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Show Lowly Maggot an Aid To Flower Breeders r TSE of the loathsome maggot in the development of more lovely flowers for the gardeners of the world constitutes a little-known little-known phase of the science of flower breeding. Often in his work the flower breeder obtains outstanding, single-plant specimens which give promise of becoming sensational, new flower creations. This remarkable re-markable plant individual must be protected from contamination (cross-pollination) by neighbor flowers. So the breeder encloses it, as it grows, in a muslin cage. If the plant is to mature properly prop-erly and produce seed, however, its flowers must be pollinated, but only with the pollen grains of that plant itself. Scientists call this "selfing." ' Pollination by hand of all the caged plants on a flower breeding plot would be long, tedious work, so Gordon Morrisoi-, Ferry-Morse Seed Station hybridist, enlists the aid of the maggot. It is the maggot mag-got of the objectioaable blowfly, moreover. Blowfly maggots in the pupae stage are placed in the flower cage, subsequently maturing matur-ing into flies. The insects are extremely ex-tremely active and they fly from flower to flower on the caged plant, 'doing an excellent job of spreading pollen from one blossom blos-som to another. The plant then proceeds to produce its prized crop of seed. Thus the long-despised maggots do their part to help make the world more beautiful. Even so, let's hope flower breeders find a way to put them out of existence after they have done their pollination pol-lination chore. |