282 Plant-Breeding 



The manner of emasculating the flower varies with the 

 operator. It is a common practice to clip off the anthers 

 with a pair of small scissors, or to hook them out with a 

 bent pin or a crochet hook. There are disadvantages 

 in any of these methods, because the anthers are likely 



FIG. 89. Tobacco flowers, showing the parts of the flower, a bud ready 

 to be emasculated, and an emasculated subject. 



to drop into the bottom of the corolla, where it is some- 

 times difficult to rescue them ; and if one uses tweezers, 

 there is always danger that the anthers may be crushed 

 and that some of the pollen may adhere to the instrument 

 and contaminate future crosses. We may therefore cut 

 the corolla completely off just above the ovary, with a 



