New YorK AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 367 
process of castration. It was, doubiless, under such conditions 
that the self-pollinations occurred which resulted in the 
development of the few fruits mentioned in the list of check cas- 
trations. See Table I. But if, on the other hand, the buds are 
castrated too early they may fail to develop further and die 
before fertilization is accomplished. 
In some cases the cap and anthers were removed by means 
either of pliers or scapel. This method is well adopted to meet 
the conditions for successful operation when buds are about to 
open. In most cases, however, the operation was performed at 
an earlier stage in the development of the bud, and the cap and 
anthers were removed by pinching them between thumb and 
finger. By this method the work could be done more rapidly 
than by the use of tools. If the bud can be operated on at the 
most favorable stage in its development, usually the cap, with 
anthers inclosed, may be readily pulled off with one movement 
of thumb and finger without either injuring the pistil or self- 
pollinating it. In doing this the end of the cap is pinched either 
between finger and thumb or between finger and thumb-nail. 
As a check upon this method of castration, many clusters after 
being thus operated upon were immediately inclosed in paper 
bags without being cross-pollinated, and were kept covered till 
the blooming season had passed. Any fruit which developed on 
these clusters must have resulted from accidental self-pollination 
during the operation of castrating the blossom buds. The fol- 
lowing is a list of the check castrations referred to with a state- 
ment of the number of fruits produced. 
