PRODUCTION OF NEW VARIETIES. 39 



introduced the pollen, (the fine dust of the bursting 

 anthers,) ot the other variety, either hy shaking 

 the flower of the latter, deprived of its petals, over 

 the stigma, or hy transferring it on the point of 

 a camePs-hair pencil, from one flower to the other. 

 The seeds of the fruit, thus yielded, partake of the 

 nature of both ; and the trees growing from them, 

 bear fruit of various intermediate mixtures. 



In performing these operations, it is necessary 

 to use these precautions : The flower must be de- 

 prived of its stamens before they burst and disperse 

 their pollen ; as soon as the stigma becomes gluti- 

 nous so as to hold the pollen, it must be applied; 

 otherwise the stigma may be inoculated with the 

 pollen of its own or some other flower, and then 

 the intended pollen will not take. For, a stigma 

 once inoculated, cannot be inoculated again. It is 

 safest to force the tree to be inoculated, a few days 

 forward of other trees, so as to secure it from acci- 

 dental inoculations by pollen floating in the air, or 

 spread by bees. 1 * From want of these precautions, 

 many fancy they have obtained hybrids, when they 

 only have natural seedlings.! 



" The sorts," says Loudon, " proper for crossing, 

 appear to be those which have many qualities in 

 common, and some different qualities. A small 



* A temporary covering of gauze will exclude these in- 

 sects. 



f Gardener's Chronicle. 



