THE FLOWER AND THE BEE 



therefore, have been tested, it is always better to plant a num- 

 ber of varieties in order to avoid disappointment. (Fig. 119.) 



The blueberries and huckleberries have pendulous, urn- 

 shaped flowers, which are largely visited by bees. It was long 

 supposed that blueberries could not be domesticated, but Coville 

 has recently shown that they will grow in an acid soil. Blue- 

 berries have been produced of the size and color of Concord 

 grapes. In Southeastern New Jersey there are thousands of 

 acres of peaty, well-watered, pine-barrens, which are adapted to 

 their growth. AYhen blueberry-flowers were self-pollinated 

 only a few berries were obtained. On some bushes not a berry 

 matured. Neither will plants raised from cuttings taken from 

 a single bush pollinate each other successfully, but the pollen 

 acts as though taken from different flowers on one bush. Should 

 a blueberry-grower set out a whole field of plants, says Coville, 

 from cuttings from a single choice bush, his plantation would 

 be practically fruitless. The cuttings must come from a num- 

 ber of not closely related bushes, and cross-pollination by bees 

 is indispensable. 



But no family can more forcibly illustrate the importance of 

 cross-pollination than the gourd family (Cucurbitacece) , which 

 includes the cucumber, squash, pumpkin, melon, watermelon 

 and gourd. The flowers are monoecious, that is, the stamens 

 and pistils are in different flowers on the same plant; and in 

 the absence of bees it is impossible for them to produce fruit 

 unless pollinated artificially. In Massachusetts cucumbers are 

 very extensively raised for market in greenhouses, and there are 

 some 120 persons engaged in this industry, making use annually 

 of more than 2,000 colonies of bees. One grower who picks 

 10,000 bushels requires 80 colonies, while another having some 

 40 acres under glass uses about the same number of hives. 

 Without bees or hand-pollination not a cucumber would be 



272 



