Chapter 14

It becomes yet stronger by reason of the delightful uncertainty which attends one's efforts. So far as I have heard or read, no one has yet been able to offer a suggestion of any law which decides the result of combination. In a general way, both parents will be represented in the offspring, but how, to what degree either will dominate, in what parts, colours, or fashions a hybrid will show its mixed lineage, the experienced refuse to conjecture, saving certain easy classes. After choosing parents thoughtfully, with a clear perception of the aim in view, one must "go it blind." Very often the precise effect desired appears in due time; very often something unlooked for turns up; but nearly always the result is beautiful, whether or no it serve the operator's purpose. Besides effect, however, there is an utility in hybridization which relates to culture. Thus, for example, the lovely _Cypripedium Fairieanum_ is so difficult to grow that few dealers keep it in their stock; by crossing it with _Cyp. barbatum_, from Mount Ophir, a rough-and-ready cool species, we get _Cyp. vexillarium_, which takes after the latter in constitution while retaining much of the beauty of the former. Or again, _Cypripedium Sanderianum_, from the Malay Archipelago, needs such swampy heat as few even of its fellows appreciate; it has been crossed with _Cyp. insigne_, which will flourish anywhere, and though the seedlings have not yet bloomed, there is no reasonable doubt that they will prove as useful and beautiful as in the other case. _Cypripedium insigne_, of the fine varieties, has been employed in a multitude of such instances. There is the striking _Cyp. hirsutissimum_, with sepals of a nameless green, shaded yellow, studded with spiculæ, exquisitely frilled, and tipped, by a contrast almost startling, with pale purple. It is very "hot" in the first place, and, in the second, its appearance would be still more effective if some white could be introduced; present it to _Cyp. niveum_ and confidently expect that the progeny will bear cooler treatment, whilst their "dorsal sepal" will be blanched. So the charming _Masdevallia Tovarensis_, warm, white and lowly, will take to itself the qualities, in combination, of _Mas. bella_, tall, cool, and highly coloured red and yellow, as Mr. Cookson has proved; so _Phaloenopsis Wightii_, delicate of growth and small of flower, will become strong and generous by union with _Phal. grandiflora_, without losing its dainty tones.

It is worth mention that the first Flora medal offered by the Royal Horticultural Society for a seedling--a hybrid--in open competition was won by _Loelia Arnoldiana_ in 1891; the same variety took the first prize in 1892. It was raised by Messrs. Sander from _L. purpurata_ × _Catt. labiata_; seed sown 1881, flowered 1891.

And now for the actual process by which these most desirable results, and ten thousand others, may be obtained. I shall not speak upon my own authority, which the universe has no reason to trust. Let us observe the methods practised in the great establishment of Mr. Sander at St. Albans.

Remark, in the first place, the low, unshaded range of houses devoted to hybridization, a contrast to those lofty structures, a hundred yards long or more, where plants merely flourish and bloom. Their span roofs one may touch with the hand, and their glass is always newly cleaned. The first and last demand of the hybridizer is light--light--eternally light. Want of it stands at the bottom of all his disappointments, perhaps. The very great majority of orchids, such as I refer to, have their home in the tropics; even the "cool" Odontoglots and Masdevallias owe that quality to their mountaineering habit, not to latitude. They live so near the equator that sunshine descends almost perpendicularly--and the sun shines for more than half the year. But in this happy isle of ours, upon the very brightest day of midsummer, its rays fall at an angle of 28°, declining constantly until, at midwinter, they struggle through the fogs at an inclination of 75°. The reader may work out this proportion for himself, but he must add to his reckoning the thickness of our atmosphere at its best, and the awful number of cloudy days. We cannot spare one particle of light. The ripening seed must stand close beneath the glass, and however fierce the sunshine no blind may be interposed. It is likely that the mother-plant will be burnt up--quite certain that it will be much injured.

This house is devoted to the hybridizing of Cypripediums; I choose that genus for our demonstration, because, as has been said, it is so very easy and so certain that an intelligent girl mastered all its eccentricities of structure after a single lesson, which made her equally proficient in those of Dendrobes, Oncidiums, Odontoglots, Epidendrums, and I know not how many more. The leaves are green and smooth as yet, with many a fantastic bloom, and many an ovary that has just begun to swell, rising amidst the verdure. Each flower spike which has been crossed carries its neat label, registering the father's name and the date of union.

Mr. Maynard takes the two first virgin blooms to hand: _Cypripedium Sanderianum_, and _Cypripedium Godefroyæ_, as it chances. Let us cut off the lip in order to see more clearly. Looking down now upon the flower, we mark two wings, the petals, which stood on either side of the vanished lip. From the junction of these wings issues a round stalk, about one quarter of an inch long, and slightly hairy, called the "column." It widens out at the tip, forming a pretty table, rather more than one-third of an inch long and wide. This table serves no purpose in our inquiry; it obstructs the view, and we will remove it; but the reader understands, of course, that these amputations cannot be performed when business is intended. Now--the table snipped off--we see those practical parts of the flower that interest us. Beneath its protection, the column divides into three knobbly excrescences, the central plain, those on either side of it curling back and down, each bearing at its extremity a pad, the size of a small pin's head, outlined distinctly with a brown colour. It is quite impossible to mistake these things; equally impossible, I hope, to misunderstand my description. The pads are the male, the active organs.

But the column does not finish here. It trends downward, behind and below the pads, and widens out, with an exquisitely graceful curve, into a disc one-quarter of an inch broad. This is the female, the receptive part; but here we see the peculiarity of orchid structure. For the upper surface of the disc is not susceptible; it is the under surface which must be impregnated, though the imagination cannot conceive a mere accident which would throw those fertilizing pads upon their destined receptacle. They are loosely attached and adhesive, when separated, to a degree actually astonishing, as is the disc itself; but if it were possible to displace them by shaking, they could never fall where they ought. Some outside impulse is needed to bring the parts together. In their native home insects perform that service--sometimes. Here we may take the first implement at hand, a knife, a bit of stick, a pencil. We remove the pads, which yield at a touch, and cling to the object. We lay them one by one on the receptive disc, where they seem to melt into the surface--and the trick is done. Write out your label--_"Cyp. Sanderianum × Cyp. Godefroyæ_, Maynard." Add the date, and leave Nature to her work.

She does not linger. One may almost say that the disc begins to swell instantly. That part which we term the column is the termination of the seed-purse, the ovary, which occupies an inch, or two, or three, of the stalk, behind the flower. In a very few days its thickening becomes perceptible. The unimpregnated bloom falls off at its appointed date, as everybody knows; but if fertilized it remains entire, saving the labellum, until the seed is ripe, perhaps half a year afterwards--but withered, of course. Very singular and quite inexplicable are the developments that arise in different genera, or even species, after fertilization. In the Warscewiczellas, for example, not the seed-purse only, but the whole column swells. _Phaloenopsis Luddemanniana_ is specially remarkable. Its exquisite bars and mottlings of rose, brown, and purple begin to take a greenish hue forthwith. A few days later, the lip jerks itself off with a sudden movement, as observers declare. Then the sepals and petals remaining take flesh, thicken and thicken, while the hues fade and the green encroaches, until, presently, they assume the likeness of a flower, abnormal in shape but perfect, of dense green wax.

This Cypripedium of ours will ripen its seed in about twelve months, more or less. Then the capsule, two inches long and two-thirds of an inch diameter, will burst. Mr. Maynard will cut it off, open it wide, and scatter the thousands of seeds therein, perhaps 150,000, over pots in which orchids are growing. After experiments innumerable, this has been found the best course. The particles, no bigger than a grain of dust, begin to swell at once, reach the size of a mustard-seed, and in five or six weeks--or as many months--they put out a tiny leaf, then a tiny root, presently another leaf, and in four or five years we may look for the hybridized flower. Long before, naturally, they have been established in their own pots.

Strange incidents occur continually in this pursuit, as may be believed. Nine years since, Mr. Godseff crossed _Catasetum macrocarpum_ with _Catasetum callosum_. The seed ripened, and in due time it was sown; but none ever germinated in the proper place. A long while afterwards Mr. Godseff remarked a tiny little green speck in a crevice above the door of this same house. It grew and grew very fast, never receiving water unless by the rarest accident, until those experts could identify a healthy young Catasetum. And there it has flourished ever since, receiving no attention; for it is the first rule in orchid culture to leave a plant to itself where it is doing well, no matter how strange the circumstances may appear to us. This Catasetum, wafted by the wind, when the seed was sown, found conditions suitable where it lighted, and quickened, whilst all its fellows, carefully provided for, died without a sign. It thrives upon the moisture of the house. In a very few years it will flower. In another case, when all hope of the germination of a quantity of seed had long been lost, it became necessary to take up the wooden trellis that formed the flooring of the path; a fine crop of young hybrids was discovered clinging to the under side.

The amateur who has followed us thus far with interest, may inquire how long it will be before he can reasonably expect to see the outcome of our proceedings? In the first place, it must be noted that the time shortens continually as we gain experience. The statements following I leave unaltered, because they are given by Messrs. Veitch, our oldest authority, in the last edition of their book. But at the Temple Show this year Norman C. Cookson, Esq., exhibited _Catt. William Murray_, offspring of _Catt. Mendellii × Catt. Lawrenceana_, a lovely flower which gained a first class certificate. It was only four years old.

The quickest record as yet is _Calanthe Alexanderii_, with which Mr. Cookson won a first-class certificate of the Royal Horticultural Society. It flowered within three years of fertilizing. As a genus, perhaps, Dendrobiums are readiest to show. Plants have actually been "pricked out" within two months of sowing, and they have bloomed within the fourth year. Phajus and Calanthe rank next for rapid development. Masdevallia, Chysis, and Cypripedium require four to five years, Lycaste seven to eight, Loelia and Cattleya ten to twelve. These are Mr. Veitch's calculations in a rough way, but there are endless exceptions, of course. Thus his _Loelia triophthalma_ flowered in its eighth season, whilst his _Loelia caloglossa_ delayed till its nineteenth. The genus _Zygopetalum_, which plays odd tricks in hybridizing, as I have mentioned, is curious in this matter also. _Z. maxillare_ crossed with _Z. Mackayi_ demands five years to bloom, but _vice versâ_ nine years. There is a case somewhat similar, however, among the Cypripeds. _C. Schlimii_ crossed with _C. longifolium_ flowers in four years, but _vice versâ_ in six. It is not to be disputed, therefore, that the hybridizer's reward is rather slow in coming; the more earnestly should he take measures to ensure, so far as is possible, that it be worth waiting for.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 9: Mr. Cookson writes to me: "Give some of the credit to my present gardener, William Murray, who is entitled to a large proportion, at least."]

INDEX.

PAGE Aerides Lawrenciæ 160 Angræcum arcuatum 134 " caudatum 135 " Duchailluianum 134 " Ellisii 135 " falcatum 133 " Kotschyi 135 " Leonis 135 " Sanderianum 134 " Scottianum 135 " sesquipedale (Æranthus sesquipedalis) 135 Anomatheca cruenta 11

Begonia coralina 195 Begonias 86 Brassias 207 Brassavola Digbyana 128 Bulbophyllum barbigerum 169 " Beccarii 169 " Dearei 170 " Godseffianum 170 " Lobbii 170 Bullthorn acacia 124

Calanthe Alexanderii 246 " Dominii 214 " Sedeni 215 " Veitchii 215 Catasetum barbatum 123 " Bungerothi (C. pileatum) 123 " callosum 123 " fimbriatum 123 Cattleya Acklandiæ 154 " amethystoglossa 154 " aurea 115 " Brymeriana 232 " Dowiana 115, 151 " Hardyana 118 " hybrida 214 " labiata 111 " Lawrenceana 92 " Mendellii 117 " " fly 117 " Mossiæ 111 " Sanderiana 118 " Skinneri alba 119 " superba 152 " Trianæ 111, 201 " violacea 110 Coelogene cristata 160 " Dayana 161 " pandurata 160 " Sanderiana 161 Cookson, Norman, Esq. 22433

Collectors:-- Arnold 27, 28, 70, 180, 181 Bartholomeus 122, 180 Bestwood 180 Chaillu, M. Du 134 Chesterton 180, 181 Clarke 181 Digance 181 Dressel 77 Endres 70 Ericksson 32, 33 Falkenberg 69 Forstermann 162 Gardner 174, 175, 181 Hartweg 67 Humblot 133 Kerbach 72, 180 Klaboch 70, 105, 180 Kromer 95, 98, 99 Lawrenceson 181 Micholitz 30, 31 Osmers 94, 181 Oversluys 163, 180 Roebelin 140, 160 Roezl 66, 75, 76, 105, 139, 204, 205 Schroeder 70 Seyler 100 Smith 180, 181 Steigfers 99 Swainson 173-175, 177, 179, 181 Wallace 35 Wallis 70 Weir 67 Cypripedium calceolus 82, 224, 225 " candidum 82 " Curtisi 32 " Fairieanum 223 " guttatum 82 " insigne 83, 84, 108 " macranthum 82 " niveum 85 " parviflorum 82 " planifolium 87 " pubescens 82 " purpuratum 223 " Sedeni 228 " spectabile 82 " Spicerianum 83, 85 " vexillarium 238 Cymbidium Lowianum 195 " Albertesii 131

Dendrobium atro-violaceum 131 " bigibbum 168 " Broomfieldianum 131 " Brymerianum 127 " Forstermanni 127 " Goldiei 130 " heterocarpum 230 " Johannis 168 " luteolum 195 " nobile nobilius 128 " " Cooksoni 129 " " Sanderianum 129 " phaloenopsis 168 " " Schroederianum 29 " rhodopterygium 127 " superbiens 168 " Wardianum 125 Disa Cooperi 166 " discolor 166 " grandiflora 165 " racemosa 165

Epidendrum bicornutum 40 " O'Brienianum 220 " prismatocarpum 167 " radicans 167 " Randii 152 " rhizophorum 167

Frogs, green, value of 13

Galleandra Devoniana 156 Grammatophyllum speciosum 171 " Measureseanum 171 " multiflorum 172

Hybridizing 210

Lycaste Skinneri 79-81, 206 " " alba 79, 81 " aromatica 80 " cruenta 81 Loelia anceps 109, 120, 122 " elegans 153 " Maynardii 218 " purpurata 153, 154 " guttata Leopoldi 152, 153, 154 " anceps alba 122 " " Amesiana 109

Masdevallia Livingstoniana 140 " Schlimii 76 " Tovarensis 27

Odontoglossum Alexandræ 39, 67, 71 " citrosmum 58 " grande 107 " Hallii 77 " Harryanum 75 " Hybrids 64, 78, 108, 231 " noeveum 77 " ramossissimum (coeleste) 34 " Roezlii (Miltonia Roezlii) 64 " Schlieperianum 107 " vexillarium (Miltonia vexillaria) 104 " Williamsi 107 Oncidium cibolletum 116 " crispum 47 " cucullatum 230 " fuscatum 90 " Jonesianum 116 " juncifolium 39 " Lanceanum 164 " luridum 39 " macranthum 88 " papilio 164 " sculptum 89 " serratum 89 " splendidum 162, 163 " superbiens 89

Peristeria elata 138 Phajus Cooksoni 219 " Humblotii 133 " irroratus 219 " purpureus 219 " tuberculosus 133 Phaloenopsis 54 " amabilis 158 " cornucervi 159 " F.L. Ames 221 " Harriettæ 221 " intermedia 221 " Luddemanniana 244 " Manni 159 " Portei 159 " Sanderiana 159 " Schilleriana 158 " speciosa 157 " tetraspis 156

Renanthera coccinea 113, 146, 147 Roraima Mountain 77, 94

Schomburgkia tibicinis 124 Sobralias 196 Sophro-Cattleya Batemaniana 218

Thanatophore 92

Utricularia Campbelli 199

Vanda limbata 144 " Lowii 143, 148 " teres 143, 144