AGRICULTURE. 



Fig. 16. Complete Blossom, 

 having calyx, corolla, sta- 

 mens, and pistils. 



Sometimes the wind blows it over ; 

 sometimes the insects carry it on 

 their bodies and legs. As soon as the 

 pollen reaches the upper end of the 

 pistils, growth starts within the pistil, 

 beginning at the top (the stigma) and 

 continuing down through the fine stem 

 (the style) until it reaches the main 

 inner part (the ovary). It is in this 



part of the blossom that the seed is formed. 



Figures 14 and 15, showing the different 



parts of a blossom taken apart, will help to 



understand what takes place. To form 



seed, then, the pollen from the stamens 



must reach the pistils. In some plants we 



have them side by side in the one blossom, 



in other plants some blossoms have only 



stamens and others only pistils. In this 



latter case the pollen must be carried by 



the wind, or by insects, such as bees, as 



they go from flower to flower. 



forms in the ovary of the blossom after the 



pollen has fallen from the stamens upon 



the pistils. 



Compare the flowers of the apple with those of the cherry, and the 



Cowers of the pear with those of the plum. 



The Seed F 'S- '7 Incomplete or 

 imperfect Blossoms. The 

 upper one has stamens, 

 but no pistils (male 

 blossom); the lower one 

 has pistils, but no sta- 

 mens (female blossom). 



