30 ~—- Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers 
off to make a call upon a third crocus, and when 
she departs she leaves some of her dusty load 
behind her, as a souvenir of her visit. 
$ 
So each crocus “‘ sets’’ its seed by aid of pollen 
brought from another flower. 
Each flower has gratified its preference for yellow 
dust of foreign manufacture, and has received enough 
of the imported article for its dainty uses, and each 
has sent the pollen of its own making to the exact 
spot ‘‘ where it will do the most good.’’ The bee 
meantime has been entertained everywhere with 
pretty shows and luxurious fare, and she is another 
well-satisfied member of the mutual benefit society. 
Bees are by no means the only pollen-carriers 
employed by flowers. 
A large number of blossoms entrust their fate, 
or rather the fate of their posterity, to the mercy 
of the wind. Others, which grow and blow in 
ponds or streams, confide their pollen messages to 
the water. Flowers which conduct their affairs 
after these methods need be at no special pains 
to please the insects, whose services they neither 
ask nor need. So ‘‘ wind-fertilized’’ and ‘‘ water- 
fertilized’’ blossoms have not bright colors, nor 
fragrance, nor nectar. But, on the other hand, they 
must produce enormous quantities of pollen to 
