THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



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Fig. 1359. — Essential organs of a Lily 



(Lilium). 



a— Stamen, b— Anther, c— Pollen, d.— Fila- 

 ment, c- Pistil, f— Stigma, g— Style, h— 

 Ovary. (After Gray.) 



and retain the pollen, to this end it is 

 when mature quite viscid ; the ovary is 

 the body within which the seeds are 

 formed, which in their early stage are 

 termed ovules. The pollen, falling on 

 the moist sticky surface of the stigma 

 which is quite naked, that is, not cov- 

 ered as is all other parts of the plant by 



Fig. 1360. — Pollen grains highly magnified. 



a— Morning Glory (Ipomaea purpurea), b— Black 

 Oyster-plant (Scorzonera Hispanica). 



cuticle (epidermis), absorbs moisture, 

 swells, thrusts out a tube which passes 

 through the stigma, down the style, en- 

 ters the ovary to the ovule, into which 

 it is supposed to discharge its semi-fluid 

 contents through a tiny opening. When 

 this takes place not only the ovule but 

 also the ovary increase in size and the 

 product becomes a living seed. When 

 this does not take place the ovule per- 

 ishes. It is important that every one 

 who wishes to produce new plants be- 

 come familiar with these organs, for they 



vary greatly in number and form. Fre- 

 quently the stamens appear in one plant 

 and the pistils in another of the same 

 species. Some idea of the great diver- 

 sity of form may be gathered from ex- 

 amining. He should also be able to 

 judge when the stigma is in condition 

 to receive the pollen. (See Fig. 1361.) 

 The operator, having decided upon 

 the qualities he desires to produce, se- 

 lects for the parents two plants each 

 possessing in a marked degree such 

 qualities that if united in one plant the 

 desired result would be attained ; from 

 one of which he will get the pollen with 

 which to fertilize the pistil of the other. 

 It sometimes happens that the pollen is 

 ripe and falling before the stigmas in 

 the flowers of the other plant are ma- 

 ture. In such case the pollen can be 

 gathered into a small vial, care being 

 taken that everything is perfectly dry, 

 then tightly corked and kept in a cool 

 dark place. Pollen absorbs moisture, 

 which results in the extrusion of the doI- 



PoUen grains highly magnifie 



a — Hollyhock (Althaea rosea), b. — Passion flow- 

 er (Passiflora carnea). 



len tube, or, if the moisture is in excess, 

 in the bursting of the coats of the pol- 

 len grain and the loss of its contents. 

 Too much moisture, either as rain or 

 fog at the critical period of infloresence 

 when fertilization should take place, is 

 often the cause of failure of fruit. A 

 soft camel's-hair pencil is an excellent 

 instrument with which to collect pollen, 

 and also to apply it to the stigma. 



The flowers to be pollenized must be 

 cared for to prevent other pollen from 

 being deposited on the stigma, both by 



