166 



UOW NEW PLANTS ARE STARTED 



The wind, too, is one agent in transferring the pollen 

 of other plants from flower to flower, but many plants 

 would fail to produce seed if nature did not also use other 

 less wasteful devices. In a field of red clover in blossom, 

 bumblebees are usually busy visiting flower after flower. 

 Commonly, the yellow pollen can be seen sticking to parts 

 of their bodies. When a bee enters a flower, he brushes 



off upon it part of the 

 pollen he brings with 

 him ; and, before he 

 leaves, his body collects 

 some fresh pollen to 

 carry on to the next 

 plant. 



The clover blossom 

 and the bumblebee are 

 especially suited to each 

 other. The long tongue 

 of the insect just reaches 

 the nectar of the flower ; 

 the blossom has the tint 

 of red which, experi- 

 ments show, is particu- 

 larly attractive to the 

 bee, 1 and the clustering of many small flowers in one head 

 makes it easy for the visitor to carry pollen to them all 

 with little loss of time. 



Red clover gives two crops in a season : one early in the 

 summer; the other in the late summer or early fall. Even 

 if the first crop is allowed to stand, it produces little seed, 

 though blossoms have been abundant and vigorous. On 

 the other hand, the second crop, if permitted to ripen, is 



BUCKWHEAT PLANT IN BLOSSOM. 



1 Probably, however, the bees like this color only because it is the color of 

 the flower where they usually find food. 



