54 HORTICULTURE LKCT. in 



stamens, have been changed into petals. Nor can 

 single flowers produce fertile seed in the absence of 

 pollen influence. 



Pollen is popularly known as flower dust. It may 

 often be seen blowing like a cloud over a wheat-field 

 in July. In flowers it is particularly apparent in 

 liliums and fuchsias. It forms in the anthers. When 

 ripe it is shed and borne by the wind, bees or 

 insects, to the pistils of other flowers. This is 

 termed natural fertilisation. The pistil is the 

 central tongue-like organ, easily recognizable. It is 

 connected with a hollow vessel at its base (ovary). 

 The tip (stigma) in the flowers named is swollen, and 

 at a certain stage moist. This moisture causes the 

 pollen to adhere. Each pollen grain is a cell, and 

 contains what is really the life of plants, termed 

 protoplasm. This is conveyed by a germinal tube 

 which grows from it through the tissue of the pistil 

 down to the seed-vessel and ovules that it contains ; 

 these then, and not till then, becoming fertile seeds. 

 The character of the flower from which the pollen is 

 taken is impressed on the future plants that issue, 

 and the flowers may differ both in form and in colour, 

 though having a general resemblance to both the 

 pollen and the seed-bearing parents. By taking pollen 

 from particular flowers and applying it with a tiny 

 brush to others that are selected, new and beautiful 

 flowers are raised and different colours obtained. This 

 is called artificial fertilisation. The best-shaped 

 flowers are usually chosen for producing seed, de- 

 pendence being placed on the pollen for producing 

 a change of colour in the flowers of the seedlings. 



It should be remembered, however, that only the 

 same kinds of flowers intercross through pollen 

 agency, such as two fuchsias, two liliums, or two 

 geraniums. If these differ in form or in colour, then 



