28 



STATE BOARD OF HOKTICULTURE. 



pulling off of the anthers before they burst and allow the escape 

 of the pollen. This process is termed emasculation. * * * 

 In the manipulation of orange flowers mature buds nearly 

 ready to open are selected and the tips of the corolla carefully 

 pried apart until the stamens are exposed. In these flowers 

 the anthers are attached to the filaments by very slender 

 threads, which are easily broken, so that the simplest method 

 of removing the stamens is to pull them off with fine-pointed 

 forceps. The latter may also be conveniently used in prying 

 apart the corolla lobes of the bud. During the process of 

 emasculation in this and all other cases great care must be 

 exercised not to open the stamens and accidentally pollinate 

 the flower. All insects must be watched and carefully excluded. 

 Fig. 3 shows an emasculated flower ready to bag. 



Fig. 1— Orange flower bud, 

 showing stage which 

 should be selected for 

 emasculation. (Natural 

 size.) 



2 — Mature orange flower. 

 (Natural size.) 



Fig. 3 —An emasculated 

 orange flower ; a, shows 

 where anthers were de- 

 tached. (Natural size.) 



(After Swingle and Webber.) 



After emasculating the flower, a bag of some closely woven 

 cloth or of paper should be carefully passed over the twig bear- 

 ing the flower and tied around the stem below the flower in 

 such a manner as to effectually exclude all insects and foreign 

 pollen. The manila paper sacks used by grocers are employed 

 almost exclusively for this purpose. In a few days after 

 emasculation and bagging, when the pistils have had time to 

 mature, the sacks must be removed and the pistils pollinated, 

 after which the sacks should be replaced as before and allowed 

 to remain until fecundation has taken place and all danger 

 from the action of foreign pollen is over. In most cases the 

 sacks should then be removed, as they are likely to injure the 

 development of the fruit. In some cases, as in the orange, 

 where the pistil is nearly mature when the bud is opened, the 

 pollen may be applied to the stigma when the flower is emas- 

 culated, thus avoiding the trouble of opening the bag later. 



