84 NATURE STUDY AND AGRICULTURE 
at the base. Note that the pollen on the staminate flower is not in the 
form of loose dust which the wind may blow about, but sticks together 
in small masses. Nature therefore depends on insects to carry the pollen 
from the stamens to the pistils. If these workers do not visit the garden, 
the fruit will not ‘‘set,” but the pistillate flowers wither and die just as 
the staminate flowers do. Do you find that this is happening on your 
vines? In such a case gardeners sometimes render assistance, — take 
a staminate flower, tear away the corolla, and rub it gently over the 
stigma to brush on a little of the pollen. 
