AND HIS PLANT SCHOOL 53 



white kernels, for the wind has carried pollen from the 

 yellow corn tassel to that of the white corn, and so the 

 seeds become crossed or mixed. This crossing is con- 

 tinually going on everywhere in Nature, and thus each 

 plant has an individuality, no two being exactly alike. 

 Although to most persons all buttercups or daisies look 

 alike, they differ in many ways. There is an endless 

 variety in flowers as there is in human faces. 



Usually when we speak of crossing, we refer to the work / 

 of man in combining two plants. An apple blossom will 

 illustrate how this crossing is done. The only tools you 

 will need are a good microscope, a tiny saucer to hold the 

 pollen, and a small, sharp knife. Some morning when the 

 flowers are about to open, gather the anthers of several 

 blossoms from one tree and place them upon your saucer 

 to dry. The pollen will soon shake out. The blossoms of 

 the other tree to which you wish to carry the gathered 

 pollen must not be open or in full bloom, lest some pollen- 

 carrier has been there first. Carefully cut away the petals 

 and anthers, leaving the pistil uninjured. Then dip the 

 tip of your finger into the pollen in your saucer and place 

 it gently upon the stigma of the flower, which you have 

 prepared to receive it. It will hold the yellow dust fast. 

 There is nothing now left to attract a pollen-carrier to the 

 fertilized blossom, for its bright petals are gone, and there 

 is no footing left for an insect to light upon. It would be 

 well to place a tag upon this bloom so that you can watch 



