84 THE FIG: ITS HISTORY, CULTURE, AND CURING. 
Nearly every flower we see in the field, and certainly every bright- 
colored flower, requires the visit of some insect in order that its stigma - 
may be fertilized by the pollen which adhered to the insect when it 
left the last flower visited. Thus the insects and the flowers stand in 
close intimacy. The honey glands of the flowers furnish food for the 
insects, which are attracted to the flowers by their size, color, or scent, 
or by the odor of the honey. The insects pay for their visit and for 
their meal by unknowingly carrying the pollen from one flower to 
another—the insects are fed, the flowers pollinated. Only in very few 
instances do the insects live and breed in the flowers. One such 
instance is the fig, in which the Blastophaga wasp breeds and passes 
nearly its whole life. Caprification is therefore nothing but a similar 
pollination—one which, as regards the edible fig, is accomplished not 
only by the aid of insects, but also by the help of man. 
Among other plants which require help in pollination in order to 
bear fruit or berries are certain varieties of strawberries, which pos- 
sess only pistillate flowers. Such varieties will bear only when there 
are other kinds prescnt to supply the pollen. In order to accomplish 
this pollination the horticulturist plants bisexual varieties alter- 
nately among rows of the pistillate ones. The wind and insects then 
carry the pollen from one variety to another, and pollination is accom- 
plished. The flowers of the strawberry are open, and any insect almost 
ean effect the necessary transmission of pollen. If the strawberry - 
flowers had been hidden in a receptacle it would probably have been 
necessary for the horticulturist to breed and supply the proper 
insect. In ecaprification man furnishes these insects, the work con- 
sisting in bringing them from the wild figs to the cultivated ones. 
Another well-known process of pollination by the aid of man is the 
one practiced by the growers of the date palm. There are male trees 
and female trees of the date. The former produce only pollen-bearing 
flowers; the latter carry only seed or pistillate flowers. The process 
of pollination of the date palm consists in bringing small bunches 
of ripe pollen-bearing flowers to the top of the seed-bearing trees 
and shaking the pollen over the bunches. The staminate flowers 
are thus fertilized and the production of an abundant crop is assured. 
If this process is not undertaken by the grower, only a small crop 
would result, as insects and wind would fertilize only by chance and 
only a few flowers would bring fruit. In caprification of the fig man 
can not shake out the pollen on the flowers of the fig, because they 
are covered up. He can only suspend the pollen-bearing figs in the 
trees and let the Blastophaga wasps do. the work of carrying the pol- 
len through the eye of the fig to the female, or pistillate, figs. In 
caprification, therefore, we need not only pollen-bearing figs, but we 
require also an immense quantity of wasps to do the work of carrying 
the pollen. This complicates the process considerably, but in reality 
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