216 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Apr. 1 



PLATE IV.— APPLYING POLLEN TO THE PISTILS 



tained. Next, it is necessary to learn the 

 operation of emasculating, which consists in 

 removing the anthers from the flower. The 

 object of this process is to prevent self-pol- 

 lination. To remove these anthers in the 

 best possible way is a serious question with 

 many investigators. At this station the 

 writers have received excellent results by 

 the use of the method outlined below, and 

 have made from six hundred to one thousand 

 emasculations per day. In carrying on work 

 of this nature, rapidity as well as efficiency 

 must be sought. 



Method. — Grasp the blossom with the 

 thumb and fore finger of one hand, and 

 grasp the tips of the petals with the thumb 

 and fore linger of the other hand (Plate I.), 

 then, by simply giving the wrist a quick up- 

 ward or downward movement, the petals 

 can be easily detached from the blossom 

 (Plate II.). Now, with one or two quick 

 movements with the scissors (Plate III.) the 

 anthers are removed and the pistils are 

 ready to receive the pollen (Plate IV.) . Aft- 

 er the application of pollen is made, the 



emasculated blossom is enclosed within a 

 bag (Plate V.) and allowed to remain until 

 fecundation has taken place and all danger 

 from the action of foreign pollen is over. 

 After every polhnation, label each bag in 

 such a way that there will be no question as 

 to what variety of pollen is used. As the 

 apples approach maturity it is essential that 

 they be enclosed in cheese-cloth bags. This 

 protects the fruits from being picked acci- 

 dentally. The object in removing the petals 

 is to tell just where to make the cuts with- 

 out injuring the other parts of the flower. 

 Since this greatly facilitates the method of 

 emasculating, it may serve as an impetus for 

 greater work along this line. 



Several methods of emasculating the blos- 

 soms are used by different investigators 

 throughout the United States. Waite, of the 



PLATE v.— METHOD OF BAGGING^THE BLOSSOM 



PLATE VI.— FIG. 1. IMPROPER EMASCULATION, 



SEPALS BEING INJURED. FIG. 2. PROPER 



EMASCULATION, SEPALS INTACT 



Department of Agriculture, removes the co- 

 rolla with the aid of a small sharp pair of 

 scissors, leaving the emasculated blossom as 

 seen in Plate VI., Fig. 1. Others have been 

 fairly successful in using a sharp scalpel to 

 perform the work. We nave found that in 

 every case when the sepals were removed 

 with the petals it caused a malformation of 

 the apple, as shown in Plate VII., Fig. 1. Fig. 

 2 shows a normal apple when sepals are un- 

 molested. 



It is evident that emasculation must be 

 skillfully done, for the slightest mutilation 

 causes a malformation of the calyx end of 

 the apple. When the sepals were not in- 

 jured in any way a large per cent of the 

 emasculated blossoms set fruit. Plate VI., 

 Fig. 1, shows the wrong way of emasculat- 

 ing, and Fig. 2 the correct way of emasculat- 

 ing. The method of removing the blossoms 

 as outlined by the writers leaves the sepals 

 in perfect condition, with the fruit unharm- 

 ed. 



