30 THE AMERICAN- BOTANIST 



States is valued at thirty-four and one-half millions. — From 

 an article by E. S. JVhite in Gardeners' Chronicle. 



Seedless Fruits and Pollination. — A subscriber in 

 California asks: "Do plants producing sterile fruits, such as 

 navel oranges, seedless grapes, etc., require fertilization of the 

 blossom, or are the fruits produced without fertilization? Do 

 the figs of southern California, other than the Smyrna, produce 

 their fruits without fertilization, or are both staminate and 

 pistillate blossoms concealed in the fig cavity, so that the plant 

 is self-fertilized?" In the case of the navel orange and the 

 seedless grape, it would be absolutely impossible for fertiliza- 

 tion to occur, since fertilization is the union of an egg -and 

 sperm to form a new individual, and such plants do not produce 

 eggs. Fertilization regularly occurs in the production of seeds, 

 or even in the production of flowerless plants such as mosses, 

 for that matter. The query of our correspondent, however, 

 doubtless has reference to pollination or the processes con- 

 nected with the deposition of pollen on the stigmas in the 

 flower. As to this phase of the subject nothing very definite 

 seems to be known. As a general thing, flowers that are not 

 pollinated fail to set fruits, but the matter is complicated by the 

 fact that if too many flowers are pollinated, the plant cuts off 

 some of the developing fruits. There are cases in plenty, also, 

 in which seeds are ripened without either pollination or fertili- 

 zation. The effects of pollination are often more far reaching 

 than the mere stimulation to seed production that normally 

 follows. Thus orchids, which remain open for several weeks 

 if not pollinated, close very promptly when this is accomplished, 

 the petals fall and the ovary begins to enlarge to form the fruit. 

 It may be noted that the three kinds of fruit mentioned are 

 each in a separate class as regards the way in which they are 



