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 x 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 versa_ nine
years. There is a case somewhat similar, however, among the Cypripeds.
_C. Schlimii_ crossed with _C. longifolium_ flowers in four years, but
_vice versa_ 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 Lawrenciae 160
Angraecum arcuatum 134
" caudatum 135
" Duchailluianum 134
" Ellisii 135
" falcatum 133
" Kotschyi 135
" Leonis 135
" Sanderianum 134
" Scottianum 135
" sesquipedale (AEranthus sesquipedalis) 1