CANTALOUPE CULTURE AND PEDIGREED CANTALOUPE SEED. 



Plate No. 17 Artificial Cross-Fertilization. 



1 Bud 24 Hours Before Opening. 2 Bud Emasculated. 3 Bloom Just 

 Opened. 4 Calyx and Corolla Removed, Showing- 3 Anthers Attached. 

 5 Set Developing. Colo. Exp. Sta. 



The Rocky Ford cantaloupe is quite the exception to most of the 

 cucurbitaceous plants like the cucumber and many other varieties of 

 melons, which have their stamens and pistils borne in separate flowers, 

 while the Rocky Ford variety is hermaphroditic, that is the stamens and 

 pistil are produced in one flower. It also has purely staminate flowers 

 produced in great profusion at the intersection of nearly every branch. 



It is evident that cross-fertilization is readily possible, yet the arrange- 

 ment of the flower and the results of observation would indicate that self- 

 pollenization is quite as common or more so. 



The pollen of the cantaloupe flower has been found to ripen about the 

 time the flower is opened and the pollen is usually shed at this time, which 

 is usually early in the morning; to fertilize the flower and have the results 

 of known origin, it is necessary to find the bud about twenty-four hours 

 before it opens (Plate 17, No. I), which can easily be told by observation; 

 in this stage it should be emasculated, before the pollen lobes are ripe. 

 By cutting around the base of the corolla and calyx, the two may be re- 

 moved with the stamens attached, leaving the pistil free and exposed. 

 (Plate 17, No. II and IV.) A small paper sack is then tied over the stem 

 to protect the pistil from foreign pollen until the following morning, when 

 the stigma will be at about the same stage, as if the flower had not been 

 disturbed, and ready to receive the pollen. 



The desired pollen is introduced from a fresh opened flower, by 

 pulling off the corolla the stamens are exposed, showing the ripe pollen 

 grains which are transferred by touching the ripe pollen lobes to the pistil 

 or stigma until it is well covered with the yellow pollen grains. The paper 

 sack is then replaced for several days until development begins. 



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