POLLINATION. 



Greenhouse space is altogether too valuable to be utilized in grow- 

 ing plants which do not produce a maximum yield. W. W. Munson*, 

 who has given pollination of tomatoes considerable attention, main- 

 tains that it is essential to have an abundance of pollen applied to the 

 stigma to obtain normal, symmetrical fruit with an abundance of 

 seed. In growing crops of tomatoes under glass during the winter, 

 it is necessary to resort to some artificial means of pollination. 

 Several methods have been adopted and the most common one con- 

 sists of using a stick or ladle, one foot or more long, having a flat or 

 spoon like surface at one end to hold the pollen. By this means the 

 pollen is readily transferred from one flower to another. A spoon, 

 watch glass, or camels hair brush can be used in place of the ladle if 

 preferred. .Another method is to shake or jar the plants very fre- 

 quently. This method is not so tedious and some growers have used 

 this method more or less successfully, while others have been unsuc- 

 cessful and condemn it. Rose Brothers, Fitchburg, Mass., who 

 operate half a dozen tomato houses, practice shaking or jarring the 

 plants, and they succeed by this method in pollinating about 50 per 

 cent of the blossoms. Pollination, however, should be done when the 

 house is relatively dry, inasmuch as a dry atmosphere is more con- 

 ducive to fertilization. 



We have employed various methods of pollinating, including shak- 

 ing the vines, but the results have not always been satisfactory, and 

 in some instances shaking or jarring the plants has been about as 

 successful as other methods. Very careful and frequent pollination 

 by hand, however, is effectual. In one instance we made daily use of 

 an electric fan wheel, which caused considerable agitation to the vines 

 in the house, but as a means of pollination this method was a failure. 

 During the warm spring and summer days when the ventilators are 

 open fertilization readily takes place without resorting to artificial 

 means, and we have never had any difficulty in getting fruit to set on 

 summer crops under glass. 



*.Maine Agr. Exp, Sta.. Rpt. 1S92. p. 49. 



