HOW-TO SECURE GOOD SEED. 37 



anthers so that none of the pollen shall have escaped and fertilized 

 the flower. One eas} 7 means of noting this time is to observe the con- 

 dition of the corolla. The anthers should be removed just before the 

 corolla opens. As soon as the anthers have been removed, a small 

 paper bag should be tied over the flower and allowed to remain for at 

 least one da} T or until the stigma becomes receptive for pollen. This 

 receptive condition of the stigma is easily noted by the presence of a 

 sticky, viscid substance over the surface. At the proper time for 

 pollination, anthers from the desired imported strain which are just 

 .ready to discharge their pollen should be secured. These anthers 

 should be broken open and the pollen carefully rubbed over the sur- 

 face of the stigma of the flower to be fertilized. As soon as this pol- 

 lination has been completed, the small bag should be replaced over the 

 flower and allowed to remain there until the end of the season. A 

 small tag should be attached to the flower, giving the name of both 

 parents, as Havana X Sumatra (the first name referring to the female 

 and the second to the male parent), with any other data which would 

 assist the grower in keeping a record of the parentage of the cross. 



The best plan which can be followed in the case of crosses is to grow 

 100 plants of each cross and carefully note the characteristics of the 

 hybrid plants. It will be found that there will be considerable varia- 

 tion in the plants the first season. Seed should be saved from those 

 plants which are most desirable and which show the greatest improve- 

 ment over the native varieties. The next season a larger area can be 

 planted from this seed; and if the crop is uniformly of the type desired, 

 enough seed can then be selected the second season to plant the entire 

 crop the third year. 



HOW TO SECURE GOOD SEED. 



1. Save the best plants in the field for seed plants. An early Broad- 

 leaf plant of desirable type is shown in Plate VIII, figure 2, in com- 

 parison with the ordinary plants, and was selected for seed production 

 on account of earliness. During the cultivation of the crop and the 

 suckering and topping processes a constant search for good plants 

 should be made by growers. 



2. When good plants are observed, they should be plainly marked 

 by a tag or rag tied to the plant, so that they may be easily found and 

 to prevent them from being accidentally topped. 



3. Place a light, 12-pound size, manila paper bag over the flower 

 heads of the selected seed plants before the first flowers open. Inspect 

 the bags every few days for the first two weeks and raise them up 

 farther on the growing stems, arranging them so as to prevent any 

 injury from crowding in the bag during this period of growth. The 

 extent to which this method of saving seed is now being followed is 

 shown in Plate VI, figure 1. 



