158 POPULAR ERRORS. 



order are remarkable for the absence of leaves, of 

 which no other traces can be found than tufts of 

 prickles arising at regular intervals from the stem 

 these being the veins of the leaves, between 

 which the parenchyma is not developed." Carpen- 

 ter, "Vegetable Physiology," page 416. 



Probably most gardeners know by this time that 

 most species of cactus have true leaves on their 

 young shoots, but that these leaves soon fall away, 

 and that the spines are not leaves. 



Action of Pollen. For a long time after the 

 fertilization of plants was known as a fact, the 

 actual process was not understood. A common 

 supposition, held by Linnseus and other early botan- 

 ists, was that the pollen upon its contact with the 

 stigma, exploded and discharged its contents 

 (which they called fovilla, ) and that this possessed 

 some subtle influence which caused the fruit and 

 seed to come to perfection. 



It is now well known that a pollen grain is some- 

 what like a seed, or more properly, like a spore, 

 and that it undergoes a process of germination 

 upon the stigma and penetrates to the rudimentary 

 seed within, and by imparting to it a portion of its 

 own substance enables it to develop. 



Sex in Melons.- -" A. W. Cooper, of Glynn 

 County, Georgia, informs us that a certain gar- 

 dener in his state raises better watermelons than 



