raised, saving _Calanthe Veitchii_, if all
merits be considered--stateliness of aspect, freedom in flowering,
striking colour, ease of cultivation. One bulb will throw up four
spikes--twenty-eight have been counted in a twelve-inch pot--each
bearing perhaps thirty flowers.

Seden has made two crosses of Chysis, both from the exquisite _Ch.
bractescens_, one of the loveliest flowers that heaven has granted to
this world, but sadly fleeting. Nobody, I believe, has yet been so
fortunate as to obtain seed from _Ch. aurea_. This species has the rare
privilege of self-fertilization--we may well exclaim, Why! why?--and it
eagerly avails itself thereof so soon as the flower begins to open.
Thus, however watchful the hybridizer may be, hitherto he has found the
pollen masses melted in hopeless confusion before he can secure them.

One hybrid Epidendrum has been obtained--_Epi. O'Brienianum_ from _Epi.
evectum x Epi. radicans_; the former purple, the latter scarlet, produce
xa bright crimson progeny.

Miltonias show two natural hybrids, and one artificial--_Mil. Bleuiana_
from _Mil. vexillaria x Mil. Roezlii_; both of these are commonly
classed as Odontoglots, and I refer to them elsewhere under that title.
M. Bleu and Messrs. Veitch made this cross about the same time, but the
seedlings of the former flowered in 1889, of the latter, in 1891. Here
we see an illustration of the advantage which French horticulturists
enjoy, even so far north as Paris; a clear sky and abundant sunshine
made a difference of more than twelve months. When Italians begin
hybridizing, we shall see marvels--and Greeks and Egyptians!

Masdevallias are so attractive to insects, by striking colour, as a
rule, and sometimes by strong smell--so very easily fertilized
also--that we should expect many natural hybrids in the genus. They are
not forthcoming, however. Reichenbach displayed his scientific instinct
by suggesting that two species submitted to him might probably be the
issue of parents named; since that date Seden has produced both of them
from the crosses which Reichenbach indicated.

We have three natural hybrids among Phaloenopsis. _Ph. intermedia_ made
its appearance in a lot of _Ph. Aphrodite_, imported 1852. M. Porte, a
French trader, brought home two in 1861; they were somewhat different,
and he gave them his name. Messrs. Low imported several in 1874, one of
which, being different again, was called after Mr. Brymer. Three have
been found