226 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



The Relatiox of the Hoisteybee in the Tkansfee of 



Pollen. 



It is far from the purpose of this paper to enter the vast 

 and intricate field of hybridization, involving the problems 

 of plant selection, improvement and the production of new 

 varieties. I^either can the details of the life history of the 

 honeybee be given in detail, which is as unlimited and won- 

 derful a field as are the intricacies of the plant world, yet it 

 is desirable to make clear the relation and service of the 

 honeybee to the setting of our common fruits and vegetables. 



It should be remembered that in most plants the setting 

 of the fruit involves a sexual process. In plants, in contrast 

 to animals, the same individual may bear both sexes or the 

 sexes may be apart in different individual flowers. More 

 in detail these may be grouped under three headings : — 



1. Both Sexes in One Flower. — Some plants produce per- 

 fect or bisexual flowers, that is, those in which both the male 

 and the female organs of the flower, the stamen (male) and 

 the pistil (female), are complete within the flower. As an 

 example, Parson's Beauty strawberry may be cited. 



2. The Sexes separated in Individual Flowers. — Other 

 plants bear flowers which are individually staminate (male) 

 and pistillate (female). Yet both sexes appear on the same 

 plant, as, for instance, in the squash, melon and cucumber. 



3. The Sexes separated in Individual Flowers ivhich are 

 home on Different Plants. — As a further modification of 

 the second class, there are also plants which produce only 

 staminate (male) blossoms throughout the entire plant, and 

 are spoken of as male trees or plants. Others produce pis- 

 tillate (female) blossoms throughout the entire plant, and 

 are spoken of as female plants. Examples of these are 

 found in the willows and poplar. The Sample strawberry is 

 pistillate (female). 



It at once becomes apparent in recognizing that most of 

 our fruits and vegetables involve a sexual process or the union 

 of the pollen and germ of the egg, that there must be some 

 means of union, especially in the second and third classes of 

 flowers, where the two sexes are respectively separated either 



