191 1 ] Action of Bees in Pollination. 975 



ing rows to which bees had free access carried an abundance 

 of fruit, and were generally healthy. 



Two varieties of currant, Comet Red and Carter's 

 Champion Black, were protected from the visits of insects 

 in the same way. The Comet Red is shown in Fig. 1. No 

 fruit developed on this bush, and as a result it made exces- 

 sive growth, both as regards foliage and shoots. The 

 remainder of the red and white currants which were unpro- 

 tected were laden with fruit, as shown in Fig. 2, which was 

 a typical example. The protected specimen of Carter's 

 Champion gave results similar to the Comet. 



In the experiment with apple trees, varieties were chosen 

 which w T ere likely to carry a good crop, and one branch was 

 covered with muslin before the flowers opened, the others 

 being left exposed. In each case the covered branch bore no 

 fruit, while the remainder of the branches carried a good crop. 

 Fig. 3 shows a specimen of Cox's Pomona. The branch on 

 the right, which is without fruit, was the one from which 

 bees were excluded. The curled appearance of some of the 

 leaves was due to the fact that the muslin had been fixed too 

 tight to allow for their proper development. 



It was anticipated that some persons might be inclined to 

 attribute the non-setting or non-development of fruit to the 

 exclusion of sun and air by covering with muslin. It was, 

 therefore, decided to cover a branch 'after the flowers had 

 been open for a few days, and had thus had an opportunity of 

 being pollinated. The variety chosen was Early Victoria, 

 and before the petals had fallen a branch was covered with 

 muslin in this way ; the muslin was not interfered with until 

 August 4th, when it was removed. It was then found that six 

 well-developed apples were borne by the branch. This 

 particular branch is depicted in Fig. 4 by a straw which is 

 hanging vertically. This result seems to prove that the 

 exclusion of a certain amount of sunshine and air by the 

 muslin in no way affects the non-setting of the fruit. 



On the Abbeytown fruit plot branches of Golden Spine, 

 Lane's Prince Albert, and Scotch Bridget were protected, 

 and the results were in accordance with those at Newton 

 Rigg. 



At Brampton the results were even more decisive in favour 



