34 INJURIOUS EFFECTS OF PREMATURE POLLINATION. 



larger, but by careful breeding- it i.s not unlikely that a tomato can be 

 obtained that will produce seedless fruits as large as the seeded fruits 

 we now have. The large size of seedless bananas and pineapples indi- 

 cates that this is possible. But since the most convenient way of 

 propagating the tomato at present is by means of seeds, it is not a 

 tomato entirely seedless that is wanted, but a large, well-shaped, firm 

 tomato with but few seeds. 



While a comparison of the experiments in which the flowers were 

 emasculated and never pollinated with the experiments in which the 

 flowers were emasculated and magnesium sulphate substituted for 

 pollen would seem to suggest that the irritation of the receptive stig- 

 mas maj^ stimulate the setting of fruits, yet fruits set so rarely without 

 flowers having received pollen that a very large number of flowers 

 would have to be tested in order to determine whether the mere irri- 

 tation of the stigmas by the application of substances other than pollen 

 has any tendency to cause fruits to set. 



