COTTON BREEDING 



65 



the one hand and by whether or not the anthers have 

 begun to burst, setting free the pollen, on the other. When 

 this stage is reached the pollen from the male buds should 

 be transferred to the stigmas of the female buds. This 

 can be done by pulling the entire flower bearing the pollen 

 and rubbing its anthers gently over the stigmas of the 

 emasculated flower until it is observed that some of the 



FIG. 15. Outfit used in crossing cotton; also buds showing the steps 

 in emasculation and a boll three days after pollination. 



pollen-grains have adhered to the stigmas and sides of 

 the pistil. The paper bags should again be placed over 

 the emasculated flowers and allowed to remain for four 

 or five days until the small boll is formed. With a small 

 tag carefully label each boll so that it may be distinguished 

 from others. 



76. Hybridization versus selection. For quick re- 

 sults selection offers much greater possibilities in cotton 

 improvement than hybridization. Owing to the large 



