THE mmMMicmn mmm jqurnkil. 



599 



^^^^^^^■^■'■^-^^^*^^-^*^^-^^-~-*-* 



fraternal good-feeling have not been 

 without their influence, and it now 

 seems that the time is not far distant 

 when these two societies, like the lion 

 and the lamb, will lie down together 

 in peace ; or at least will be coijtent to 

 eat grass in the same pasture, or regale 

 themselves with sweetness from the 

 same flower. In confirmation of these 

 statements I quote an extract from the 

 Orange Judcl Farmer, referring to a 

 fraternal meeting of fruit-growers and 

 bee-keepers in Columbus, Ohio, not 

 long since : 



The bee-convention was invited by the 

 Secretary of the Ohio State Horticultural 

 Society to visit the horticulturists then iu 

 session in the same building. The horticul- 

 turists were discussing the question of fruit 

 fertilization by insects, and the bee-men 

 joined heartily. It was decided that the 

 little, busy bee is a very useful insect to the 

 fruit-grower in the way of aiding nature in 

 the fertilization of flowers. 



I will have something to say about 

 this further on ; but will remark here 

 in passing that this may not be spoken 

 of as an aid to nature, but a part of 

 nature, as I think it was so intended 

 in the Divine plan of things. But to 

 quote further : 



The feeling between the fruit-growers 

 and the bee-keepers is becoming more 

 friendly every year. They are bolh be- 

 ginning to see the necessity of the other for 

 the best results in their respective lines of 

 labor. 



Let us see if we can get at the cause 

 of this misunderstanding ; let us look 

 for a short time into the facts bearing 

 on the case as they are i-elated to each 

 party, the bees and the fruit, and see 

 if we can offer any suggestion to help 

 solve this problem more completely, 

 and promote further this feeling of 

 friendship and good-will. 



IGNORANCE REGARDING THE BEE. 



The cause of a large amount of this 

 trouble may be expressed by the word 

 ignorance, in the literal meaning of the 

 word ignorance, " not knowing." We 

 use the word generally in a bad sense, 

 meaning to cast reflections upon the 

 party to whom we apply it. This may 

 be explained as willful ignorance ; but 

 this is not the kind of ignorance to 

 which I attribute most of the trouble. 

 It is true there are some people who 

 are culpably ignorant of facts, or who 

 at least ignore all facts, if they are not 

 ignorant of them, and go on trying to 

 make trouble and stir up strife and 

 contention. But the ignorance I refer 

 to is that which grows out of want of 

 contact with the facts and their sur- 

 roundings. There is too much in the 

 world for one man to learn it all, and 

 there are many things that we go 

 through life ignorant of, simply be- 

 cause the occasion for investigating 

 them has never come up ; and then 

 again there are some things we do not 



investigate because of the difliculties 

 surrounding sucli an investigation. 



On the side of the bees, I confess 

 that this question has some difficulties 

 that are verj- much in the way of an 

 examination, and people who have no 

 interest iu investigating are very apt 

 to stand at a respectful distance and 

 take their knowledge at second hand. 

 Now second-hand knowledge is not so 

 apt to be accurate, and the knowledge 

 not being accurate, the party draws 

 wrong inferences, and arrives at ad- 

 verse conclusions ; and the beginning 

 of trouble is at hand. 



But we will not jump at any conclu- 

 sions. I know a little about the bees 

 at first hand, and will try to tell you 

 what I know ; and you, gentlemen of 

 the Horticultural Society, know some- 

 thing about the fruit, so if I do not do 

 justice to it, j'ou can set me right on 

 that point. 



BENEFIT OF BEES TO FRUIT. 



Let us see first if the bees are any 

 benefit to the fruit, as a balance agaiust 

 any injury they may do it, if in the 

 end we find that they ever are an in- 

 jur}'. In order to discuss this part of 

 the question, it will be necessary for 

 me to go over some of the ground cov- 

 ered in my essay of last year before 

 the bee-keepers, and also discussed in 

 part by the able paper of Prof. Bessey 

 before the joint meeting. 



Blossoms, by their color, odor, and 

 nectar, attract insects in great num- 

 bers, and the insects draw nourishment 

 from them. It is evident, then, that 

 the flowers are useful to the insects. 

 The question arises, are the insects of 

 any use to the flowers ? 



It does not seem that the flower 

 would put on its gorgeous robe and 

 throw out its delicate perfume upon the 

 free air to entice the insect, and con- 

 tinue to secrete the precious nectar iu 

 its bosom to regale the appetite of the 

 visitor, if it were to derive no benefit 

 therefrom. Nature is largely con- 

 structed on the plan of utility, or, as 

 Prof. Gray has put it : ■" Where free 

 lunches are provided, some advantage 

 is generally expected from the treat." 



So we are led to inquire, what ad- 

 vantage can the plant derive from the 

 visit of the insect to the flower ? At 

 the risk of repeating some things that 

 you are all familiar with, I desire to 

 state a few elementary facts of botany. 



BOTANICAL STRDCT0KE OF FLOWERS. 



First, let us see if we can learn how 

 a flower is made, and what oflace its 

 various parts are intended to perform. 

 Of course there is an endless variety of 

 flowers, varying greatl_y in color, form, 

 etc., but all ordinary flowers are com- 

 posed of about the same parts, and 



these parts exist, more or less, for the 

 same purpose. 



Take, for illustration, an ordinary 

 flower : It is composed of an outer 

 whorl of leaves, generally green, called 

 the " calyx." Inside of this is another 

 whorl of leaves, which are frequently 

 highly colored and very beautiful, 

 called the " corolla." Inside of these 

 vpe have another set of organs, called 

 " stamens." These vary greatly in 

 number in various flowers. On top of 

 them is an organ called an " anther," 

 which contains a fine powder called 

 "pollen." This pollen carries the 

 male element of the flower, or the 

 sperm-cell. 



Inside of these, in the centre of the 

 flower, we find another organ, or there 

 may be more than one, called a 

 •' pistil." This pistil is composed of 

 three parts. The upper part is called 

 the "stigma," the middle part the 

 " style," and the lower part the 

 " ovary." 



This ovary is a hollow case, or pod, 

 that contains rudimentary seeds called 

 "ovules," in which is found at the 

 proper time the embryo-sac that con- 

 tains the germ-cell, or female element 

 of the flower. So that here within 

 these whorls of leaves the highest en- 

 ergies of vegetable life are concen- 

 trated, and the ends of that life accom- 

 plished. 



Now, the sperm-cell, referred to 

 above, must be brought into imme- 

 diate contact with the germ-cell, or 

 else no fruit will ever be produced. 

 As I said before, the sperm-cell is 

 found in the pollen of the anther, and 

 the germ-cell in the ovary or ovules of 

 the pistil. Why nature is so organized 

 that it requires the union of these two 

 elements to produce growth and de- 

 velopment sufficient for the production 

 of another perfect organism, is one of 

 the inscrutable mysteries that will no 

 doubt forever remain in the mind and 

 heart of Him who, in the beginning, 

 let that be when it may, " Spake and 

 it was done, commanded and it stood 

 fast." 



. The question is, how are these two 

 elements, or protoplasmic germs, to 

 be brought together. Where all of the 

 organs are found in one flower, as in 

 the one described above, with no ob- 

 struction between them, and they 

 come to perfection at the same time, 

 the process is a very simple one, yet 

 full of interest. A gentle movement 

 of the wind, after the anther has 

 ripened and gotten ready for the pro- 

 cess, and the potent grains of pollen, 

 freighted with their life-awakening 

 germs, come showering down upon 

 the receptive stigma. 



Presently there is formed what is 

 known as the pollen-tube. This begins 

 to grow downward through tlie stvle 



