STATF, POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. II9 



raise apples to the value of $765,883; pears, $159,416; straw- 

 berries, $404,007 ; cucumbers, $303,699 ; and cranberries, $1,038,- 

 712, a total of $2,671,717 worth of crops whose production is 

 largely dependent on insect aid. 



But even the financial side of the question — which is a nar- 

 ^row one at best — leads at once to considerations whose import- 

 ance cannot be measured in money. Good fruit crops on the 

 cranberry bog, in the garden, or in the orchard mean good food 

 and clothes in the farmer's house, increased comforts in the 

 home, and better educational facilities for the farmer's chil- 

 dren. Thus we are led to appreciate not only the interdepend- 

 ence between lower forms of life, but the important relations 

 of these forms to our own e:^istence and welfare. Such studies 

 bring us into closer and more sympathetic associations with the 

 whole living world. A plant or tree is no longer a semi-animate 

 thing ; it is a living organism, endowed with needs that must be 

 supplied, and with capabilities for service. The buzzing insect 

 is no longer an aimless, useless creature ; it is a vitalized, intel- 

 ligent being, with conscious and unconscious missions. In car- 

 ing for its own it becomes at once the servant of the plant and 

 the servant of man. 



Such are a few of the teachings of Nature's school. A better 

 knowledge of animal and plant life, of that life other than our 

 own which is all around us, cannot but be broadening to our 

 interests and sympathies. It will enable us to attain to a fuller 

 and better and nobler standard of living. The pages of Nature's 

 book are always open, and in studying her teachings there is 

 great reward. 



DISCUSSION. 



Mr. Wooster : Do you think cross-fertilization in strawber- 

 ries is brought about by bees or by the air ; that is, which is the 

 means by which the pistillates are cross-fertilized ? 



Mr. Kirkland : In my opinion the strawberry blossoms are 

 dependent on insects for their fertilization. While the air takes 

 up the pollen and carries it about, it is likely to scatter it broad- 

 cast and on any other flower as well as the one to be propagated. 

 The bee takes the pollen from the staminate and carries it 

 directly to the pistillate and the fertilization is sure. 



