54 THE SUBURBANITE'S HANDBOOK 



First The flower must be prevented from fertilizing its own 

 pistil. This is done by clipping off with a fine curved scissors (a 

 manicure or embroidery scissors will answer) all the stamens and 

 corolla, leaving only the pistil standing. This is called emasculating 

 the flower. 



Second Means must be taken to prevent fertilization by insects 

 or the wind. This is accomplished by " bagging" enclosing the 

 pistil after the stamens have been removed in a little bag of tissue 

 paper, closely tied to the branch (or stalk of flower) on which 

 the flower is growing, so that no insects can get inside the paper 

 bags to feerilize the pistil. 



Third When the pistil becomes receptive a slight moisture 

 forms on the top of the pistil (called the stigma), and a watch for 

 that condition must be kept (this generally occurs in the bright warm 

 forenoon) ; when this is observed a staminate flower from which the 

 polen is to be taken is picked and brought conveniently near the 

 emasculated flower that is to be fertilized. This staminate flower must 

 be in about the same stage of development as the flower to be fer- 

 tilized. Anyway, it must show the polen in a powdery state on the 

 stamens. Then dust the polen on the moist stigma of the pistil either 

 direct from the flower or with a soft camels hair brush ; replace the 

 tissue paper capsule for a couple of days and the work is done. 

 After the pistil withers there is no further danger of objectionable 

 fertilization, and the tissue paper bag may be removed. It is well to 

 treat several flowers in the same way at the same time to avoid the risk 

 of failure. Next tie a label to the branch that the flower is on, to 

 enable you to identify the fruit later on and make a record of the 

 names of each as to sex. This is generally done by naming the female 

 flower first and the male after, thus (Gravenstein and Baldwin). 

 It must be remembered that the result of hybridization will show no 

 difference from the other fruit on the tree, at least not necessarily. 

 It is the seed of that fruit that is altered by the process and the 

 PRODUCT OF THAT SEED will be more or less changed. You 

 must therefore be careful not to permit any one to pick or meddle 

 with the inoculated fruit, or your labor will be lost. Most of those 

 hybridized seeds should be planted in moist sand, not kept wet, but 

 not allowed to dry out. Apples, pears, strawberries, mushy small 

 fruit, and hardy stone fruit are generally treated by { ' stratification, ' ' 

 that is, placing them in layers in a box of moist sand, with a cover 

 that will exclude the mice (for mice will find and eat every one of 



