CROSSING VARIETIES OF THE TOMATO. 



the visit of a bee bearing pollen grains on his legs, or 

 the gardener may effect it artificially. 



In Armenia there grows a cantaloupe, probably of 

 large size, to judge by the seeds, which is so sensitive 

 to the heat of the sun that the gardeners are in the 

 habit of covering the young melons with earth until 

 they reach a certain size. This variety will be tested 

 the coming season in several localities. The seeds are 

 very large and white, much larger than any we have, 

 and resemble those of the curious yellow Cappadoci^ 

 melon introduced by me several years ago and not now 

 grown. 



Some years ago a few winter cantaloupes were grown 

 in this latitude, but the measure of success did not en- 

 courage the grower to continue the experiment ; still I 

 see no reason why other attempts should not be made. 

 American visitors to Naples are willing to pay sixty 

 cents for a green melon in winter, and speak of them as 

 wonderfully fine ; in fact, it is the finest Neapolitan 

 variety, and ought to be grown in some southern state if 



possible, as a new industry. If the Naples melon will 

 not succeed, the Malta green one should be tried. These 

 melons are put away in the fall before they begin to 

 ripen, and are kept in a cool place. When one is to be 

 ripened, it is hung up in the open air in a warm place, 

 in a net. or a little bundle of straw, as bottles are some, 

 times encased for packing. The Naples seeds are very 

 large, but of a form that ought to grow ; the dry-soil 

 varieties may do better in our country. The test is 

 surely well worth making. 



In my boyhood, when large melons, known as nut- 

 megs and musk-melons, were chiefly grown, a com- 

 panion caught a rat in one by suddenly closing the hole 

 which he made and through which he had entered to 

 eat the seeds, leavmg a piece of his caudal appendage 

 sticking out as a tell-tale. Rats, mice and chickens 

 curiously prefer the seeds of a cantaloupe to its flesh, 

 while cats at provision stores will often eat the latter 

 with avidity. 



Philadelpliia. Robert P. Harris, M. D. 



CROSSING VARIETIES OF THE TOMATO. 



The Director of the I'loyal Gardens at Kew, Eng- 

 land, made a public statement a few weeks ago to 

 the effect that a knowledge of the science of botany 

 is of no value to the practical 

 gardener. It may be in doubt- 

 ful taste to question the asser- 

 r «v)uy f-. tion of so high an authority, 

 r>-wcy but the query arises in my mind, 

 what would one accomplish at 

 cross-pollinating plants who 

 knows nothing of the parts of a 

 flower, and of the functions of 

 those parts ? Possibly the dab- 

 bling with this sort of know- 

 ledge would be regarded by 

 some as a sure evidence of a 

 lack of practical ability. How- 

 ever this may be, I received a 

 ago from a practical gardener 

 whose hair has grown gray in the business, inquiring 

 if I could give him some simple directions for cross- 

 ing varieties of the tomato. A sentence in his letter 

 was somewhat touching: "My threescore years 

 and over remind me that those younger than I are 

 the proper persons to do this work, but I do not ex- 

 pect to fold my hands and wait my few remaining 

 years." It occurred to me that there are possibly 

 some among the younger readers of The American 

 Garden who may be inspired to take up this noble 

 work, and for the benefit of any such, as well as 

 my aged friend, I have decided to offer my little 

 experience. 



Cross Section. 

 letter a few weeks 



The beginner is likely to meet with difficulty in secur- 

 ing pollen from the flowers of the tomato until he learns 

 a little botanical secret. The same applies to the blos- 

 soms of the potato. If we refer in our Gray's Manual 

 to the genus solatium, to which these plants belong, we 

 shall find it stated that the anthers (parts that contain 

 the pollen) open " at the top by two pores, or chinks." 

 In the flowers of many other plants, as the strawberry, 

 apple, lily, etc., the anthers burst at maturity and ex- 

 pose the pollen to view, but not so with the tomato. Just 

 how the pollen makes its own escape through these little 

 pores or chinks I do not know. We are sure that it 

 does, however, for few flowers are more uniformly fertile 

 than those of the tomato. 



A reference to the drawings will perhaps be of some 

 assistance. Not having a sample of a tomato blossom 

 at hand, I have substituted a drawing ot one of the 

 potato, which resembles it sufficiently for our purpose. 

 In the larger drawing, the stamens ar e seen in the cen 

 ter, clustered around the'- 

 pistil. The chinks a 

 ^heir tips are not shown, 

 as they are chiefly on 

 ^he inner side. In the' 

 smaller drawing, how- 

 ever, which represents 

 the stamens and pistils 

 as cut across transversly, 

 the little folds containing 

 the pollen (marked /, /.) 



are easily seen. In order to secure the pollen, it is o nly 

 necessary to insert a very narrow spatula, or the end of 

 the tweezers, between the stamens near the base, crowd- 

 ing the edge of one out sufficiently so that the instru- 

 ment may be inserted into the fold. Then by carefully 



A Potato Blossom. 



