PRACTICAL POLLINATION 263 



of minute pollen grains from one place to an- 

 other. Beyond that, ever\i:hing depends on the 

 vital activities of the plant tissues themselves. 



We shall have occasion in another chapter to 

 deal somewhat at length with specific methods 

 that are necessary to effect cross-pollenizing in 

 the case of sundry types of flowers that have de- 

 veloped blossoms curiously modified as to form 

 or details of structure. But the general proc- 

 esses of hand-pollenizing, as they apply to the 

 chief flowers of the orchard and garden, may 

 be stated in a few words. 



The essential thing is to secure a certain 

 quantity of pollen, usually by shaking it from 

 the flower on a watch crystal or other small re- 

 ceptacle, and to transfer this pollen to the recep- 

 tive pistil of another flower either with the 

 finger tip — which furnishes in general the 

 most useful piece of apparatus — or with a 

 camel's-hair brush. 



It is desirable to cover the receptive portion 

 (stigma) of the pistil fully with pollen, partly 

 to insure complete fertilization, and partly to 

 prevent the vitiation of the experiment through 

 possible subsequent deposits of pollen from 

 another source. 



If the flower to be fertilized has stamens of 

 its own, these should be removed before thev 



