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Apple seeds germinate best when sown 
in the autumn. If, however, it is not 
convenient to sow them at that time, 
they may be stratified; that is, mixed 
with sand, slightly moist, but not wet, 
and kept in a cool but dry place until 
spring. Seeds should not be sown in the 
autumn in soil which heaves much; bet- 
ter hold them over and sow them as 
early in the spring as the soil can be 
worked. If apple seeds become very dry 
they may not always germinate satis- 
factorily, and this should be guarded 
against. The seeds should be sown thin- 
ly, about two inches deep, in rows from 
two and one-half to three feet apart. Or, 
if the quantity is small, beds may be 
prepared and the seeds sown in rows 
about six inches apart. If sown in the 
autumn, most of them should germinate 
the following spring and make a growth 
of from one to two feet that season. 
They should be transplanted the follow- 
ing spring into rows from two and one- 
half to three feet apart, placing them 12 
inches apart in the rows. The next 
spring they should be in good condition 
for planting in the seedling orchard. 
Cross-bred and Hybrid Varieties 
Those varieties which are originated 
by artificial cross-fertilization and hy- 
bridization are called cross-bred and hy- 
brid, respectively. A hybrid is a cross 
between two species: as, for instance, 
between Pyrus Malus, the apple, or a 
variety of it, and Pyrus baccata, the 
Siberian crab. A cross-bred is a cross 
between two varieties of the same spe- 
cies, as, for instance, between the North- 
ern Spy and McIntosh Red apples. 
Although nearly all our best apples 
have been originated as seedlings, the 
reason is, not that good varieties cannot 
be produced by artificial cross-fertiliza- 
tion, but that comparatively little sys- 
tematic work has been done in this 
direction in America until recent years. 
When one considers that a very large 
number of chance seedlings have been 
the result of natural cross-fertilization 
of the flowers of different varieties (for 
it is now an established fact that many 
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 
varieties of apples are self-sterile) it ig 
reasonable to suppose that a much larger 
percentage of good apples will be ob- 
tained if the flowers are pollinated arti. 
ficially, as then only the varieties which 
have the characteristics desired in the 
seedlings will be used as the parents, 
and, although it has been already saiq 
that apples have been so inter-crossed in 
nature for hundreds of years that there 
is no certainty what the seedlings of 
any variety will be like, yet the charac. 
teristics of the parents will be more 
likely to predominate than those of vari- 
eties whose blood has intermingled at a 
more remote period. Before beginning 
any work of this kind, it is important, 
then, to decide what kind of an apple is 
most desired, and to select as parents 
those varieties which have as many of 
the qualities sought for as possible. The 
seedlings raised will probably have more 
of the characteristics of the female par- 
ent than of the male, and this should 
be taken into consideration when select- 
ing the variety for that purpose. There 
is, however, no certainty in the matter, 
and in originating cross-bred apples it 
is wise to do some crossing with one 
variety as the female parent, and some 
with the variety as the male parent. A 
hybrid, however, is almost certain to 
partake more of the female parent if 
the species differ widely. 
The season when one may pollinate 
apple blossoms is very limited, as there 
is only from a week to 10 days during 
which the work may be done. In the 
blossom of the apple the organs of re- 
production represent both sexes. When 
the pollen, which is the fine dust con- 
stituting the male part of the flower, 
comes in contact with the stigma, which 
is the upper part of the female organ, 
fertilization is liable to take place, and 
this must be prevented if artificial pol- 
lination is to be performed. The pollen 
which is contained in the anthers is 
shed almost as soon as the blossoms 
open, and work must begin, therefore, 
when the flower is in bud. There are 
usually five or six buds in a cluster on 
apple trees, but generally only the strong- 
