LUTHER BURBANK 



Once planted there, the pollen grain begins to 

 tlirow out a downward shoot, into and through 

 the pistil stalk — forming itself into a tube which, 

 extending and extending, finally taps the egg 

 chamber and makes jiossible a union between 

 the nucleus of that pollen grain and the egg below 

 which awaits its coming. 



So, to produce a new geranium we have but 

 to dust the grains of pollen upon the sticky stigma 

 of that central pistil stalk; and when the flower 

 has withered away, its duty done, we shall find 

 within the egg chamber a package of fertile 

 geranium seed ready for planting. 

 ***** 



But there arises, now, a difficulty. While those 

 little packages of pollen dust are there, the central 

 pistil stalk inside keeps shut up tight, and it has 

 no sticky surface on which to dust the pollen. 



And if we search for another blossom which 

 shows an open, sticky pistil, we shall find that the 

 pollen packages which once surrounded it have 

 gone. 



To make our combination between the pollen 

 grains and the egg-like seeds, therefore, we find 

 it necessary to search first for one blossom which 

 is in its pollen-bearing stage, and then for another 

 blossom which has passed this point and shows 

 a receptive sticky stigma — we are forced to make 



[72] 



