260 State Board of Agriculture, &c. 



role in indirect fecundation. It is evident that they often 

 fertilize flowers by pollen of the sanie species, but by grains 

 of pollen taken from different individuals, and that there 

 ai-ise in this way progeny which, without this intermedia- 

 tion, would have sprung from the union of near relations. 

 (Too close inter-breeding, even among plants, is often det- 

 rimental to the offspring.) I'lie importance, so well estab- 

 lished, of a hive of bees in proximity to an orchard or 

 garden su})ports this opinion of the active part taken by in- 

 sects in forming indirect fertilization. One will not be as- 

 tonished at this importance if he recollects the curious con- 

 clusions which Herbert, of Geneva, has drawn from his nu- 

 merous observations. According to him, " the bees of a 

 single hive will fly over a circle whose radius is two and 

 one-half miles. " I have known them to fly twice that dis- 

 tance. " Giving to a hive an average population of 12,000 

 inhabitants, and attributing to each bee four journeys per 

 day, we shall obtain 48,000 chances multiplied by the num- 

 ber of flowers which each bee visits on each trip. Allow- 

 ing ten flowers and 480,000 visits (to flowers), which will 

 be augmented in an enormous proportion if another hive is 

 situated near the domain to be explored, (* * * and) 

 we shall be forced to believe that each (flower) has had 

 many chances to receive the fertilizing dust from another 



flower. " 



" The transport of pollen by insects is a fact perfectly 

 evinced. There are plants that, without them, would 

 remain constantly infertile ; and, if several species of our 

 hot and green-house plants remain sterile, it is often be- 

 cause we have not imported along with them the insects 



