THE NURSERY-HOOK. 



applied. The novice will be obliged to remove the bags occa- 

 sionally, to see if the stigmas are ready. As soon as the shiny 

 or glutinous appearance of the stigma 

 is seen, pollination should be per- 

 formed. The pollen is most easily 

 secured by removing an anther when 

 it is about to burst and breaking it 

 open. If the anther is allowed to 

 break open naturally, the pollen will 

 be lost, or at least difficult to secure. 

 There are various instruments recom- 

 mended to aid in the transfer of the 

 pollen. A camel's hair brush is often 

 advised, but it is probably the poorest 

 instrument which can be used. It 

 wastes the pollen and also mixes it by 

 holding it among the hairs, and it is 

 often a difficult matter to apply pol- 

 len to the stigma evenly and in suffi- 

 cient amount. The point of a small 

 knife-blade is a better instrument. 

 A still handier and better tool is made 



Fig. 100. Flower tied up. 



by flattening the point of a pin and then inserting the little 

 scalpel in a handle, as. shown in Fig. 103. With the point of 

 this implement the pollen can be removed from the groove or open- 

 ing in the side of the anther. It is commonly better, however, 

 to. place the unopened anther upon the thumb nail and crush it 

 with the scalpel, when the pollen can be gathered up on the 

 point and transferred to the stigma. In some species the pollen 

 can "be removed only by opening .the anther-valves dexterously. 

 Such is the case with the tomato ; the point of the scalpel is in- 

 serted in a longitudinal groove or fold 'in the side of the anther, 

 and as it is carried upwards the pollen is secured. 



The stigma should receive an abundant supply of pollen. No 

 harm can come from supplying too much, while if too little 

 is applied, some of the seeds will not mature or even the fruit 

 may not set. It is well known that in many plants, at least, the 



