OTHER FARM CROPS 613 



decide in his own mind on the type of plant which he desires to grow 

 for his crop and should carefully select those plants in the field 

 which most nearly fulfill this ideal. 



The flower head on the selected seed plants should be inclosed 

 with a light but strong paper bag just before the flowers begin to 

 open. It is usually a good plan to remove two or three of the top 

 leaves and suckers just below the flower head. The bag should be 

 tied around the stem in such a way as not to interfere with the 

 growth. It will be found that at this period of growth the plant in- 

 creases in height very rapidly, and it will be necessary to raise the 

 bag occasionally in order to prevent the flower head from pushing out 

 through the bottom of the bag. For most varieties a 12-pound bag is 

 the most desirable size. This bag should be of strong but light mate- 

 rial. The ordinary paper bag found at any grocery store may 'be 

 satisfactory for this purpose. 



When the seed pods have turned brown, indicating maturity, the 

 entire top of the plant should be cut off. The bag should be opened 

 and all of the small and late pods picked off and only the large, 

 heavy, plump, and well-developed seed pods allowed to remain. Tne 

 bag should then be replaced and the seed head hung up in a dry 

 place where there is a free circulation of air, such as the attic of a 

 house, until the seed pods are thoroughly dried. After this the pods 

 should be picked off from the stem and the seed shelled out. After 

 the seed has been secured, all of the light seed, hulls, and chaff should 

 be removed by the use of a seed separator, or by some form of air- 

 blast machine adapted for this purpose, and only the heavy seed 

 should be retained for planting. The heavy seed should then be 

 placed in dry glass jars and set in a safe place. In this condition 

 the seed will retain its vitality unimpaired for a long period. 



In many cases it may be desired to cross an imported with a 

 native variety. The object of such crosses is to secure the improved 

 quality of the imported strains, combined with the hardiness and 

 yielding power of the native varieties. In the case of tobacco such 

 crosses are easily made by the grower. The tobacco plant has a per- 

 fectly self-fertile and complete flower, but is easily cross-fertilized. 

 In order to prepare the flower for cross-fertilization, the anthers 

 should be removed from the selected flowers shortly before they open 

 and discharge their pollen. After an examination of a num- 

 ber of flowers in the field the grower can very readily observe 

 the proper time to remove the anthers so that none of the pollen shall 

 have escaped and fertilized the flower. One easy means of noting 

 this time is to observe the condition of the corolla. The anthers 

 should be removed just before the corolla opens. As soon as the an- 

 thers have been removed, a small paper bag should be tied over the 

 flower and allowed to remain for at least one day or until the stigma 

 becomes receptive for pollen. This receptive condition of the stigma 

 is easily noted by the presence of a sticky, viscid substance over the 

 surface. At the proper time for pollination, anthers from the de- 

 sired imported strain which are just ready to discharge their pollen 

 should be secured. These anthers should be broken open and the 



