A SEASON S EXPERIENCE IN CBOSS-POLLINATION. 



295 



off of the remaining buds and the anthers removed. The pollen 

 from the other variety is then applied to the pistils, either by using 

 a camel's hair brush or by removing the pollinated cluster when in 

 blossom and uniting it with the cluster to be pollinated. Accidental 

 cross-pollination was prevented by enclosing the pollinated clusters 

 in paper bags. Several hundred seeds were obtained from these 

 crosses. 



MODELS OF GRAPE FLOWERS. 



a. Perfect flower, pattially opened, with cap {b) adhering, self-fertile. 



c. Self-sterile flower (reflexed stamens). 



d. Staminate flower. 



A number of interesting facts were brought' out in connection 

 with the cross-pollination of the grape. One of the mos t im- 

 portant of these is that there are three kinds of grape flowers, self- 

 fertile, self-sterile and staminate. The staminate flowers produce no 

 fruit and are only found on vines growing wild. Self- fertile flow- 

 ers produce fertile pollen, and vines having such flowers will bear 

 fruit even though planted by themselves. Self-sterile varieties pro- 

 duce sterile pollen and will not bear fruit unless planted near some 

 self-fertile variety. When the vine is in flower one can easily deter- 

 mine what class it belongs to by examining the flower and pollen 

 grains. Self-fertile varieties have upright stamens and oblong 

 pollen grains. A high power microscope is necessary for deter- 

 mining this latter characteristic. Self-sterile varieties have re- 

 flexed stamens and angular pollen grains. This difference in varie- 

 ties is not generally known by nurserymen and is seldom taken into 

 consideration when selling the different varieties of grapes. Thus 

 it may happen that the farmer will buy a variety which, like a pistil- 

 late variety of strawberry, will blossom profusely but produce no 

 fruit unless planted near some self-fertile variety. 



