268 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



{a) Morning Glory, {b) Black Oyster Plant. 



{a) Hollyhock, {b) Passion Flower. 

 Fig. 2344. Pollen Grains (highly magnified). 



of one flower to the pistils of another, either 

 by natural or artificial means. These grains, 

 so alike to the naked eye, reveal great dif- 

 ference under the miscroscope, as may be 

 seen from our illustrations. Mr. Burbank 

 gathers his pollen about a day in advance, 

 and after drying it carefully, shakes it out 

 on a watch crystal, until he gathers a suf- 

 ficient quantity. Properly dried pollen he 

 finds, retains its efficiency about a week. 

 Prof. Wickson in the Sunset, says : — 

 "The preparation of the blooms of the seed 

 parent consists in removing about nine-tenths 

 of the bloom buds when they begin to show 

 the petal color, leaving, in the trees which 

 bloom freely, about one in ten of the natural 

 bloom to be operated upon. This is for con- 

 venience of operation and to avoid the setting 

 of too many seeds for the tree to beiproperly 

 perfect. Before the petals open, each of 

 these buds is carefully cut into with a small 

 sharp knife blade, in such a way that the 

 petals and a part of the sepals and all the at- 

 tached anthers are removed as the knife 

 makes its circuit, leaving the pistils exposed 

 but uninjured by the operation. The 

 removal of the corolla balks the bees and 

 other honey-seeking insects, either by the 

 loss of color or by absence of a lighting 



place, or both. The buzzing Archimedes 

 finds no place for his lever and wearily 

 goes his way, the honey unsipped and the 

 pistil free from contact with its pollen- 

 dusted body. Mr. Burbank finds it, in 

 most cases, unnecessary to cover the 

 emasculated bloom to avoid intrusion of 

 undesirable pollen by insect agency. 



He chooses for pollination the time when 

 the first hum of the bees is heard in the trees. 

 He finds all conditions at that time most fav- 

 orable, and believes that the pistil is then in 

 in its most receptive state. The instrument 

 of pollination is the finger tip. Applied to 

 the dusted surface of the plate, either by a 

 mere touch or a slight rubbing, enough pol- 

 len adheres. The finger tip is then quickly 

 touched to the pistils of the prepared blos- 

 soms one after another. They welcome the 

 pollen and the fructifying agency begins at 

 once its journey to the ovule. No matter 

 what comes now, on the wind or otherwise, 

 the opportunity for outside pollen has passed. 

 The touch of the finger has covered the stig- 

 ma with the chosen element and sealed it 

 safe from further intrusion. In his choice 



Fig. 2345. 



" The human hand enters 

 directly for man's specific 

 tenefit." 



