HISTORY AXD BOTANY OF THE MELON 7 



the pollen there comes a time of long-continued 

 rainy weather, which prevents the bees from work- 

 ing or the wind from blowing the pollen. This may 

 result in the crop being later than usual, or it may 

 cause a break in the continuity of ripening later on. 

 As a general thing, however, a rain which lasts 

 only a day or two will have but little or no effect 

 upon the fertilization of the flowers, because nature 

 has provided for just such emergencies, and so if the 

 pollen is not there when the pistil is ready to re- 

 ceive it, it simply waits for a reasonable length of 

 time until it can be served. This can be shown 

 very nicely by observing the common, cultivated 

 carnation as grown in the greenhouse. If pollen be 

 applied to the pistil as soon as it is ready for it, 

 the blossom will wither and dry up within two 

 days ; whereas, if the pollen is withheld, it will re- 

 main open for two weeks, simply waiting for nature 

 to perform her duty. 



Forcing melons, or those which are grown in the 

 greenhouse or forcing houses, must be hand pollin- 

 ized, as there are no insects and very little wind to 

 distribute the pollen. Hand pollination is easily 

 performed by simply taking a piece of clean glass 

 and holding it under the mature male flowers. Then, 

 by gently tapping the flower with a stick or lead 

 pencil, the pollen will be jarred off on to the glass. 

 It will require several flowers to produce sufficient 

 pollen to make the work easy and absolutely cer- 

 tain. Then, with a small camel's-hair brush, brush 

 the pollen into a little heap and dip the end of the 

 pistil into it. If the pistils are ready to receive it, 

 one application will be sufficient, but in order to be 



