THE CROSSING OF PLANTS 



247, 



nothing is lost in this regard by transferring them 

 to the farm or garden; but in special cases it may 

 be desired to perform the operation of pollination by 

 hand, and instructions may therefore be useful. In 

 order to insure the most definite results, every 

 effort should be made to rightly apply the pollen 

 which it is desired shall be used, and to rigidly 

 exclude all other pollen. 



285. The first requisite is to remove the an- 

 thers from the flower which it is proposed to 

 cross, and they must be 

 removed before the pollen 



has been shed. The flower /iC_S-l r/lf^^*'>^^ 

 bud is therefore opened and 

 the anthers taken out. It 

 is frequently most expedi- 

 tious to cut off the floral | 

 envelopes with small, sharp- 

 pointed scissors, then cut pig. 233. 



out or pull out the anthers. Emasculation of maurandia bud. 



leaving only the pistil untouched. Some opera- 

 tors prefer to simply open the corolla at the 

 end and pull out the anthers with a hook or 

 tweezers ; and this method is often the best one. 

 The method is not important, so long as the pollen 

 is all removed and the pistil is not injured. The 

 operation of removing the stamens or anthers is 

 known as emasculation. 



