PROCEEDINGS OF THE WINTER MEETING. 39 



trailed along the ground I should cut It back to twelve or fifteen inches 

 the first year. I should cut the laterals back to six or eight inches. 



Mr. McClatchie: We have found shears with handles three feet long 

 better than the hooks. We have discarded the hooks; the shears cut 

 easier. 



CROSS-FERTILIZATION. 

 BY ME. ELMER D. SMITH OF ADRIAN. 



Producing new varieties of fruit and flower, by artificial cross-fertiliza- 

 tion, is very interesting, as well as profitable when improvements are 

 gained and the general public are gratified in these gifts of nature's 

 most precious gems. Knowing you are deeply interested in the various 

 kinds of fruit, and having had no experience in this direction myself, 

 I feel entirely out of place in presenting a paper on this subject. How 

 much has been or is being' done in improving the several species, I am 

 unable to say, but there are several gentlemen present who have kept 

 in touch with progress along these lines that will gladly inform you. 

 Twenty years ago it was believed impossible to secure seed from the 

 chrysanthemum any other way than by nature's own method. See, to-day, 

 how many fine seedlings are being produced by the union of the most 

 desirable, through artificiar fertilization. How susceptible fruits are to 

 improvements I can not say, but from the new varieties offered each 

 year it is evident they are not incapable. 



The advantage of hand pollenating is, the operator determines the 

 parents of the seedlings, while in those from naturally produced seed we 

 know the quality of the seed-bearing plant only. The stamiuate parent 

 may be good, bad, or indiilerent. It is at least rational to conclude that 

 greater achievements will result from seedlings of selected parentage 

 than from those the wind and insects have haphazardly united. In this 

 work we are confronted by some arbitrary laws of nature over which 

 we have no control, and which, like many of her doings, are mysterious. 

 There is a very marked tendency to revert to the original; or, in other 

 words, to partake of antecedents, and sometimes of those very remote. 

 In crossing two white carnations we would expect the progeny to pro- 

 duce white flowers, which some may do, although there will almost 

 invariably be pink and red among them. 



It is important that the work of pollenization be carefully done to 

 secure without doubt a cross between the two desired varieties. The 

 pistil and stamens are the organs of the flower with which we must 

 become familiar, as well as control to prevent self-fertilization. In the 

 apple, pear, peach, and cherry, the center organ is the pistil, which is 

 encircled by the stamens. The tips of these, or anthers as they are called, 

 supply the pollen. Like the rose, most of the fruits produce pollen in a 

 few hours after the flower is open, when it is in the proper condition to 

 be used. By observation it will be easy to determine which flowers will 

 open on a certain day, and these are the ones to be prepared. 



When it is decided which variety shall be the pistillate or seed 

 parent, select a cluster of buds and remove the petals (the colored 



