FRUIT-BLOSSOMS. 



232 



FRUIT-BLOSSOMS. 



did IH>I iMddiicc ;i, siiiKif seed, whilr HKI liciids im 

 pliiiits ffiowiiif?- outside, whicli were visited l).v l)e(>s, 

 yielded tiS grains weigrlit of seeds; :iiid as KG si'i'ds 

 weighiHl two g-rains, tin; liuiidred heads must liave 

 yielded 3720 seeds." His e.\perieii(;e with wiiile clo- 

 ver was nearly the same. 



Another most interesting result of his experiments 

 was tiiat plants grown from seed of self-fertilized 

 flowers were, as a rule, when grown side by side 

 with seed of cross-fertilized flowers, much less vig- 

 orous, although in other respects the conditions 

 were as nearly alike as it is possible to make them. 

 On page 371 he says, "The simple fact of the neces- 

 sity in many cases for extraneous aid in the trans- 

 port of tlie pollen, and the many contrivances for 

 this purpose, render it highly probable that .some 

 great benefit is thus gained; and this conclusion 

 has now been firmly established by the superior 

 growth, vigor, and fertility of plants of crossed 

 parentagi^ over t'lose of self-fertilized parentage." 



In Glemnugs in Bee Culture tor June 1, 

 1894, Prof. Cook furnishes this additional: 



Prof. Bailey, tlie very able horticulturist of Cor- 

 nell University, writes: "Bees are much more 

 efficient agents of poUenation than wind, for our 

 fruits; a)Hl their absence in always deleterious." 



The Division of Vegetable Pathology, of the De- 

 partment of Agriculture, has just issued a most 

 valuable bulletin on " PoUenation of Pear-flowers," 

 Ijy Norman B. Waite. Mr. Waite-says: "Incidental 

 mention has been made of insect -visitors. We 

 should not proceed without laying some stress 

 upon the importance of these visits. The common 

 honey-bee is the most regular, important, and abun- 

 dant visitor, and probal)ly does more good than any 

 other species." He says, further, that cool or rainy 

 weather interferes seriously with insect-visits. Many 

 varieties (23 out of 364 of those he experimented 

 with), says Mr. Waite, require cross-pollenation; and 

 tlie pollen must be from a different variety. Bees 

 and other insects are the agents of the transporta- 

 tion of pollen. In summing up, Mr. Waite says— 

 and this from crucial decisive experiments: "Plant 

 mixed orchards, or, at least, avoid planting solid 

 blocks of one variety. Be sure that there are suffi- 

 cient bees in the neighborhood to visit the blossoms 

 properly. When feasible, endeavor to favor insect- 

 visits by selecting sheltered situations, or by plant- 

 ing windbreaks." 



Again, E. C, Green, of tlie Ohio Experi- 

 ment Station, for June 1st writes : 



Quite an interesting fact came under my observa- 

 tion this winter in tomato-forcing, along this line. 

 We had in one house about 200 Dwarf Champions 

 that were planted in August; and by the time win- 

 ter set in they were as fine and thrifty plants as one 

 could wish to see, and setting their fruit nicely. We 

 felt glad to think what a nice crop of tomatoes we 

 should have; but when January came, and they be- 

 gan to ripen up their fruit, the bulk of it was about 

 the size of hickorynuts, and without any seeds. 



The tomato, as you know, is a bisexual flowering 

 plant, but in this case it is evident that the pollen 

 from the same flower was what is called "self" 

 irritant." If bees or some other cause had carried 

 the pollen from one flower to another, or one plant 

 to the other, there would have been a good crop. I 

 have been doing something in cross-fertilizing to- 

 matoes tliis winter, and have been surprised at the 



case Willi \vlii<'!i ( hey crossed, having used the Po- 

 tato-leaf, Dwarf Champion, Pondei'osa, Peach, and 

 several of the common kinds, making in all about 

 40 crosses. 1 do not think I shall fail to get seed 

 except in a few of them. I expect that from the 

 .seed I shall get a lot of " mongrels," as one writer 

 in Gleanings calls such crosses; but I prefer to 

 call them crossbreeds, as "hybrid " has a different 

 meaning. 



Still again, Prof. V. II. Lowe, of the 

 Geneva Experiment Station, New York, in 

 1899 covered a certain set of small pear- 

 trees, as it was not practicable to use large 

 ones in a hood of sheeting. This hood was 

 large enough to sit down over the whole tree, 

 something in the form of a bag, and the 

 lower end of it was tied around the trunk of 

 the tree. The object of this was to keep out 

 insects, ants, bees, and any thing, in fact, 

 that might assist in pollenizing the blos- 

 soms. On all of these trees so covered, there 

 was a large number of buds, and all the 

 conditions were favorable for a good crop, 

 except that the flight of insects was entirely 

 cut off. Now, then, for the results : Out of 

 the whole lot of trees covered, there was 

 just one fruit. On another set of trees of 

 the same sort and size not covered, there 

 were 145. In the other case, where it was 

 not practicable to envelop the whole tree, 

 one large limb, for instance, would be en- 

 closed in the bag, the mouth of the bag be- 

 ing tied around the trunk of the limb. In 

 one such instance there were 2483 buds on 

 an apple-tree that were thus covered with 

 the sheeting. Out of that number just one 

 fruit matured. There was plenty of fruit 

 on other portions of the tree where the 

 limbs were not covered. In one case, where 

 the sheeting broke open so that insects 

 could get in, there were 13 perfect fruits 

 from 818 buds. It was clearly shown that 

 bees or other insects play a most important 

 part in the poUenation of average fruit- 

 trees. 



Prof. Bailey, the very able horticulturist 

 of Cornell University, writes : '•'• Eees are 

 much more efficient agents of poUenation 

 than wind, in our fruits, and their absence 

 is always deleterious." 



The Division of Vegetable Pathology, of 

 the Department of Agriculture, Washing- 

 ton, D. C, has issued a most interesting bul- 

 letin on "PoUenation of Pear-tlowers,'' by 

 Norman E. Waite. Mr. Waite says: "In- 

 cidental mention has been made of insect- 

 visitors. We should not proceed without 

 laying some stress upon the importance of 

 these visits. The common honey-bee is the 

 most regular, ioaportaiit, and abundant visit- 



