The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-02-27
Hybridizing the orange.

Ever since the freeze in the Southern
states in 1894 and 1895, which destro+ed the
orange crop and caused a damage Of s75
100000 to the industry the agricultural
department has been experimenting in the
nope or producing variety that will re-
slst the attacks of frost and possess other
qualities thought to be an Improvement
on the fruit of to-day says the Farmer
and Fruit Grower.
Inc experiment is under the supervjs-
ION OF W. T. SWingle and H. G. Webber
OF the division OF vegetable physiology
and pathology and is being conducted in
green mouse at the department In, the
green house there are at least 1oOO nv brid
growths from the seeds that have been
crossed, and next spring MANY of these
VIII be taken to the Southern states and
grated on the orange trees growing there
Ihen at least three years must elanse no
lore the grated fruit trees will begin TO
pear the fruit that is to be hardy, sweet.
loose skinned, and, perhaps, seediess.
IN 1877 Mr.. Webber succeeded in hybrid
lzing the orange In way to insure the
favorable result of planting or graft;ne,
Prior to this he had discovered j7bat tb,
japanese tri-foliate orange. althoiIgb
small and of little value excent for we
serves, is deciduous, and hardy epoueb
10 be grown without protection as far
norm as Philadelphia He decided to cross
the japanese variety with the different
kinds that flourish in the South 10 pe,
the hardy quality. The mature buds Of
the tri-foliate and of the other kinds were
selected when they. were nearly ready to
open , ana the tips OF the corolla were care
Iuliy pried apart until the stamens Iver.
exposed In these flowers the antbers ~,
male element are attached to the fla
ments by very slender threads. which apa
easily broken, and the simplest method of
removing the stamens was to puJI them
on with fine-pointed forceps This nrooess
is termed emasculation, and durinp ~
great care had to be exercised not 10 oner
the stamens, and accidentally pollinate The
flower. - 'i'e
After emasculating the flower a has 90
paper was passed over the twie baorirr,
the flower and tied around the Stem iT
such way as to effectually excluda oil
insects and foreign pollen. In a few daVs
when the pistils had time to mature tIo
sacks were removed and the pistils 1o1Ii-
mated by rubbing the stamens over tben,
Then the sacks were replaced and a1Iovad
to remain until formulation took nlaca
ana all danger from the action of foreign
pollen was over. The seeds of the frIit
resulting we're taken and properly labeled.
after which they were planted in the GREEN
house, where In less than two years they
have grown and thrived in temperate
temperature. In many cases the perfect
crossing of the varieties can be observed
by examining the leaves. The tri-foIiate
has leaf that is small and pear-shaned
whsle the ordinary orange is longer and
larger. The hybrid that wholly unites the
two has leaf that is larger than the fri
foliate, but has the latter's chief charac-
teristic.
If the seedlings that are grated on the
Southern trees develop a fruit that cannot
be killed in blossom or maturity by the
winters in that section. the scientists will
feel that they have been sufficiently re-
raid for all their efforts. Also, the risks
which now attend orange growing will be
materially lessened.