APPLES 



419 



est of these set fruit. The more the 

 flower bud is developed, the greater 

 chances there will be that artificial pol- 

 lination will be successful. The opera- 

 tor, however, must be certain that no 

 pollen has already been shed. Two or 

 three of the weakest and least developed 

 buds are pinched off and the remainder 

 are left to be operated upon, or, if some 

 of the flowers are open, they are re- 

 moved and the others left. A pair of 

 small tweezers are very good for this 

 purpose. They should be perfectly smooth 

 at the tips, both outside and inside, so 

 that no pollen will lodge there. The 

 petals of the buds are now removed by 

 means of the tweezers; the anthers 

 which contain the pollen are then re- 

 moved, by breaking the filaments off, 

 and thrown away. In removing the 

 petals and anthers, great care should be 

 taken that the stigmas are not injured, 

 as, if they are, failure is certain. Only 

 the female part of the flower now re- 

 mains. The stigmas are in condition to 

 receive the pollen when they become 

 moist. They will remain in this condi- 

 tion for a day or two. Pollen may, 

 however, be applied to the stigmas be- 

 fore they are ready, as pollen will stay 



in good condition longer than the stig- 

 mas. If the pollen is not applied imme- 

 diately, the flowers which have been 

 operated upon should be covered with a 

 stout paper bag and the mouth tied 

 tightly about the twig, so that no insect 

 can get in. Flower clusters of the vari- 

 ety of apple which is to supply the pollen 

 and be the male parent of the future 

 seedlings, should be gathered just before 

 the buds open, and the twigs put in 

 water until the blossoms open and the 

 pollen is shed, which can be easily de- 

 tected as the anthers burst open, when 

 the pollen becomes quite visible to the 

 naked eye. If the flowers are taken in 

 the orchard after they open there is 

 every probability that insects may have 

 deposited pollen from other varieties 

 there, and thus the parentage of the 

 cross-bred variety would not be certain. 

 When the pollen and stigmas are ready, 

 the bag is removed and the stigmas then 

 well covered with the pollen. This may 

 either be effected by holding the flower 

 in the fingers and rubbing the anthers 

 against the stigmas, by putting some of 

 the pollen on the finger nail and thus 

 rubbing it on. or by applying it on the 

 end of a knife or some other flat sur- 



Flower of Apple Prepared for Cross-Fertilizing — 1, flower just before opening; 



2, the petals removed ; 3, the anthers removed ; 4. one of the 



anthers ; 5 and 6, views of pollen highl.v magnified. 



