EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 301 



weather of midwinter; less so when tomatoes are grown as a late winter 

 and early spring crop, following lettuce, as is most common in Michigan. 

 One of the largest losses in the forcing of tomatoes is the "waste;" the 

 tomatoes that are too large, too irregular or too small for the high class 

 trade. Attention to pollination insures a large proportion of smooth, 

 medium sized tomatoes, if the variety is adapted for forcing, as are all 

 the varieties mentioned, except Earliana. We prefer Lorillard and 

 Frogmore. 



During the winter we find that it pays to go over the plants 

 on sunny days, and sometimes on cloudy days, and tap each 

 blossom with the finger or with a small stick. This shakes 

 the pollen out upon a small glass slide or spoon held in 

 the left hand, and at the same time rubs the end of the pistil in the 

 pollen already on the slide. The blossoms may be brushed over more 

 rapidly with a camel's hair brush, but we have not found this method as 

 satisfactory as the preceding. During a succession of sunny days in 

 winter, and especially during the bright, warm days of early spring, the 

 pollen seems to be distributed sufficiently if the vine is shaken or tapped 

 with a padded stick on sunny days, between eleven and two o'clock. 

 This is especially true of the Lorillard. A high temperature favors the 

 bursting of the pollen sacks, even during cloudy weather, so it is best to 

 run the house as high as is expedient during the days when pollen should 

 fly; but not at night. It is also essential to keep the house dry during 

 the brighter part of the day, as the pollen is discharged most freely in a 

 hot, dry atmosphere. The anthers do not burst freely until after the 

 yellow petals have fully expanded and have begun to wither slightly. 



The fact that tomato blossoms will usually remain receptive for several 

 days if they do not receive pollen makes the management of this problem 

 easier than if they were insistent on immediate pollination. We believe, 

 however, that the practice which some growers follow of depending 

 wholly upon jarring the vines for the distribution of pollen is often 

 responsible for a light crop. In the brightest weather jarring is often 

 sufficient, but if the pollen does not fly freely hand pollination will be 

 worth the trouble. We have never heard of bees being used successfully 

 for distributing tomato pollen, although they work well on cucumbers. 



