144 
of the person. In a majority of cases, 
a small, sharp, dissecting scalpel is preferred, 
especially for the stone and pome fruits. 
The bud is held between the thumb and 
forefinger of the left hand and the sepals, 
petals, and stamens removed in two or three 
cuts. In some cases a scalpel with a curved 
blade is more serviceable. A pen-knife 
with a sharp, thin blade may answer just 
as well. Professor J. C. Whitten is partial 
to a knife with a blade rounded on the end, 
like a budding knife, but much smaller. 
The knife or scalpel must be kept razor 
sharp; if the slightest bit dull the speed of 
the operator is much reduced and ragged 
wounds or tears may be made. 
Next to the scapel the most popular 
instrument is a small, sharp-pcinted pair 
of dissecting scissors. Curved scissors are 
preferred by Professor H. J. Webber when 
working on orange blossoms. For the 
blossoms of stone and pome fruits, I have 
found scissors more tiresome and less effi- 
cient than a scalpel. For some kinds of 
blossoms, especially small ones that are 
partially opened, the tweezers, preferably 
compositors’ tweezers, are a practical instru- 
ment. The stamens are grasped about 
half way down the filaments and broken 
off at that point — not pulled out. 
For grape blossoms, and all others having 
small anthers that must be removed sepa- 
rately, Mr. T. V. Munson and others recom- 
mend a slender pin, such as is used in 
mounting small insects, with one-quarter 
inch at the pcinted end flattened and bent 
into an acute-angled loop. This may be 
inserted into a wooden handle for conve- 
nience. For strawberries and bush fruits, 
Professor F. W. Card prefers a little spatula 
made from a flatted pin and filed very sharp. 
Deft fingers are also very serviceable at 
times. Professor S. A. Beach finds that when 
grapes are in just the right condition he has 
been able to do the work most readily with 
thumb and finger. 
There is a great temptation to make the 
cut too low on pome fruits, especially if 
using a scalpel. I have concluded that 
Crossed fruits are recog- 
Pear crosses that “‘took.’’ 
nized by the clipped calyx even when mature 
THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 
it is best to make the cut nct any below the 
point where the stamens are inserted, and 
the higher the better, so far as the setting 
of fruit is concerned. But the higher the cut 
is made, the less rapid is the work and the 
greater is the likelihood that small stamens 
will escape the knife. Mr. M. B. Waite 
endeavors to “cut just above the top of the 
ovary, through the base of the calyx, below 
the stamens and into the nectary, leaving 
the centre portion of the nectary behind,” 
and he says, further: “Doubtless the cut 
can be made so low as to remove the top of 
the ovary and the entire nectary.”” A ma- 
jority of pollinators, however, are of opinion 
that a cut made at the insertion of the sta- 
mens and above the nectary is about right. 
WHEN TO APPLY THE POLLEN 
This depends very largely upon the kind 
of blossoms used; each fruit must be studied 
independently. The only point that needs 
to be considered here is whether to polli- 
nate at the time of emasculation or to wait 
until the, pistils are receptive. The latter 
method is most commonly practised, but 
the former has many advocates, especially 
in the South and West. With reference to 
this point, Mr. T. V. Munson says: “I 
always pollinate at once after emasculation, 
as the fresh pollen grains are usually gummy 
enough to adhere to the soft, spongy stigma. 
But the pollen grains do not begin to germi- 
nate until the stigmatic juices exude and 
moisten them.” It must be remembered 
that Mr. Munson’s work has been largely 
on grapes. 
The success of this early pollination 
depends, first of all, upon the stage of 
development of the pistils when the stamens 
are removed. When blossoms are emas- 
culated but one or two days before the 
stigmas become receptive, there seems to 
be no doubt but that the pistils may be 
pollinated immediately. 
The chief advantage of pollinating at ise 
time of emasculation is the saving in time; 
the chief disadvantage is the uncertainty 
that the pollen will remain on the stigmas 
until they are receptive. It often happens 
that after blossoms are emasculated several 
days of cold, rainy weather intervene and 
keep the blossoms at a_ standstill. In 
such cases immediate pollination would 
not be effective. Professor I. L. Budd 
states that the tendency of most people is to 
pollinate too soon rather than too late. If 
emasculation is delayed, however, until 
the buds are nearly open, there is no doubt 
but that immediate pollination is successful, 
provided the weather continues favorable. 
The unpollinated pistils usually remain 
. receptive longer than those on the tree at 
large that have been pollinated. I have 
had good results from pear crosses made 
four days after the stigmas became viscid, 
and from strawberry crosses made eight 
days after. Orange blossoms are receptive 
about two days, grape blossoms about two 
days. It is a safe practice not to begin 
pollinating until the blossoms on the tree 
at large that were in about the same stage 
of development when the cutting was done, 
APRIL, 1908 
Brandywine strawberry. Each pistil in the cen- 
tre must be touched with pollen in order to develop 
a large and well formed fruit 
have about passed their receptive period. 
The sack seems to retard the development 
of the pistils somewhat — from twelve te 
eighteen hours, according to Dr. W. Van 
Fleet, especially in a cool season. 
The safest time to pollinate is near the 
beginning of the receptive condition of the 
pistils. When there are several thousand 
blossoms of one variety to be pollinated, 
and all the pistils cannot be pollinated at 
just that time, pollination may commence 
about twenty- four hours before the time 
when the pistils begin to be receptive, and 
continue for at least forty-eight hours after 
that time. A receptive stigma usually 
glistens when it catches the suslight, and in 
most fruits it is beginning to he slightly 
brownish. The stigmas of the blossoms 
of many fruits are receptive about the time 
that the nectar is secreted in abundance, 
but this varies with different fruits. 
COLLECTING AND STORING POLLEN 
The greatest difficulty that the pollinator 
encounters, when working on a large scale, is 
to secure a supply of pollen. This may take 
more time than emasculation and is respon- 
sible for many losses. When few pistils 
are to be pollinated, the simplest and the 
most efficient method is to sack the pollen- 
bearing blossoms before they open, and to 
leave the sack on until ready to pollinate. 
This means that the two varieties must 
blossom at about’ the same time. The 
branch enclosed by the sack may be cut off 
and taken to the blossoms that are to be 
pollinated. Then the pollen-bearing blos- 
soms are picked off, their petals stripped 
back and the stigmas touched with their 
anthers. This is the most natural method 
of pollinating, and it usually gives a high 
per cent. of successes; but it is too slow. 
A more expeditious methcd, for pome 
fruits especially, is to scrape or pull off 
with the thumb and forefinger mature but 
unopened anthers from flowers that are 
just opening. In this way a large quantity 
