38 FIELD AND LABORATORY STUDIES OF CROPS 



pollen or dust from the same or another closely related flower. 

 In the corn plant the silks are the pistils or female parts 

 of the flower, while the tassel is the male part of the flower 

 and produces the pollen with which the silks are fertilized. 

 In such plants as oats and wheat both parts of the flower 

 develop at the same place on the plant and are enclosed 

 within the glumes or chaff. When the two parts are 

 separated, as in the corn plant, it is necessary that the 

 wind or insects carry the pollen from the tassel to the silks 

 before the grain can develop. With oats and wheat the 

 parts are so arranged that each flower produces its own 

 pollen and as a consequence they are close fertihzed. 



By putting the pollen of one kind of a plant on the pistil 

 of another closely related plant, the plant breeder some- 

 time originates a new variety. Plants so produced are 

 called hybrids or crosses. The hybrid plants are some- 

 times very much superior to either parent, but it frequently 

 happens that the crossing results in the production of 

 plants that are inferior to the parent forms. 



