;300 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



SUMMARY OF EXPERIMENTS. 



1. The six varieties under experiment were Ignotum, Stirling Castle, 

 Earliana, Best-of-All, Lorillard and Frogmore. The blossoms on four 

 plants of each variety were self-pollinated, and the blossoms of eight 

 plants of each variety were cross-pollinated with two other varieties. 

 All set fruit equally well. The 265 fruits produced from self-pollina- 

 tion on all six varieties had an average weight of 77.3 grams. The 534 

 fruits produced from cross-pollination on all six varieties had an aver- 

 age weight of 79.1 grams. 



2. Four plants of each variety were used in an experiment to deter- 

 mine the effect of using varying amounts of pollen. All the flowers on 

 one plant of each variety were emasculated and pollinated on one side 

 of the stigma only. These invariably produced lop-sided and small 

 fruits. All the flowers of one plant of each variety were pollinated with 

 from one to five pollen grains. These produced very small, solid fruits, 

 with an average weight of but 34 grams and having no seeds, or but one 

 or two. All of the flowers on one plant of each variety were pollinated 

 with a large amount of pollen, spread all over the stigma. These pro- 

 duced fruits that were smoother and averaged 12 grams heavier than 

 fruits produced from flowers that had but a small amount of pollen 

 applied all over the stigma. 



CONCLUSIONS. 



1. The results of the investigation indicate that it is not of primary 

 importance to cross-pollinate any of the six varieties of forcing toma- 

 toes used in these experiments, although it does no harm and may be a 

 slight advantage in some cases. 



2. When pollen falls upon one side of the stigma only, a one-sided 

 tomato always results. The larger the stigma the greater the irregularity. 



3. The amount of pollen applied to the stigma determines, to a great 

 extent, the size and smoothness of the tomato; but after applying a 

 certain amount of pollen no further increase in size or weight results 

 by applying more. The small irregular tomatoes grown under glass are 

 caused largely by insufficient pollination. 



Similar results, as regards the effect of insufficient pollination, were 

 obtained by Bailey (^) and Munson (-) ; and the conclusion that cross- 

 pollination is not essential is supported by Troop (^), who found that 

 Success tomato, when grown under glass, matured practically as many 

 and as large tomatoes from self-pollination as from cross-pollination 

 with Stone and Combination. 



SUGGESTIONS TO TOMATO GROWERS. 



The experiments indicate that it is not essential to grow several varie- 

 ties for cross-pollination; but if more than one variety is grown, for any 

 other reason, it is well to plant them in alternate rows, so that the pollen 

 will be mixed as the pollinator passes from plant to plant. The experi- 

 ments do show most conclusively, however, that the setting of a good 

 crop of smooth, heavy fruit depends very largely upon the care taken 

 in distributing the pollen. This is especially true during the cloudy- 



1 Cornell (N. Y.) Ex. Sta. Bull. 28, pp. 53-55. 

 * Me. Ex. Sta. Rep't 1892, p. 49. 

 »Ind. Ex. Sta. Rep't 1904, p. 16-18. 



