LUTHER BURBANK 



flowers of the orchard and garden, may be stated 

 in a few words. 



The essential thing is to secure a certain 

 quantity of pollen, usually by shaking it from 

 the flower on a watch-crystal or other small 

 receptacle, and to transfer this pollen to the 

 receptive pistil of another flower either with the 

 finger tip — ^which furnishes in general the most 

 useful piece of apparatus — or with a camel's hair 

 brush. 



It is desirable to cover the receptive portion 

 (stigma) of the pistil fully with pollen, partly 

 to ensure complete fertilization, and partly to 

 prevent the vitiation of the experiment through 

 possible subsequent deposits of pollen from 

 another source. 



If the flower to be fertilized has stamens of 

 its own, these should be removed before they are 

 fully ripe — which is often a few hours, or a day 

 before the foreign pollen should be applied. This 

 removal of the stamens may usually be done 

 with a pair of small pincers. In case of flowers 

 that have short pistils — the cherry, apple, and 

 other orchard fruits being good examples — ^the 

 unopened flower bud may be cut around at about 

 the middle, with a thin-bladed knife, the anthers 

 being thus excised at a single stroke. With other 

 flowers the mechanical details vary, of course; but 



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