52 MAINE AGRICUIvTURAI, EXPERIMENT STATION. I912. 



POMOLOGICAL NOTES. 

 A SuccEssEUE Method for Emascueating Beossom Buds. 



Experiments in the artificial fecundation of pome fruits has- 

 in all known instances been characterized by a surprisingly- 

 small percent of successes in proportion to the number of blos- 

 soms pollinated. Allowing for poor technique in pollination or 

 improper preservation of pollen, the success of such work has 

 seemed to the writer to depend to a large degree upon the- 

 manipulation of the blossom bud in castration. In the breeding- 

 work inaugurated last spring this question was considered as 

 one of the important points to be determined in developing a 

 successful technique. 



The methods generally recommended by horticultural experi- 

 menters is to entirely remove the petals before castration, either 

 by grasping them at the apex of the bud and pulling them off^ 

 or by cutting them away. In this manner greater freedom is 

 obtained in removing the stamens. 



Such procedure would appear to be undesirable and not 

 conducive to successful results. The method most likely to 

 insure a fair degree of success would be, theoretically, one- 

 which combines the necessary emasculation with the minimum 

 disturbance to the organism. Removal of floral parts may be 

 followed by results analagous to surgical shock in animals. In. 

 addition, the removal of petals and stamens is doubtless fol- 

 lowed by drying out processes at the points of severance. 



The emasculation at this Station was therefore made without 

 removal of either petals or filaments. The buds were carefully 

 opened by prying apart and laying back the enfolded petals. 

 The anthers were then removed with the minimum portion of" 

 filament by means of a small thin bladed scalpel with straight 

 cutting edge tapering to an acute V. 



In this way buds measuring 7 mm. axially were castrated,, 

 and developed into full bloom in bags without suffering appar- 

 ent disturbance from the emasculation process. Buds of more 

 advanced stages were operated upon with greater rapidity and 

 ease, with similar results. The fruits obtained in the crossing 

 work of the past season, although comparatively few in number, 

 all resulted from buds emasculated by the above method. No 

 fruits were set on blossoms whose petals were removed before- 

 castration. 



