. Williams & Sons, Mr. Bull, and Messrs. Back¬ 
house. Many other firms have in years past devoted a great deal of enter¬ 
prise to this matter. I have got a list of the countries that have been 
covered by the collectors of one firm only. These are—the Argentine Re¬ 
public, Borneo, Brazil, Guiana, Ceylon, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, 
British Honduras, British India, Upper Burmah, Jamaica, Java, Labuan, 
Madagascar, Mexico, Celebes, Uraguay, Nicaragua, Panama, Malay Penin¬ 
sula, Singapore, Phillippine Islands, Trinidad, San Salvador, United States, 
Columbia, and Venezuela. This shows at all events that there has been no 
want of very wide travel on the part of the collectors, and perhaps it may 
lead some people to suppose that we have very nearly collected all the 
Orchids we are likely to get. I do not think this is the case. In regard to 
one Orchid, one of the principal importers of plants told me his collectors 
had been searching for it for many years, although it was known about where 
it grew. I refer to the Odontoglossum nsevium majus. Perhaps someday 
it may be found in profusion. 
With regard to one subject, I think the public seems to take great interest 
in Orchids. Anybody who is accustomed to attend auctions knows that every 
now and then some foolish persons, like myself, are carried away by the 
momentary spirit of competition, and we give more than the plants are really 
worth, and this applies to all collectors. What I would venture to say in 
regard to tin price of Orchids is this: it is never very wise or judicious to 
give a very large price for imported Orchids, although they may be said to 
beextreme'y rare, because some collector may turn up to-morrow with a 
shipload of the same flower, and what you gave 60 guineas for one day 
would, perhaps, not be worth more than as many shillings the next. 
I think it more reasonable for wealthy persons to give a considerable price 
for Orchids which have been raised by cross-fertilisation in this country, 
because they are the results of horticultural skill that cannot be imported 
from abroad. When you consider the vast amount of careful watching and 
labour which is involved in coaxing a seedling Cattleya into a flowering 
state, I think you may fairly admit there is some good ground for the 
persons who have succeeded in raising seedling Cattleyas to consider them¬ 
selves entitled to charge a large price for them. I think I am correct in 
saying that the first seedling Cattleya that was ever raised in this country 
was seventeen years before it flowered, and during that time it required very 
careful watching. With regard to imported Orchids, I should instance that 
in the present Conference there are three very beautiful varieties in the col¬ 
lection which is shown, and for which we are indebted to Baron Schroder— 
Odontoglossum crispum Veitchianum and Odontoglossum crispum Sanderi- 
annm. One of them is suffused with a sort of port,-wine stain, and another 
is very richly Spotted. I believe we might spend a lifetime and flower 
hundreds and thousands before we could get three such varieties as these 
are. Of course you all know when you get any exceedingly rare, and at the 
same time beautiful plant, it is naturally competed for on all sides, and is 
sold for a large price, and I think there is full justification for its being so. 
Professor Reichenbach’s paper (see page 418) was then read, and wa3 
followed by Mr. Veitch’s paper on Hybridisation, which was received with 
the greatest applause, and in the discussion which followed :— 
Dr. Masters, F.R.S., said : As a botanist, I have listened to this paper 
with the utmost admiration. 1 have been struck with the value and number 
of the facts brought forward, many of them of such great interest as to 
render this paper one of the finest which has ever been read before this 
Society. The only contribution I would make in the way of discussion is 
this—that among the hundreds, perhaps thousands of Orchid seeds that I 
have seen, not one-tenth have been perfect, and this is the reason, in all 
probability, why so few have germinated under Mr. Veitch’s care. The 
perfect Orchid seed is a nearly circular or elliptical bag or membrane, with 
a minute microscopical germ inside. Not in one-tenth of the seeds I have 
seen has this germ been present. Of course this is absolutsly necessary to 
germination, and without it no seed can germinate. 
The Chairman said: Mr. Veitch has mentioned my name as one who has 
had some experience of late years as a hybridist. I can entirely corroborate 
if it were necessary what has been said about the exceeding difficulty of 
getting fertile seed, and in Mr. Darwin’s book on the “ Fertilisation of 
Orchids ” he mentions having microscopically examined seeds sent to him, 
and he found there was in an entire pod perhaps one fertile seed. Every 
now and then—but this is most exceptional—seedpods have produced a vast 
number of fertile seeds. I have bought a Cypripedium which has produced 
a large number of plants—so large a number, in fact, that we have been 
constrained to throw a large quantity away. This was owing to the crossing 
of two Cypripediums. With regard to Dendrobium, we have pods which 
have produced a very large number of plants. With regard to Odonto¬ 
glossum, we certainly have had seed germinate, bnt it has only lived to 
arrive at a very small size, which could scarcely be distinguished, even with 
the aid of a microscope, and has very speedily died. So far as the very 
small experience that I have had as a hybridist goes, I should say it is far 
more difficult to raise seedlings of some of the hybrid crossings than to 
raise delicate children, and those errors that I referred to in my opening 
remarks on the importance of diet and treatment, which I am afraid all our 
intelligence has not enabled us to avoid in regard to children, the little 
experience we have had of the progeny of Orchids will not enable us to 
avoid similar errors in regard to these flowers. Mr. Fitzgerald, in his book 
on “Australian Orchids,” shows the extreme difficulty with which, in Nature, 
Orchids are fertilised ; but he refers to a magnificent Dendrobium speciosum, 
called the Brisbane Lily, which had as many as 40,000 flowers open on the 
same plant at the same time. The plant was quite open to the visits' of 
insects of every description. 
The Chairman then alluded to the award of the Veitch medals, alluded 
to in our leading article. 
Mr. Veitch, as representing the Veitch family, said : I am gratified to 
see that the medal founded in honour of my father’s memory should have 
been given to Mr. Seden. He has been twenty-five years in our employ. 
He entered my father’s service, and a more zealous and skilful foreman it 
would be difficult to find. Therefore I wish to bear testimony to my 
pleasure at Mr. Seden receiving a Veitch medal. 
Mr. B. T. Lowne: One of the difficulties in rearing seedling Orchids 
arises, I believe, from the fact that the pollen is only developed from the 
prolification of the mother cells after the pollinia are placed upon the 
stigma. It is possible, I think, that the stimulation due to the presence of 
the pollinia gives rise to the development of the capsule even whilst the 
ovules remain unimpregnate. 
Mr. James Bateman : I have very great pleasure in proposing a vote of 
thanks to Mr. Veitch for his admirable paper. I am sure he and Mr. 
Dominy will know the effort it causes me to make this proposal, for I have 
been brought up with the very strongest aversion to hybridists. I fell into 
evil hands early in life. My first orchidist friend was Mr. Huntley. When 
I paid him a visit at his snug little rectory in Huntingdonshire, he pointed 
to his Cacti and Orchids and said, “ I like these plants. They are the only 
plants I grow, because those dreadful fiends (meaning hybridists) cannot 
touch them.” You must make a little allowance for the botanist, because 
you hybridists do give botanists a little trouble. However strong my 
prejudices were I must confess that when I saw such plants as your 
Cattleya, if I was not converted, at all events, what came to the same thing, 
I was “ shut up.” 
Mr. John Day seconded the motion, which was carried with acclamation. 
Mr. Veitch, in reply, said he was exceedingly obliged to the Conference 
for their kind vote. Mr. Bateman was a kind-hearted genial gentleman, 
and he had always asked himself what could be the reason of Mr. Bateman’s 
conduct when that gentleman went to his house, because he always adopted 
a very severe manner when he went near a hybrid. He could understand 
the whole matter now, and he was glad to know that Mr. Bateman had 
lived sufficiently long to give up hij horror of hybrids, and he hoped he 
would still be able to name one of those flowers after Mr. Bateman. 
Mr. J. O’Brien then read his paper on “ The Cultivation of Orchids." 
Professor Michael Foster said, as there did not seem to be any intention 
of discussing the last paper, he would propose a hearty vote of thanks to Mr. 
O’Brien. The motion was seconded and carried, and the Conference then 
adjourned till 2 f.m. 
THE NOMENCLATURE OF ORCHIDS. 
Mr. Lee took the chair in the afternoon, and intimated that the subject 
for discussion was “ The Nomenclature of Orchids.” 
Dr. Harvey, Liverpool, who opened the discussion, said : I feel very great 
diffidence in speaking in the presence of men who have given so much atten¬ 
tion to the subject, but my excuse must be that I feel strongly on the 
subject. I think that if a conference was required for the nomenclature of 
Daffodils, it must be necessary for the nomenclature of Orchids. The great 
difficulty we have to contend with to-day is the absence of Professor 
Reichenbach. I do not tlrnk it is in the power of this Committee to decide 
that the Orchid Confere ace shall be permanent, but something should be 
