Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1871-08-05
{ VOL. 1, No. 30.
/ Terms,s LOO per Annum.

as possible to that of the first If he seeks to
obtain n fruit which will keep long time,
but which will be larger than that which he
POSSESSES, he must cross this late fruit with u
finer and larger variety. whose time of rpen-
ing may also be rather late. The sugary,
farinaceous, aromatic and other qualities.
which we meet with in our vegetables, can
likewise be increased or modified by .judicious
crosses, us well us their size or their earli-
ness"
TO illustrate the Importance of selecting
plants in the highest condition of vigor,
may relate that in the summer of 1869, in
producing numerous crosses among currants
] made use of bush of the White Grape va
riety for one of my seed-bearers, which was
not making much growth though bearing
heavily each year. Though, as in the other
cases, | removed every berry except the three
plant by high cultivation, its seedlings the
next year, with one exception, attained the
height of only about six iuches and the size
of n straw, while those raised on more vigor-
Ous bushes reached twelve inches and the
size of n pipe stem. Again, DIR. Kirkland of
Ohio, veteran horticulturist and hybridist,
once informed me that the plant from which
he raised his famous collection of Seeding
trce-peonies was neglected one season during
his absence. and that never after was he able
by any care to induce it to yield the results it
had fosrIerly,done, so t4at he was compelled
10 aGtnuOn IL IOr OtnerS.
The plants being selected, all the blooms
except those designed for operation, (and
those should be chosen in such situations as
will ensure them the fullest supply of nour-
ishment,) should be vigorously and carefully
removed, so that all the energies of the plant
may be concentrated upon the production of
the few seeds artiiicially impregnated. The
flowers chosen to be operated upon must be
prepared by plncking away the stamcns with
the buXelle some time before they are fully
developed, and must be isolated in the paper
bags. prefer paper bags to those made of
oil silk, us some recommend, because they
admit II circulation of air, and they are equal
| ly secure. The time when the stamens should
be removed depends upon the habits of flow
erng peculiar to each plant With some the
nnthers burst, and the stigmas are charged
with pollen before the flower opens. To
operate upon such plants, after this has taken
place, were of course useless. With others
the stamens do not mature till some time af-
ter the expansion of the corolla, but all this
time the pistls have been exposed to the
Judgement of foreign pollen. So for security
nearly all flowers should be opened by hand
1t is doubtless because this precautionary
step is not taken, or not taken early enough,
and because perfect insulation is not secured
more than from any other cause that any
uncertainty should exist about the results of
| naturalization. Prof. LecOy states that most
i flowers require to be opened to secure their
pistls from their own pollen, and grants the
charge that three-fourths of the new plants
sold in Europe as hybrids are only natural
variations.
With grapes some authorities direct that
the hybridist should wait until the hood of
united petals is thrown off. have found
that the anthcrs begin to open their valves
one OF two days before this takes place, and
that it is hardly possible to remove them in
this condition without leaving behind on the
stigma n few grains of pollen. The micro
scope has revealed them, and experiment has
proved that they may impregnate the ovules.
Therefore, the flowers of grapes must be
prepared two. or three days before their eX-
pansion.
With peas natural qualification is accom-
plished while the flowers are yet quite small
and green and the stigma of some potatoes,
protrudng beyond the closed petals, is ex-