6 



PLANT HYBRIDIZATION BEFORE MENDEL 



it was discovered that the pollen from a small number of male 

 trees could be employed to fertilize a considerable number of 

 female trees, by substituting hand-pollination for the natural 



Plate VI. Demonstration by Arabs of the pollination of the date. Insertion of a sprig 

 of the staminate flowers in the midst of the pistillate cluster. U.S. Department of 

 Agriculture, Bureau of Plant Industry, Bull. 53, Plate 8, Fig. 3. 



method. At the present time, according to Swingle (14), the pro- 

 portion used in planting is about one male to one hundred female 

 trees. 



