254 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 



STAMENS are the male organs, and in the normally 

 constructed flower surround the pistil which is the female 

 organ and is connected with an ovary in which the fecun- 

 dated germ develops into a perfect fruit, or as it is commonly 

 called, a seed. 



A flower of the normal kind has both stamens and pistils 

 and is called perfect. Such a flower is the blossom of the 

 apple or cherry, and of wheat and rye. When a flower has 

 only stamens and no pistils, or only pistils and no stamens, 

 it is called imperfect; the former is called a staminate or 

 sterile flower; and the latter a pistillate or fertile flower. The 

 corn plant gives an instance of these kinds of flowers; the 

 tassel being the staminate or male flower; the silk being the 

 pistils which proceed from the pistillate or female flowers 

 which are carried on the cob which is the stem. Sometimes 

 these imperfect flowers are borne upon different plants, and 

 not the same individual, as in the case of some varieties of 

 strawberry; the hemp; hop; in which one plant has only 

 staminate flowers, and other plants only pistillate flowers. 

 Such plants are called dioecious (meaning in two households 

 or families). These plants, such as corn, castor oil, and 

 the chestnut tree which bear both kinds of flowers upon the 

 same stem, are called monoecious, meaning in one house- 

 hold or family. 



This distinction is important to farmers for it is necessary 

 in growing such plants to distribute a certain number of 

 male or staminate plants, among the pistillate or female 

 plants, for the purpose of impregnation and fertilization; 

 just as he would mix a certain number of rams among a 

 flock of ewes for the same purpose. 



The stamen consists of two parts, the filament and the 

 anther. 



THE FILAMENT is the stalk or support of the anther; 

 the anther is the essential part of the stamen. It is a sort 

 of case which is filled with a fine powder or dust called 

 pollen. This pollen is the fertilizing agent of the flower. 

 It is usually of a yellow color and is so abundantly produced 

 that it impregnates the air over a wide space, and is carried 



