International News Photos. 
The illustration pictures seven stages in the 
development of an Orchid plant from the germ¬ 
inated seed on through to maturity. 
Raising seedlings from the test tube or flask 
stage through to maturity is a continuous oper¬ 
ation of selection as to strength. All weak grow¬ 
ers are culled out as the young plants are 
shifted to larger pots. 
The test tube shows germinated seed about 
six months old which will be left in the test tube 
for a total period of a year before it is trans¬ 
planted. They are then "pricked" off into com¬ 
munity pots of about twenty-five to a pot and 
left for approximately a year, depending upon 
rapidity of growth. The stronger plants are then 
selected and potted singly and from this stage 
on are shifted into larger pots as their growth 
warrants. A good average from seed to flow¬ 
ering would be six years. 
The plant pictured in flower is one of our own 
seedlings flowering for the first time. In hy¬ 
bridizing we aim to produce floriferous types 
with good form, color, texture and definite flow¬ 
ering seasons. Only the finest pedigreed stock 
is used as parents. This, together with our 
method of selecting only the strongest of each 
size enables us to offer what we honestly be¬ 
lieve to be the finest seedling stock available. 
