The Fascination of Flowers [ 297 



accepted "fact" that the chief value of color in flowers was to 

 attract insects. 



Scent Is the Attraction: Along came a scientist who had made a 

 study of the insects' pollinizing role. He pointed out that bees 

 and other flower-visiting insects have poor vision but a well- 

 developed sense of smell. He also demonstrated that in addition 

 to the colors that we can see, some flowers emit ultraviolet rays. 

 Though these rays are not visible to our eyes, insects can see 

 the rays as well as, or even better than, the colors which our eyes 

 perceive. His over-all conclusion was that color is, at most, only 

 incidentally responsible for bringing insects to flowers. 



Since that time, countless observations and experiments have 

 shown that insects are attracted by the scent of flowers. In the 

 course of one of his famous experiments, for example, Luther 

 Burbank worked patiently to develop a petunia that would have 

 fragrance. He knew that he had succeeded at last when he saw 

 several bees hovering over one of the plants in a large bed of his 

 experimental petunias. He quickly verified the fact that this 

 particular plant's flowers were perfumed. 



How POLLEN Is CARRIED FROM PLANT TO PLANT 



It is vital for insects to visit flowers for, as we have seen, 

 they carry pollen from plant to plant and thus help bring about 

 the fertilization of flowers. Corn and all other plants known as 

 "grasses," and most cone-bearing plants such as pine trees- 

 depend on the wind to convey their pollen. 



Breeding Flowers: But sometimes man takes a hand in pollinating 

 plants, especially when he wishes to create a hybrid, for a variety 

 of reasons, by "crossing" the pollen of two different species in the 

 same family. This may be done to increase the hardiness of a 

 beautiful but fragile plant, or to make the colors of flowers more 

 vivid. 



Crossing different kinds of plants calls to mind the name of 

 Luther Burbank. He will undoubtedly be remembered for all 

 time as the great genius among plant breeders; it was he who made 

 the science of "training plants to work for man" really practical. 



