August 25, 1906 



HORTICULTURE 



19;) 



Birds and Fruits 



Much has been written of hue years on the rehntions 

 between insects and flowers, and mauv careful observers 

 have shown good reasons for believing that the exquisite 

 colors of our roses and tulips depend ultimately upon 

 the slow selection of bees and butterflies. But very lit- 

 tle attention in comparison has been given to the equally 

 curious subject of the relations between birds and fruits ; 

 and yet fruits are objects of far greater practical jm- 

 jjortance to mankind than the beautiful blossoms whose 

 origin Mr. Darwin and his followers have so often ex- 

 plained to us. 



It may prove of more than ordinary interest to the 

 i-eaders of Horticulture if we glance at the manner in 

 which these pretty and sweet-flavored seed-vessels have 

 lieen produced. We now know that no part of any plant 

 iir animal has been created solely for the use of other 

 species; every organ has a duty of its own to perform 

 in the economy of its possessor. If the luscious clover 

 is gifted with honey to attract the bee, with sweet scent 

 to draw it on in its quest, with purple petals to allure 

 its eye from afar, it is primarily because the clover needs 

 the aid of the bee in fertilizing its perfumed heads. If 

 the currant coats its berry with the self same sweet 

 juices, and relies upon the self-same attractions of rosy 

 coloring, it is primarily because the currant bush needs 

 the voluntary aid of the bird in dispersing its seeds 

 through the surrounding fields. Voluntary aid, we must 

 say, because some seeds, like burrs and other hooked 

 kinds, get themselves dispersed by means of sheep and 

 cattle, to whose coats they cling against their will. 

 Some, like thistle-down and cotton, are provided with 

 fluffy tails, which carry them through the air on the 

 wings of the wind; others, like the maple, have regular 

 wings of their own, on which they fly in the same man- 

 ner as the kite. The balsam bursts open its capsule 

 with a sort of explosion, and scatters its seeds around it 

 in every direction. The grasses simply drop their little 

 round grains upon the bare soil beneath. But there are 

 two kinds of seed-vessel especially liable to be eaten by 

 birds and other animals, and these two kinds differ dia- 

 metrically in the way they comport themselves towards 

 their devourers. They are commonly called nuts and 

 fruits. 



The nut the squirrel or monkey eats whenever he can 

 get it. Accordingly nuts are purposely made in such a 

 manner as to escape the notice and baflle the hungry at- 

 tempts of their enemies. They are generally green as 

 they grow among their native foliage, and brown as they 

 lie iipon the bare ground beneath. Thus they never at- 

 tract attention by their color or brilliancy. Then again, 

 they are covered by a liard shell, and furthermore they 

 very frequently have a nauseous bitter husk, or are cov- 

 ered with prickly hairs. A fniit, on the other hand, 

 adopts exactly opposite tactics. It is so devi.scd by Na- 

 ture as to offer every inducement to various animals to 

 eat it. The means which it employs for the allurement 



of Ijirds are exactly like those which flowers employ for 

 the alluroniont of insects. It has sweet juices, perfumed 

 essences, red, blue, or purifle coloring. Clearly, the fruit 

 is a kind of seed-vessel which means to be eaten if it 

 only can get any one good enough to perform the duty. 



But we must observe at the same time that fruits are 

 not at ail stages of their growth prettily colored, soft, 

 and sweet. They begin as hard, sour, green knobs, and 

 only acquire their external allurements as they slowly 

 ripen. 01' course this is quite necessary if the plant is 

 to carry its point and get its seeds dispersed in a fit con- 

 dition for sprouting; for its whole object would lie de- 

 feated if birds were to eat the seeds while they were still 

 young and green. Hence the color is only added at the 

 moment when the little embryos within have become 

 fitted for an independent existence. So, too, the sweet 

 juices replace the sour acid of the green fruit and the 

 hard pulp grows soft and yielding. 



In these facts we find one of those minute relations of 

 dependence between animal and vegetable life of which 

 so many instances liave been forthcoming of late years. 

 The more we look into the balanced economy of life, the 

 more does it appear, as Sprengel long ago jointed out, 

 that "the wise Author of Nature has not created even a 

 liair in vain."' And whether we regard the mode of crea- 

 tion as direct or in indirect, by a pure exercise of volition 

 bringing forth an orderly universe through one design, 

 or by slow adaptation of every part to every other 

 through natural selection, it is equally true that every 

 portion of every plant and every animal is instinct with 

 meaning for those who patiently try to read it aright. 



O-^iAJLTi/t^ 



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Our Way 



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