102 



CROSS FERTILIZATION. 



The Remedy is to keep the plant stro:ir 

 and vigorous by plenty of plant food ai... 

 high culture, and to spray with Bordeau:; 

 mixture. 



Cross Fertilization. — This is a suhjeet 

 that has caused some discussion among leading 

 horticulturists. It is claimed hy some that the 

 quality of tlie fruit of pistillate varieties is 

 changed or modified by the kind of pollen 

 used to fertilize the blossoms; that if the pol- 

 len of a very acid berry be used, the fruit will 

 be more acid than if the pollen of a sweeter 

 berry was employed. While this theory has 

 the sanction of some prominent horticulturists, 

 I cannot but feel that it is not founded upon 

 any positive knowledge of the claimants, and 

 is uni'easonable in the light of our present 

 knowledge of plant growth. 



In no instance where two varieties or species 

 are crossed, as far as my knowledge goes, does 

 the change thus caused in the individual ovary 

 affect the receptacle upon which it is borne. 

 The true fruit of the Strawberry is what are 

 called the seeds, which are simply numerous 

 individual ovaries situated upon the fleshy 

 receptacle — the edible part of the fruit. These 

 little ovaries are fertilized by minute pollen 

 grains, perhaps not over one-four-hundredth 

 of an inch in diameter, which fall upon the 

 stigmas and seeds down pollen tubes perhaps 

 not one-tenth of the mass of the grain. The 

 contents of the end of this tube, possibly not 

 more than one-four-thousandth of an inch 

 in diameter, unites with a minute cell, 

 perhaps not much larger. The result is 

 a vitalized cell, in which is centered all the forces that make 

 the plant resulting from it unlike other plants that come from 

 other seeds upon the same receptacle. This vitalized cell simply 

 receives the crude sap or food furnished it by the root, stem and 

 leaf, and transforms this food into starch, sugar and other sub- 

 stances for the nourishment of its own structure, the embryo. 



The present knowledge of the laws of plant life leads me to 

 believe that the ovary is nourished by the cellular structure of the 

 other parts of the plant, and it does not furnish any material 

 that can in any way modify the composition of even so nearly 

 related a part as the receptacle upon which it grows. 



When it can be proved that the composition of the cob is 

 changed when different, varieties of corn mix, then we shall have 

 reason to believe that the receptacle of the Strawberry can be 

 changed under like circumstances. 



