1910 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



219 



as soon as the blossom is emasculated. How- 

 ever, this may have been due to the fact that 

 the blossoms operated upon were those that 

 would probably open under normal condi- 

 tions in one day from the time the operation 

 was performed. 



From the results obtained it is evident 

 that in a great many varieties the pistils are 

 receptive before the blossoms open. This 

 being the case, it tends to show that nature 

 encourages cross- pollination rather than 

 self-pollination. One of the greatest advan- 

 tages of poUenizing at the time of emasculat- 

 ing is the saving 

 of time, as the bags 

 will not have to be 

 removed. 



There are many 

 plant-breeders that 

 do not make the ap- 

 plication until two 

 or three days after 

 the blossoms have 

 opened. These 

 men have also re- 

 ceived very satis- 

 factory results. 

 Professor S. W. 

 Fletcher, of the 

 Virginia Agricul- 

 tural College, usu- 

 ally waits until the 

 stigma of the emas- 

 culated blossom 

 glistens before 

 making the appli- 

 cation. Many oth- 

 er inves|tigators 

 pursue the same 

 method. By con- 

 sulting Tables IV. 

 and VII. the per- 

 centages of suc- 

 cesses of the two 

 methods can be 

 readily seen. 



POLLEN TRANSMIT- 

 TED THROUGH 

 THE AIR. 



It has been a 

 question in the 

 minds of many ex- 

 perimenters for 

 some time just 

 how much the 

 wind aids in car- 

 rying pollen from 

 tree to tree. If 

 the wind does aid 

 in distributing pol- 

 len, is it distribut- 

 ed in sufficient 

 quantities to in- 

 sure the fertiliza- 

 tion of the ovules? 

 Since so many of 

 our varieties of ap- 

 ples are known to 

 be self-sterile, and 

 must;depend upon 



foreign pJlen for fertilizing the ovules, this 

 question is of serious consequence. Is it 

 the wind or our common honey-bee that 

 does the work? From the observations 

 made the past two years it is evident that 

 bees play an important part in the fertiliza- 

 tion of the blossoms. To arrive at some def- 

 inite conclusions as to how much pollen is 

 transmitted through the air by the wind, 

 experiments were carried on to determine 

 this question. Waugh, of Massachusetts, 

 demonstrated that plum pollen was not 

 transmitted through the air in sufficient 



PLATE XL— EMASCULATING AND BAGGING BLOSSOMS. 



