PROFESSOR Bailey's enthusiasm in the work has led him to describe an outfit for pollination so extensive that many thinking it all necessary, may, I fear, be deterred from practicing this exceedingly interesting phase of horticultural work.

As a result of over twenty years experience, I have adopted for all ordinary work, the following simple and compact outfit. My own "kit" is carried within the covers of an ordinary "Excelsior" diary, about 6 inches long, 3¼ inches wide and about half an inch thick, the tools being easily contained in the pocket of the cover. The tools consist of a pair of slim, pointed pliers, two camel's-hair brushes, a few bunches of worsted yarn of various colors, some small bags made of netting or tarle-tan, and a lead pencil. This receptacle also holds a pair of sharp-pointed scissors for thinning, etc.

For cross-fertilizing most flowers I have found nothing equal to the pliers above mentioned ; almost any flower that needs it can be opened with them, and the whole operation can be performed without change of tools.

To illustrate their use, suppose we wish to fertilize the flowers of the single petunia with pollen of the double form. In this case there is no need of tearing or cutting the corolla, as the anthers do not burst until the flower has opened somewhat. The pliers are introduced and the anthers are quickly picked from the single flower. The double flower, split down one side and the edges turned back to expose the stamens, is held between the thumb and finger of the left hand, leaving the three fingers free to steady the flower to be operated upon. Grasp the stamen of the double flower, with the pliers, just below the anther, and by a slight twist the filament parts, leaving the anther on the point of the pliers.

To touch the stigma with one side of the anther is the work of an instant, and the pollination is complete. If the pollen is abundant, several stigmas can be fertilized with one anther. This method can be used on any flowers where proper development of stigma and anther can be obtained. It is not only the quickest method, but it is also the most economical of pollen, a point of prime importance. Petals and any other interfering parts can be as quickly removed with the pliers as with scissors.

When it has been necessary to gather pollen in advance and preserve it for a time, I have preserved it in flattened test tubes, and have used a fine brush, just oily enough to retain its shape after drawing it through the fingers, to take and apply the pollen with. I shall try Professor Bailey's spatula the first opportunity I have.

The colored worsteds mentioned are used to mark flowers operated upon, and by different combinations they show what the cross has been.

In assisting some of the compositae to perfect seed, a rather short, stiff camel's hair brush has been found useful to disperse the pollen. The lead pencil, in addition to its use in taking notes, is sometimes handy to disperse or place pollen.

Several years ago I introduced the pliers in one of the largest seed establishments in the country. The late Peter Henderson endorsed it as follows : "Far superior to the usual method with a camel's hair brush." The pliers used are the straight ones, made of steel, that are used with first class microscope outfits. Beware of cheap tools - they are utterly unfit for the delicate work of pollinating.

Buffalo. John T. Cowell.