The Red Cloud chief., 1901-07-12
WANT HARDY ORANGE
EXPERIMENTS IN HvBRiDizA-
TON nv GOVERNMENT.
Orsng~ Tree THAT Grows ns PAR North
~ Maryland. ind,sos. kcntucky and
Nile, onri-us Fruit Run,y aud Unat
fer H~od.

A large crop of paper bags seems to
be the yield Of q little tree which
stands In the grounds OF the Depart
ment Of Agriculture ut Washington.
There are about fifty of these bags.
each with the neck firmly, NJ close In
spCction discloscs. about one ~ the
terminal twigs. The effect Is rather
grotssaue. The tree is the particular
charge of Prof. Herbert J. Webber,
who. with his assistant, Is responsible
for It's %bagging. II Ia u species OF or
ange tree. the variety having been
brought to the United States from
China about ten years ago with the Idea
Of using II fer hedges. IL liz evergreen.
grows about thirty feet high. and has
runty, and quite unfit for food. But
the fact that II fiourishes az far north
as Maryland. Kentucky, Indiana and
Missouri gives II u great value to the
scientists who are experimenting with
a view to securing a more hardy breed
Of orange And this Is the explanation
Of the crop of paper bags. The bios
pti VI tut tEtt uuNt JNrt bVth tiooo'N
with the st. Michaels and Sanguina
oranges, which are the standard vari-
etles Of sweet Florida fruit. Prof. Web
her IL trying to secure a hybrid which
viii. retain the edible qualities Of the
sweet Florida orange. and at the same
time preserve the hardness of the Chi
nese mother tree. One plant with these
A. .a.N,,Il Ia xyNvNh
than a bonanza gold mine. 1t would
serve as the parent stock for thousands
OF plants which would be grown
throughout the Gulf states. revolution
izing the agricultural industries there.
and yielding millions to the growers.
Experiments with this end In view be-
gan several years ago. At the present
time the department has about 300 hy-
Bird seedlings. II Is expected that some
OF these will bear their first fruit this
fall. though the majority of them will
not appear much before next year. The
300 hybrid seedlings which Prof. Web
Der has secured represent a deal OF pa
tient labor. To cross varieties which
are closely related Is a comparatively
simple matter; but the Chinese orange
and the Florida variety have been long
separated. and have grown In
such different environments. that they
have almost forgotten that they be-
long to the same genus. and they do
not take kindly to each other. COnse-
quently not more than n blossom
out of q hundred fertilized with the
foreign pollen bears fruit: and then
not more than seven out of fifteer
seeds in that fruit will terminate ant
produce a plant. The paper bags are
used to protect the flower which ha'
been fertilized with the pollen OF thu
sweet orange. The first step In the op
Grafton of crOss-fertilization Is the re
moval OF the p~Ollen-bearing stamer
from the blossom. This Is done will
small scissors and pincers. The petals
are also removed leaving the stigma
exposed. This Is all done before thu
blossoms are fully opened; for by tina
time there IL danger that bees or Other
insects might have carried the pOller
from some open blossom and deposited
IL on the stigma. When the stamen ha'
been completely removed pollen II
gathered from the blossoms OF thu
trees in the government greenhouse.
and shaken lightly upon the prepared
flower. Then the bag Is tied tightly iT
place 10 make sure that no pollen from
the same tree becomes mingled will
that already used. After the fruit hat
had time to begin forming the bags ar
removed and the twig Is marked will
a tag giving the name OF the other pa
rent. As soon as the seedlings bud the!
are sent to different parts Of the cOun
try to be grated on plants which hav
already been started. Thus 1t Is 500
discovered whether the plant Is sum
GENTLY hardy. and the only remainln
question is as to the quality Of tn
fruit.-New York Sun.