80 The Potato 



parts of them in the flower. This must be done before 

 the pollen is mature. All near-by flowers should be re- 

 moved and buds other than those emasculated. As the 

 flowers invariably fall off when bagged, this precaution 

 must be omitted. The potato is not frequently cross 

 pollinated (Salaman) and the danger of contamination 

 is slight. It is necessary to tag the flowers thus treated 

 in order to know later on when to pollinate them. The 

 tag should bear the date of emasculation and other facts 

 of which the hybridizer wishes to keep a record. A 

 day or two after emasculation, the pistils of the emascu- 

 lated flowers should be examined. When the tips have 

 turned a slightly darker color and look sticky, they are 

 ready to receive the pollen. 



As the pollen is usually borne in small quantities, it 

 is well to open the anthers with the point of the forceps 

 and scrape it out on to the thumb nail or on to a watch 

 crystal. A thin film of pollen on a watch crystal will 

 pollinate a number of blossoms. It is customary to make 

 two or three pollinations on the same flower in order to 

 catch it in a perfectly receptive condition. Once the 

 ovary starts to swell, there is little likelihood of the 

 flower falling off. The berry should be picked off when 

 fairly dry and before it falls off and rolls away. A record 

 should be kept of the dates of emasculation and polli- 

 nation, and of the parents concerned in each cross. 



Potato seed should be washed free of pulp and care- 

 fully dried, in the fall. If left in the pod, it is likely to 

 decay. Each pod normally bears from one to three hun- 

 dred seeds. The seed should be planted indoors in March 

 or April. The seedlings are potted up when they need 

 moving, and set out in the field in June. They should 

 be planted about two feet apart. 



