26 IIORTICUr.TURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK, 



tomatoes with pollen that has been gathered outdoors in September. We are very par- 

 ticular to have a crop of tomatoes early in the spring. 



Then again, there are some varieties of European grapes, as the Muscat, which we 

 grow under glass in this country, and which are" also grown under glass chiefly in 

 England, that are very poor fertilizers. Now you can take the pollen from other grapes 

 and keep it for a considerable time to use for the fertilization of the Muscat by putting 

 the latter cluster in a glass and blowing the pollen upon it. There are perhaps some 

 here who can state how long that pollen retains its vitality. 



S. Henshaw, called upon by the President, said: It is my experience, as that ot 

 every grape grower, that the Muscats are very deficient in pollen; they make a very poor 

 bunch if they are not artificially fertilized. I have often gathered the pollen of the Black 

 Hamburgh and kept it for two months in a Mason jar. Fertilization of the Muscat was 

 attained by inserting the cluster into the jar and raising a cloud of pollen by blowing 

 into it with a blowpipe. That has always made a perfect bunch. Leave a JNluscat to its 

 own fertilization, and you get a very poor bunch, ilow long the poPen would keep 1 

 am not able to say, but I have often kept it for two months. 



D. G. Fairchild: The pollen is regularly kept from one year to another — I can't 

 say just how long — to fertilize the early varieties. 



William Saunders: How is that pollen kept? In glass tubes, or how? 



The Chair: Mr. Henshaw states that he kept the grape pollen in an ordinary glass 

 jar or preserving jar. He used the term "Mason jar," which is perhaps the most 

 common form of jar in use in this country. But the question is asked by Dr. Saunders, 

 of Canada, how can this pollen be best kept? 



William Saunders: Should it be kept in closed or in open vessels, or in paper? 

 My experience is that paper is of no value for keeping pollen. I keep it in a closed 

 bottle, and at the same temperature. 



D. G. Fairchild: I have kept pollen for a year, put away in a closed vessel in 

 paper, and it had no effect; it had lost its vitality. It had been kept over a year. 



The Chair: It is a practical question of considerable importance for both practical 

 results and for scientific experiments. 



C. W. Ward: I have had a littlt experience in keeping carnation pollen. I have 

 found that put away in paper it didn't keep; but where I put it in a little vial and 

 closely corked it kept for a considerable time. 



H. F. Roberts: We also have come to the method which Mr. Ward mentioned, 

 using little homeopathic vials with corks, being sure there are no parts of the anther 

 mixed with the pollen grains unless they are pretty thoroughly dried. If they are 

 greenish when they are put in, there is likely to be some moisture on the inside and 

 some mould is apt to develop. 



D. G. Fairchild: There is a very interesting piece of work in which I have been 

 interested for a number of years, and I would ask what is the best way of shipping 

 pollen. I have often found it difficult to secure varieties of fruits or plants for hybridiz- 

 ing. I am not interested in plant hybridizing myself, but have been collecting all over 

 the world varieties for hybridizers to work with. If there is a possibility of shipping 

 pollen, it makes it practically possible to travel through a country in the spring time ^nd 

 secure varieties which you could not otherwise get. It is a very important point in the 

 work with which I am connected. Should this pollen be dried in sunlight, or is it impor- 

 tant that it should be dried in the shade? I know that in the tropics many seeds that 

 are dried in the sunlight are ruined. Is there any one who has had any particular 

 experience in this matter of drying the pollen? 



The Chair: The paper which is under consideration states that that depends some- 

 what upon the characteristics of the country in which the plant originates. That is, if it 

 is in an arid country or semi-arid country, naturally the pollen would retain its vitality 

 wnen dried in the sun; while if dried in a moist atmosphere in its natural habitat it 

 would naturally best retain its vitality if dried in the shade. 



N. E. Hansen: I have found that in the greenhouse in full sunlight pollen could 

 not be properly dried, but the moisture is discharged, and if the pollen is put into a 

 vial early a mould is formed. Pollen must be dried perfectly, and in the shade, for 

 safety in using later. 



H. C. Price: We had some experience in shipping pollen this last year, and have 



