What's happening in the field?

At the Missouri State Fruit Experiment Station

Walnut tree TP-ed over the weekend!

by

At first glance, it looks like one of the walnut trees at the experiment station was toilet papered in the fashion of a Halloween prank! The tree actually was bagged as part of a walnut breeding project directed by Dr. Chin Feng Hwang. Brigette Williams is the graduate student working on this project with the help of several others includng Li-Ling Chen, Logan Duncan, Surya Sapkota and Steven Turner.

Walnuts are monoecious having separate male and female flowers. Surya and Bridgett are removing the male catkins and then putting a bag over the female flowers to protect them from uncontrolled pollination.
Walnuts are monoecious having separate male and female flowers. Surya and Brigette are removing the male catkins and then putting a bag over the female flowers to protect them from uncontrolled pollination.
The group is working on the cultivar Sparrow which will be the female parent. They will come back to pollinate Sparrow with pollen from the Football cultivar.
The group is working on the cultivar Sparrow which will be the female parent. They will come back to pollinate Sparrow with pollen from the Football cultivar. (left to right – Steven, Dr. Hwang, Surya, Logan and Bridgette)
Dr. Hwang, Li-Ling and Surya are the back of the pickup crew.
Dr. Hwang, Li-Ling and Surya are the back of the pickup crew while Logan climbs the ladder.
Bridgette Williams is the graduate student primarily responsible for this work.
Brigette Williams is the graduate student primarily responsible for this work.
This walnut looks quite spooky after the group has finished bagging it up.
This walnut tree looks quite spooky after the group has finished bagging it up.