APPLES 
est of these set fruit. The more the 
flower bud is developed, the greater 
chances there will be that artificial pol- 
lination will be successful. The opera- 
tor, however, must be certain that no 
pollen has already been shed. Two or 
three of the weakest and least developed 
puds are pinched off and the remainder 
are left to be operated upon, or, if some 
of the flowers are open, they are re- 
moved and the others left. A pair of 
small tweezers are very good for this 
purpose. They should be perfectly smooth 
at the tips, both outside and inside, so 
that no pollen will lodge there. The 
petals of the buds are now removed by 
means of the tweezers; the anthers 
which contain the pollen are then re- 
moved, by breaking the filaments off, 
and thrown away. In removing the 
petals and anthers, great care should be 
taken that the stigmas are not injured, 
as, if they are, failure is certain. Only 
the female part of the flower now re- 
mains. The stigmas are in condition to 
receive the pollen when they become 
moist. They will remain in this condi- 
tion for a day or two. Pollen may, 
however, be applied to the stigmas be- 
fore they are ready, as pollen will stay 
419 
in good condition longer than the stig- 
mas. If the pollen is not applied imme- 
diately, the flowers which have been 
operated upon should be covered with a 
stout paper bag and the mouth tied 
tightly about the twig, so that no insect 
can get in. Flower clusters of the vari- 
ety of apple which is to supply the pollen 
and be the male parent of the future 
seedlings, should be gathered just before 
the buds open, and the twigs put in 
water until the blossoms open and the 
pollen is shed, which can be easily de- 
tected as the anthers burst open, when 
the pollen becomes quite visible to the 
naked eye. If the flowers are taken in 
the orchard after they open there is 
every probability that insects may have 
deposited pollen from other varieties 
there, and thus the parentage of the 
cross-bred variety would not be certain. 
When the pollen and stigmas are ready, 
the bag is removed and the stigmas then 
well covered with the pollen. This may 
either be effected by holding the flower 
in the fingers and rubbing the anthers 
against the stigmas, by putting some of 
the pollen on the finger nail and thus 
rubbing it on, or by applying it on the 
end of a knife or some other flat sur- 
> 
Flower of Apple Prepared for Cross-Fertilizing—1, flower just before opening ; 
2, the petals removed; 
8, the anthers removed; 4, one of the 
anthers: 5 and 6, views of pollen highly magnified. 
