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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 treeding plot would be long, tedious work, so Gordon Morrison, Ferry-Morse Seed Station hybridist, enlists the aid of the maggot. It is the maggot mag-got of the objectionable 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. |