340 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



October 28, 1911. 



FRUITS AND FRUIT TREES. 



LIME JUICE INVESTIGATION 

 IN GRENADA. 



Particulars have been forwarded by Mr O. G. Auchin- 

 leck, B.Sc, Superintendent of Agriculture, Grenada, of 

 investigations that have been canied out by him in relation 

 to the juice from thick-skinned and tliinskinned limes, pre 

 jpared in Grenada, and to samples of the juice from Carriacou. 



The results obtained are as follows : — 



Source of juice. 



Grenada thick-skinned 



limes 

 „ thin-skinned 



limes 

 Carriacou No. 1 



No. 2 



Sp 



Gr. at29 C. 

 1 0-292 

 1-0298 



Citiic acid, 

 07.. per gal. 



11-79 



1.5 52 

 16 08 



1-0332 



1-03.39 17-2.5 



In giving these results, Mr. Auchinleck points out that 

 in order to concentrate these juices to a content of 100 oz. 

 citric acid per gallon they would have to be boiled as 

 follows : — 



Grenada thick-skinned 8.1 to 1 



„ thin skinned 

 Carriacou No. 1 



No. 



6i to 1 

 6| to 1 

 .5^' to 1 



A NEW ME.THOD OF CORN 

 POLLINATION. 



Under this beading, an article in the American breed- 

 ers' Mmja-.ine, Vol. II, No. 1, describes what appears to be 

 a handy method of corn pollination. In such work the chief 

 difficulties arise in regard to preventing the access of foreign 

 pollen to the silks, particularly that which is bound to be 

 carried on the hands or instruments of the operator. 



In employing the method, the first requisite is to cover 

 the tassel and the silk with paper liags; 10 11). JFanila 

 paper bags of the kind obtainable at groceries are useful for 

 the purpose. In each ca.se the mouth of the bag is carefully 

 gathered round the stalk and pinned with a long, strong pin. 

 It is necessary that the covering of the tassel should be done 

 before the anthers have protruded, and that of the silk before 

 this has begun in the least to appear outside of the husk. 



The best time for pollination is when the silks have 

 grown to a length of 5 or G inches, having remained in the 

 bag the whole time As the ^ilks appear successively, com- 



mencing from the base of the cob, pollination Of the w-hole 

 ear extends over some time; in nature this is from a week to 

 ten days. It follows that, in ordinary artificial pollination, 

 the [lollen must be applied two or three times in order that 

 as many ovaries as possible may be fertilized. It is believed 

 that liy emiiloyiiig the method to be described, one pollina- 

 ticoi, only, is necessary, and that the access of foreign 

 pollen is entii'ely prevented. 



The method depends on the u-e of a common insect 

 jiowder 'gun' or spring blower for applying the pollen to the 

 silk The most handy kinds are those which can be 

 separated in halves for the purpose of being tilled. It is 

 useful to have the nozzle of the blower cut down to a length 

 of J-inch and drawn out to the size of the original aperture, 

 in order that* any anthers which clog it may be pushed 

 back with a pin. 



For the work of i)ollinalion, anthers arid pollen are 

 obtained from a bag which has been used to cover one of the 

 tassels; these arc emjitied into the blower, whichis quickly 

 closed. The latter is then used for blowing the pollen on to 

 the silk to be pollinated, tlie bag covering the silk being 

 quickly removed and replaced. After use, it is necessary 

 thoroughly to clean the blower from any remaining pollen. 

 For this purpose, it is left for about a quarter of an hour in 

 h5 per cent, alcohol. In order to prevent the alcohol from 

 dissolving the varnish on the fabric of which the upper part 

 of the blower is partly made, this should be boiled in parattin 

 wa.\ until bubliles cease to ri.se from the fabric. The impreg- 

 nation with wax not only prevents injury from the alcohol, 

 but renders the. blower more nearly airtight. 



It is evident that, among the advantages of such an 

 ajjparatus used in this way are: speed of action; easy and 

 complete sterilization of the apparatus; the avoidance of the 

 waste of pollen: and the provision of a means of directing the 

 pollen exactly where it is wanted. 



In actual practice, two operators have been employed 

 simultaneously in the work. One of these removes the bag 

 from the tassel, emptier the pollen into the blower, and then 

 holds the bag beneath the tassel in order to catch any pollen 

 that may full while pollination is being done. The work of 

 the .second operator is that of pollinating alone: he is careful 

 not to handle the pollen bags, or to use his hands for any 

 purpose that would enalile [lollen to become rubbed on them. 

 As soon as pollination has been effected, what remains in the 

 blower is emptied into the bag that was over the tassel, and,; 

 as has been stated, the bag from the silk is replaced imnie< 

 diately. It is useful to use three blowers: one for the pollina•^ 



