Maybe it has something to do with heredity, I dunno, but after reading all that stuff, my head hurts. Are weak intellectual constitutions and eye strain dominant, I guess? Whew! Anyway, High Plains Drifter, here are some addresses to cut and paste into your search engine window (since I haven't evolved sufficiently to provide automatic electronic hyperlinks ... gosh, with my diminished capacities, it was a real task to even spell that): http://cuke.hort.ncsu.edu/cucurbit/wehner/vegcult/tomatoai.html http://cuke.hort.ncsu.edu/cucurbit/wehner/vegcult/tomatojr.html http://cuke.hort.ncsu.edu/cucurbit/wehner/vegcult/tomatosz.html What you will find are lists of hundreds of tomato cultivars with descriptions of their applications (whether they are applicable to heat tolerance, for instance ... like Gulf State Market, Creole, Bradley, etc.), and even some parentage info. I hope the lists will be helpful in your search for genetic material to develop your super race of t'maytur. As far as your original question, this is the first year I've attempted to cross pollinate myself; but I can tell you this: 1) I was told (by a knowledgeable member who shall remain unidentified) to only emasculate flowers that were in the early stages of showing color and had not opened or revealed their stigma. However, I emasculated 3 Cherokee Purple flowers that were clearly showing stigma and pollinated them with 3 separate contributing pollens (one "male" varietal contribution source per flower), and 2 of the 3 flowers set fruit while not one of the flowers that were on the same plant set fruit during the same high temperature period of time. It remains to be seen if those two fruits produce hybrid seed. 2) In another case, during the same very hot period of time, I emasculated two Green Zebra flowers whose pedals had spread but whose stigma were still tightly encapsulated by the whatchamacallit pods. I let the exposed stamen sit for about 30 hours, and then pollinated by smearing the stigma with broken open male parts from a yellow cherry tomato (I'm after clusters of small, tart, crunchy, striped, ping pongs with more yellow at ripe stage). One of the two flowers set fruit while not a single other flower on the GZ set fruit during the same period of time. My assumptions thus far (based upon very limited experience and training in this whole thing): A. Either I pollinated the blossoms that I emasculated with their own pollen as I tore off the male parts; or B. I succeeded in pollinating the blossoms with the intended pollen from the male contributors; or C. The blossoms were already pollinated, and I just got lucky enough not to destroy them; or D. The stigma were pollinated by some other means after I emasculated them. My assumption that I succeeded with my intent is only bolstered by the fact that not one single other blossom existing at the time of my activity set fruit on the two plants I was working with. It was during the hottest part of July with daytime temps running 94 to 102 here in S.W. Indiana. As to your question about "how many flowers" to gather contributing pollen from ... it's just too damned tedious to go through tapping, capturing, drying, blah, blah, blah, as described in the scientific literature I read ... so, I just tore off 5 or 6 blossoms (from each intended contributor) that looked ripe or overripe, tore them open, and gently brushed the receiving stigma with the torn parts. I washed my hands with hot, soapy water inbetween each procedure. I ended up having lots of yellow dust on my fingers when I did this, so I assume I got the job done. We shall see next year, right? Regards, Bill (a flatland hybridizing neophyte)

Jackie has really 'grown up' since she was first on AGT, she was such a cute little girl. And she's beautiful now! Unlike many child entertainers, she just keeps getting better, IMHO, anyway. As for Sal, I didn't think his performance last night was his best, by any means, but I really do like him. He has a wonderful voice, he's good looking, (okay, so I'm a sucker for blue eyes) and has a very likeable stage presence. What's not to like? Although I guess his music genre probably appeals more to us "old folks", than the younger generations. I grew up with his kind of music. Rusty

No, Lily, you aren't the only one that doesn't care for that Spanish lady. I don't like that kind of music at all! Another not so favorite of mine was Brian Justin Crum. I would have enjoyed the Deadly Games act a lot more if those two hadn't been screeching on the sidelines. I don't know how he could concentrate on throwing those knives with all that racket on the stage with them. And the gal that did the sand painting! While I was very happy she advanced as far as she did, it also surprised me for some reason. I love her art, though. And she is so pretty, and so poised and elegant! Darci Lynn has been one of my very favorite favorites from the first time I saw her a couple of years ago. I think her talent is amazing, especially at her young age. Shin Lim is the first card trick magician (not sure what the 'proper' name for his act would be) that has ever been able to hold my attention much past their first trick. He is amazing! Paul Potts has a nice voice, but I found his performance to be pretty blah. No emotion or personality that I could see. But, different strokes for different folks. We all like different things, and that is a good thing. This world would be a pretty boring place if everyone were alike! Can you imagine the tension they were under standing up there waiting for the results? Even the judges looked like they were about to collapse under it! Rusty

Well, I have no idea how Hough and Union were fired. Didn't know they had been fired. Personally didn't care for Hough at all, glad she's gone. Union was okay, I thought. As for Simon and his best friend's wife, well, I would suspect she's as much to blame as he is. I tried to read the link you posted, Nicole, but it insists I turn my ad blocker off, and I'm not going to do that, so didn't read it. Nor did I find anything much about AGT firing Hough and Union, at least nothing that sounded all that bad. I am glad to see Heidi Klum is back! I like her a lot. I enjoyed last night's show, the girl that got the Golden Buzzer has a stunning voice. And enjoyed seeing the winners from other countries. Oh, and just to be clear, my opinions of the judges are strictly about their performances on AGT. I'm not interested in their personal lives or their political views, either. Rusty