466 



BEDDING 



BEES IN HORTICULTURE 



phia, are particularly commendable; a flower-bed should 

 not be in the middle of a large lawn, because it dis- 

 tracts the attention from the larger picture, and 

 because the lawn is the canvas upon which the land- 

 scape gardener makes his 

 picture. The chief merit of 

 beds is their attractiveness 

 and brightness, which ac- 

 counts for their presence in 

 parks and public places. On 

 the other hand, they are ex- 

 pensive, and they are at 

 their best only two or three 

 months in the year, while 

 a mud-hole in a lawn for 

 nine months of the year is 

 an unsightly object. Formal 

 beds, especially of foliage 

 plants, with their gaudy 

 colors and unchanging 

 monotony, are considered 

 by some the most unnatural 

 and the least artistic style 

 of gardening. Nevertheless, 

 they require a high degree of 

 technical skill, which de- 

 serves appreciation. 



495. Lawn bedding pattern. 



General instructions. 



A few practical suggestions may be given for making 

 any bed. The soil should be rich and full of vegetable 

 matter. If a foot or 18 inches of the surface soil is so 

 poor that it must be removed, it may be replaced by 

 two parts of fibrous loam and one of well-rotted manure, 

 with some upturned broken sods in the bottom for 

 drainage. The fall is the proper time to apply manure, 

 and if the bed be thoroughly spaded over and left rough 

 during the winter, the alternate freezing and thawing 

 will fine both the soil and the fiber of the manure. 

 Beginners nearly always fail to supply perfect condi- 

 tions for watering. A midsummer mulch of half-rotted 

 manure enables the plants to take all the moisture they 

 need during the drought and to keep it. The soil should 

 be in ideal condition before the plants are set into it, 

 mellow, rich, full of fiber, and of firm and uniform 

 texture. Begin in the middle and work toward the 

 edges. When the bed is finished, give it one thorough 

 soaking, to settle the soil at the roots. 



BEECH: Fa us. R BERT SHORE " 



BEES IN HORTICULTURE. Bees pollinate the 

 greatest number of flowers of any insects. To them, 

 therefore, horticulturists are indebted for a service that 

 is inestimable, but it is usually disregarded. The pro- 

 gressive horticulturist, how- 

 ever, today is awake to the 

 situation and ready to uti- 

 lize the honey-bee in an 

 effort better to meet com- 

 petition. 



The bee's service to the 

 horticulturist in pollinating 

 the flowers of fruits and 

 vegetables, is the result of 

 its effort to secure nectar 

 or pollen, the male element 

 of the flower; this is trans- 

 planted from the anther to 

 the stigma, which latter is the female organ. Many 

 flowers, for satisfactory fertilization, require a foreign 

 pollen, and it is through the agency of bees that this is 

 usually supplied. The intricacies of the mechanisms and 

 the means of pollination have been described by a host 

 of writers, including Darwin and Muller. 



There are two kinds of bees, solitary and colonial 

 (social). Solitary bees live isolated and singly, seldom 



496. Lawn bedding pattern. 



becoming numerous. Among the colonial bees are the 

 bumblebee and honey-bee, ^yhile the honey-bee may 

 be classed as wild when colonies escape from apiaries, 

 wild bees may be considered to include all bees other 

 than the honey-bee. 



While wild bees are sometimes numerous and may be 

 observed at work on the apple, raspberry and many 

 other flowers, the honey-bee, in most localities, prob- 

 ably outnumbers them. If it were possible to calculate 

 the value derived from pollination by the honey-bee 

 alone, these returns would without doubt far exceed the 

 total income of beekeepers through their honey and 

 wax. In the bee, therefore, there is a source of double 

 income. 



Among the cultivated plants in northern latitudes 

 that are pollinated by honey-bees, are the apple, pear, 



Elum, quince, peach, raspberry, blackberry and straw- 

 erry (to some extent), mulberry, pea, bean, currant, 

 grape, squash, melon, cucumber and the cranberry. 

 The value of the honey-bee in the cultivation of the 

 cranberry was but recently recognized and is mentioned 

 on next page. 



While growers of fruits and vegetables have usually 

 recognized that bees play an important part in their 

 croppage, they have largely depended on the wild bees 

 or bees in neighboring apiaries for service. There is, 



497. Pattern beds in a formal setting. 



however, some risk in this, because the seasons vary and 

 the prevalence of insect- and bee-life varies from year 

 to year. 



It is well known that the prevalence of all wild litV, 

 plant or animal, is subject to fluctuations due to favor- 

 able and unfavorable environmental conditions. Some 

 years in a locality there is a pest of mosquitos or house- 

 flies. In succeeding years they may be few. It is so with 

 the game birds and the fish of the sea; they are plenty 

 or scarce from time to time. Bees also have their 

 periods of ups and downs. When favored, they riae to 

 the crest of prosperity and prevalence. It may be that 

 disease enters a locality and reduces their numbers. 

 Hard winters may also depreciate them so that in a 

 year when they are needed for their service as pollen- 

 bearers, they are at a low ebb. Fig. 498 illustrates the 

 hypothetical curve of this fluctuation. 



When the horticulturist realizes that he is depending 

 on this fluctuating service of wild bees, he asks what he 

 can do to overcome the unreliability and assure him- 

 self of a maximum crop or a more even crop. The 

 recommendation would be to establish an apiary in 

 proportion to the size of the orchard or garden. This 

 eliminates any dependency upon wild bees or honey- 

 bees from neighboring apiaries. Yet their additional 

 service will do no harm. It is far better to over-supply 

 an orchard with bees during the blooming period than 

 to have a scarcity. Furthermore, the cost of the small 

 apiary is infinitesimal as compared with the 

 benefits and returns. 



