288 VEGETABLE FORCING 
others that the danger of early mulching, causing cx 
cessive plant growth with more or less hindrance to fruit 
development, makes it desirable to defer this operation 
until at least three clusters of fruit are set. The latter 
policy is certainly safe and is probably followed by the 
majority of growers. It is also believed by some growers 
that a mulch kept constantly wet from the first promotes 
the development and dissemination of diseases. But this 
is not so likely to occur if the mulch is applied late in the 
season when there is warm, sunny weather. 
Pollinating.— The tomato grower should fully under- 
stand the function of the various parts of the flower. 
The green, starlike outer portion is the calyx and its 
separate parts are known as the sepals. Apparently, the 
only function of this organ, but a very important one, is 
to furnish protection to the young, tender buds. The 
yellow corollas, formed of separate parts called “petals,” 
which in many flowers attract certain insects, do not 
seem to have any particular functional value in the cul- 
ture of tomatoes, because bees refuse to visit them and 
thus to convey pollen from flower to flower. The 
stamens, the next set of organs, form a tube which in- 
closes the pistil, They are the male portions of the 
flower, and the anthers, borne in a column surrounding 
the pistil, produce the pollen grains which fertilize the 
central or female organ, the pistil. The top of the pistil 
is called the stigma, and this is larger than the pedicle 
below, which is called the style. The base of the pistil 
is known as the ovary, which contains the ovules in 
which the seeds develop. 
As the flower matures, the pistil elongates until it 
generally protrudes above the stamens. The minute, 
dust-like pollen grains then ripen and, under favorable 
atmospheric conditions, are discharged into the air, when 
some of them will lodge on and adhere to the sticky and 
moist stigma of the same flowers or of other flowers. If 
