June  4,  1903. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
485 
The  Week’s  Cultural  Notes. 
Considering  the  way  we  have  to  treat  it  in  order  to  get  a  full 
flowering  return,  Odontoglossum  citrosinum  must  be  of  a  very 
vigorous  constitution.  In  winter  and  the  early  months  of  the 
year  it  is  so  dried  up  that  the  pseudo-bulbs  shrivel  up  to  nothing 
almost,  and  immediately  following  this  it  has  the  extra  strain  of 
flowering,  producing  and  maintaining  the  well  known  long 
racemes  of  beautiful  blossoms.  Now  that  these  are  getting  over 
•in  most  cases  it  is  time  to  see  to  the  well-being  of  the  plants  to 
enable  them  to  recuperate  and  prepare  for  another  season’s  ill- 
usage  and  flowering. 
It  does  not  require  frequent  repotting.  I  have  had  plants 
thrive  well  in  the  same  pots  or  baskets  for  five  or  six  years  with 
a  little  top-dressing  annually,  so  unless  in  a  really  bad  state  at 
the  roots  I  do  not  advise  their  removal  from  the  pots.  In  many 
-cases  a  little  of  the  old  peat  and  moss  can  be  removed  from  the 
base  of  the  new  leads;  then  fill  up  with  new  compost,  so  that 
the  newly  produced  roots  obtain  the  benefit  of  it.  It  likes  more 
heat  than  most  Odontoglossums,  and  in  company  with  O.  grande, 
O.  Insleayi,  and  others  of  this  class,  I  have  had  it  thrive  remark¬ 
ably  well  in  an  intermediate  fernery.  Very  free  supplies  of 
moisture  are  necessary  as  soon  as  the  root  and  top  growth  are 
both  active. 
Another  ill-treated  plant  is  Stanhopea  tigrina ;  indeed,  one 
might  almost  say  the  whole  of  the  genus  Stanhopea.  They  are 
hung  up  close  under  the  roof  in  a  hot  and  often  draughty  and 
dry  position,  the  prey  of  red  spider  and  other  insects.  Yet  they 
are  very  beautiful  plants,  their  only  drawback  being  the  short 
space  of  time  that  the  flowers  last.  Grow  them  in  ample  moisture 
and  keep  the  syringe  going  several  times  daily  about  the  leaves, 
and  there  will  be  small  cause  of  complaint.  They  do  not  relish 
a  heavy  compost,  clean  sphagnum  moss  and  crocks  or  charcoal 
suiting  them  well,  and  the  present  is  a  good  time  to  renew 
this.  Keep  the  bottom  as  open  as  possible  in  order  to  allow  the 
flower  stems,  which  are  always  produced  in  a  downward  direction, 
to  reach  the  light  below  with  as  little  obstruction  as  need  be. 
Thunias  advancing  for  and  in  flower  must  be  kept  in  a  very 
dry  atmosphere,  the  least  moisture  settling  on  the  delicate  struc¬ 
ture  of  the  blossoms  spotting  them  and  ruining  their  appearance. 
After  flowering  they  must  be  placed  in  the  full  sun,  close  to  the 
glass,  and  the  water  supply  gradually  diminished  as  the  foliage 
falls.  Any  that  are  apparently  not  going  to  flower  should  not  be 
kept  in  the  growing  quarters  after  the  end  of  June,  as  if  allowed 
to  gi'ow  on  indefinitely  they  will  not  ripen  properly  afterwards. — 
H.  R.  R. 
A  Revolution  in  Orchidology. 
One  of  those  incidents  which  give  something  of  a  romantic 
flavour  to  the  cultivation  of  Orchids  took  place  at  a  recent  meet¬ 
ing  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society,  when  Mr.  H.  T.  Pitt,  of 
Stamford  Hill,  exhibited  a  specimen  of  Odontoglossum  crispum, 
which  he  called  Persimmon.  The  species  is  the  commonest  and 
cheapest  of  all  Orchids,  but  by  the  consensus  of  experts  assembled 
this  example  was  valued  at  two  thousand  guineas.  Of  course,  it 
received  a  First  Class  Certificate.  Everyone  (says  a  correspon¬ 
dent  of  the  “  Standard  ”)  knows  Odontoglossum  crispum,  though 
not  everyone  recognises  the  name.  It  is  a  white  flower,  generally 
— not  always — spotted  more  or  less  with  red-brown.  When 
the  spots  occur,  sometimes  they  are  mere  dots,  sometimes 
irregular  splashes  ;  occasionally  the  splashes  are  large  and  regular, 
that  is.  they  match.  Then  the  value  of  the  plant  begins  to  mount 
up,  and  it  increases  proportionately  to  the  size  and  colour  of  these 
markings.  For  fashion  all  over  Europe  has  decided  that  “  spotted 
crispums.”  so  called  par  excellence,  are  the  supreme  ornament  of 
a  collection;  in  the  United  States  amateurs  have  fixed  another 
ideal,  because  Odontoglots  will  not  live  in  that  dry  atmosphere. 
Fashion  is  never  guided  by  sesthetic  taste.  A  pure  white  crispum, 
large  and  well-shaped,  is  so  far  superior  in  beauty  to  any  varie¬ 
gated  form  that  to  an  artist  the  comparison  is  grotesque.  But 
artists  are  not  commonly  Orchid  growers  or  millionaires.  In  a 
business  point  of  view  the  supremacy  of  the  spotted  is  assured. 
Of  these  the  most  remarkable  example  is  Baron  Schroder’s  O.  c. 
apiatum — indeed,  no  other  approaches  it.  The  flowers  measure 
five  inches  across,  pure  white  of  ground,  studded  witli  great 
blotches,  which  to  a  fanciful  eye  resemble  bees — whence  the  name 
— crimson-maroon  in  colour.  In  the  second  rank  are  O.  c. 
Cooksonise,  which  has  been  valued  at  three  thousand  guineas, 
Luciani,  Sanderianum,  Pittianum,  and  the  new'  Persimmon — both 
the  latter  belong  to  the  same  fortunate  Mr.  Pitt.  Since  the 
story  of  Persimmon  has  been  published — and  such  matters,  though 
private,  are  not  unworthy  to  be  chronicled — we  may  recapitulate 
the  facts.  An  agent,  Mr.  Walters,  bought  twenty-four  O.  cris¬ 
pums,  as  a  little  speculation,  at  eighteenpence  apiece.  Failing 
to  sell  the  lot  for  £10,  he  resolved  to  “grow  them  on.”  The  first 
te  flower  Ls  Persimmon.  Half  the  plant  was  offered  to  an  Orchid 
firm  for  a  thousand  guineas.  They  proposed  twelve  hundred 
guineas  for  the  whole,  which  was  refu.sed. 
The  astonished  public  may  ask  when  this  mania  is  going  to 
cease.  There  are  no  signs  of  the  end  at  present.  Unless  we 
mistake,  six  hundred  guineas  is  the  largest  sum  actually  paid  for 
a  single  plant  of  Orchid  to  public  knowledge,  until  this  last 
transaction.  But  it  is  very  well  known  that  much  larger  amounts 
have  been  offered  ;  amateurs  who  own  masterpieces  often  refuse 
to  sell  at  any  price.  The  passion  for  Orchids  will  never  cool 
whilst  men  cherish  a  love  of  beautv.  But  it  is  scarcely  doubtful 
that  these  extravagant  rates  will  fall  some  time.  Science  is 
attacking  them.  Every  speck  of  colour  on  an  Odontoglossum 
crispum  is  due  to  a  foreign  strain.  The  flower,  as  Nature  made 
it,  was  jjure  white.  But  two  other  species  are  nearly  always 
found  on  the  same  tree- -one  yellow,  speckled  with  brown,  the 
other  yellowish,  blotched  with  chestnut.  And  all  three  breed 
together  with  perfect  freedom.  Under  these  circumstances  it  is 
surprising  that  any  pure  white  crispums  remain.  But,  besides 
the  two  species  mentioned,  there  are  others  of  varied  colouring, 
less  common,  but  not  far  off.,  And  finally,  it  is  prov'ed  by  experi¬ 
ment  that  Odontoglots  are  fertile,  not  only  with  all  other  .species 
of  their  own  genus,  but  with  several  other  genera  of  Orchid. 
Such  cross-breeding,  repeated  for  ages,  explains  any  eccentricity  ; 
we  have  only  to  imitate  the  processes  of  Nature  to  obtain  the 
same  results.  But  for  many  years  after  the  practice  of  hybridisa¬ 
tion  had  been  established,  every  attempt  failed  in  the  case  of 
Odontoglots,  until  at  length  it  became  accepted  as  a  law,  my.s- 
terious  but  unquestionable,  that  this  genus  could  not  be  induced 
to  hybridise  by  artificial  means.  Great,  therefore,  was  the 
astonishment  of  the  authorities  when  in  1890  M.  Leroy,  gardener 
to  Baron  Edmund  de  Rothschild  at  Armainvilliei'S,  flowered  a 
cross  of  crispum  and  luteo-purpureum.  It  broke  the  spell.  All 
over  Europe  men  began  to  fertilise  Odontoglots,  with  such  suc¬ 
cess  that  now  they  are  wondering  how  on  earth  they  contrived  to 
fail  for  twenty  years  and  more.  But  Orchid  seedlings  take  a 
long  while  to  reach  the  flowering  stage.  At  this  moment,  so  far 
as  our  information  goes,  only  twelve  hybi'id  Odontoglots  have 
bloomed — that  is  twelve  “  crosses,”  wdth  many  ijlants  in  each 
“  cross  ” — all  fine.  Three  of  the  twelve  turned  out  to  be  arti¬ 
ficial  reproductions  of  familiar  “  species,”  as  we  used  to  reckon 
them — viz.,  Leroyanum,  mentioned  above,  which  proves  to  be 
the  old  Wilckeanum,  Adrianse  (crispum  and  Hunnewellianum), 
cxcellens  (triumphans  and  Pescatorei).  Nine  positively  new 
crosses  remain,  products  of  crispum  and  Halli,  and  the  reverse, 
Halli  and  crispum;  crispum  and  Harryanum,  and  its  reverse; 
crispum  and  triumphans  ;  Pescatorei  and  Harryanum  ;  luteo-pur¬ 
pureum  and  Harryanum  ;  crispum  and  Pescatorei ;  crispum  and 
cordatum.  But  other  seedlings  are  numbered  by  the  hundred 
thousand,  and  every  year  now  will  bring  a  larger  and  larger  crop 
of  novelties. 
An  incident  at  the  last  Temple  Show  demonstrates  the  effect 
which  hybridisation  must  have  upon  the  rage  for  “  spotted 
crispums.”  A  leading  Continental  grower  exhibited  a  very  fine 
one.  The  judges  granted  it  a  First  Class  Certificate,  though  with 
some  hesitation — not  because  its  merits  were  doubtful,  but 
because  they  suspected  its  origin.  The  plant  was  sold  for  three 
hundred  and  fifty  guineas.  Afterwards  the  Orchid  Committee 
made  an  examination  at  leisure,  and  decided  that  it  was  an  arti¬ 
ficial  hybrid.  The  foreign  grower,  summoned  to  explain,  cheer¬ 
fully  confessed  that  he  had  raised  it  himself  from  seed, 
ingenuously  adding  that  he  had  entered  it  as  a  natural  variety 
because  it  would  fetch  more  money  under  that  description!  Thus 
the  precious  spots  have  already  been  imitated  in  one  ca.se.  At 
the  same  time  it  must  be  admitted  that  hybridisers  have  not  yet 
begun  to  see  their  way  towards  reproducing  such  supreme 
examples  as  Baron  Schroder’s  apiatum.  These  have  been  pro¬ 
duced,  no  doubt,  by  cross-breeding  continued  for  ages.  Or  there 
are  inexplicable  freaks  like  Mr.  J.  W.  Potter’s  Lady  Jane,  in 
which  the  spots  change  to  parallel  lines.  It  becomes  more  and 
more  probable  that  these  strange, st  and  rarest  instances  are  due 
to  the  introduction  of  some  species  which  %vas  not  an  Odonto-. 
glossum  of  any  sort.  The  suggestion  would  have  seemed  too 
absurd  for  debate  a  few  years  ago.  But  hybridisation  is  teaching 
us  strange  lessons.  It  was  bitterly  reviled  by  men  of  science  at 
the  outset  as  confusing  the  identity  of  species.  The  hybridisers 
have  avenged  themselves  by  confusing  not  only  species  but  genera. 
They  are  breaking  down  the  theories  of  science  in  all  directions. 
Everybody  knows  the  axiom  that  mules,  the  product  of  two 
species,  must  be  barren  ;  if  not,  the  parents  did  not  really  belong 
to  different  species.  But  if  this  be  a  sound  rule,  it  may  be 
declared  with  confidence  that  there  are  no  species  among  Orchids 
— in  the  same  genus,  of  course.  Thou.sands  have  been  tested 
already,  and  always  the  product  is  fertile.  Not  less  than  one 
thousand  have  flowered — three  hundred  and  fifty  in  the  genus 
Cypripedium  alone — all  of  which  prove  to  be  true  mules,  in  the 
sense  that  they  show  the  influence  of  either  parent ;  but  they 
breed  without  difficulty  with  their  parents  or  between  themselves. 
Things  have  come  to  such  a  point,  however,  that  this  revolution 
seems  a  trifle.  Genera  tend  to  vanidi  in  the  saine  way  -that  is. 
