The flower is taken in the left hand, three fingers being placed at its back and the thumb in front, the column with organs of fertilization on top being supported against the middle sepal behind. A bit of hard wood, cut to the size of a toothpick and scraped smooth and flat at one end, is the only tool required; this is held in the right hand. To get at the organs of fertilization easily, the sack which grows from the side of the column enveloping its front and marking the sexual organs is pressed down by the bit of wood, or this is run through its base, and the sack torn up, or the whole sack may be plucked off with finger and thumb, it matters not how it is laid open, so long as this is done quickly and without injury to any other part of the flower. The smooth end of the fecundating instrument is then laid flat on the front of the column just beneath the organs of fertilization, and being pushed up it catches under the flap which keeps the pollen from coming into contact with the stigma. The flap is raised along with the stick till it lies flat against the upper part of the column, being held in that position by the bit of wood. The stamen, at first raised along with the flap, now falls down again in its original position, and the flap being out of the way the pollen comes into contact with the stigma, and a slight pressure of the thumb on the stamen lodges the pollen in the position required; the bit of stick being then quickly but gently withdrawn, the operation is complete. The whole affair is very much easier done than described, and with flowers fairly numerous an ordinary hand will fecundate a hundred or so per hour. Early morning, from 7 to 9, is the best time for fertilizing; but the work may be started with sunrise and carried on well into the afternoon, though about midday flowers begin to close some and the work goes slower. Most plants in full crop produce many more flowers than it is advisable to fertilize, for other parts of the vines, besides the checked hanging branches, blossom in favorable seasons, and the number of pods which a vine is able to mature properly must be estimated from the plant’s size and condition. In the course of four or five years, though by that time the planted cutting will be spent, if well cared for it will have grown a large quantity of vine; and as each new shoot, when long enough, sends down aerial roots in its own behalf, it becomes, so to speak, an independent plant and the parent of others. If none of the shoots from a strong growing vine have been removed the mass of growth in time becomes enormous, and may be equal to maturing a hundred or more good pods. When the supporting tree is stout and furnishes forks enough to admit of the vine being spread out so as to let plenty of air through it the vine may be allowed to accumulate to this extent, and if it gives, say, 20 clusters, each yielding 10 or more flowers, 5 or 6 might be fertilized on each. [Illustration: