468 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Working with blossoms of the orchard fruits in the spring in 

 Minnesota, and the northwest generally, is not the most pleasant 

 work in the cold, windy weather often prevalent at this time of the 

 year. Operating on the essential organs of a flower is a little like 

 taking a watch to pieces out of doors. Still a few pleasant days 

 may intervene at the right time which will permit of some work be- 

 ing done. Any elementary book on botany will give drawings and de- 

 scriptions of the essential organs of the flower. In case of the plum, 

 there is one single pistil in the center of the flower, shaped something 

 like an Indian club. It forms the fruit when properly fertilized. 

 Surrounding the cup containing the pistil is a circle of slender stalks 

 with yellowish heads, or anthers, containing the pollen, the male fer- 

 tilizing element, corresponding to the pollen in the tassels of corn. 

 In the apple the case is somewhat similar except that there are five 

 pistils instead of only one. Both in the apple and the plum stamens 

 are variable in number, something like twenty, more or less. The 

 standard method of doing the work is to take the flower a day or 

 two before it would naturally it open, remove the petals (the showy 

 part of the flower) and all the stamens. This can be done with a pair 

 of fine pincers or a small pair of sharp pointed scissors. The flower 

 is then covered with a paper sack to prevent the access of insects. 

 Only two or three flowers should be open in one place or in one 

 cluster, and the other flowers should be removed. If the weather 

 remains warm the work can be completed the next day, or if cold 

 two or three days after. 



The pollen is gathered from fully open blossoms before the an- 

 thers open and allow the pollen to escape. Then the anthers must be 

 spread out on a sheet of white writing paper and permitted to dry 

 in a warm room with no drafts, as the pollen, a yellow dust, is very 

 light, and the slightest breath of air is enough to scatter it. It will 

 not do to put the anthers into a closed vial at once, because there is 

 enough moisture in them to cause mould in a few hours. When 

 perfectly dry the pollen will adhere like flour (it resembles flour in 

 every respect but color) to the finger tips or to a camel's hair brush. 

 The sack may now be removed and the pollen applied with a camel's 

 hair brush, pencil or the tip of the finger, and the sack replaced. 

 After two or three days, or as soon as the flower is fertilized, tear 

 open the sack and tie it below, to indicate parentage, and permit it to 

 remain until the fruit begins to color. The fruit should now be 

 protected by mosquito bar, so that in case of a wind storm it will not 

 all be lost. 



There is considerable objection to the use of paper sacks, but in 

 out-door work something seems essential to keep away the bees. 



