132 NUT GROWING 



placing pollen of the chestnut and of the beech upon 

 the oaks which blossom in the first week in May at 

 Stamford I have secured chestnut pollen from Pro- 

 fessor H. H. Hume, of Glent Saint Mary, Florida, 

 and beech pollen from Dr. H. N. Conser, Orono, 

 Maine. Chestnut trees and beech trees in these 

 widely distant localities ripen their blossoms at the 

 time when the oak trees in Stamford are in bloom. 

 By securing correspondents in various parts of the 

 country one may obtain pollen at a time when it is 

 wanted. Pollen is best sent by mail in wooden pill 

 boxes, which are not easily crushed and which at 

 the same time allow the pollen to breathe. We must 

 remember that pollen grains are all alive and active 

 and need to breathe air, although a very little air 

 will suffice. If pollen is sent in glass bottles, corked, 

 it is quickly smothered. 



When we are handling several sorts of pollen at 

 the same time we must be careful that the wind does 

 not mix up the different kinds. On one occasion I 

 distributed open paper boxes of pollen about several 

 rooms of the farmhouse so they would be safely far 

 apart. A neat housekeeper, finding these boxes in 

 different rooms, gathered up such things of a kind 

 and put them nicely on one shelf in a closet with an 

 open window where oreads brought spring zephyrs 

 as allies to defeat my nefarious plans aimed at their 

 wards. 



We must keep the female flowers covered until 

 the possibility of a tree catching pollen which it pre- 

 fers is passed. The Japanese walnut apparently 



