THE BLOSSOMTlsG OF OUR HARDY CULTIVATED FRUITS. 553 



J Of these some vary in their order of blossoming, notably * Victoria ' ; 

 among those constantly early may be mentioned the Japanese plums, 

 ^ Grand Duke,' ' Damascene,' and ' Black Diamond,' while among the 

 last to flower in all records are ' Coe's Golden Drop ' and * Pond's Seed- 

 ing. ' In 1908 ' Eivers' Early Prolific' was in flower only twelve 

 lays, whereas ' Monarch ' was in flow^er twenty-four days. 



As the total flowering period of the different varieties of plums is 



[ibout twenty-five to thirty days and the average length of time of each 

 i^ariety in flower is aBout nineteen days at Wye and probably about 

 ]he same for other parts of England, the earliest and latest flowering 

 /arieties have a considerable portion of their flowering periods over- 

 apping, and this assists cross-pollination. Theory and practice seem 

 ,0 recommend the mixture of two or more varieties of plums in a 



tDlantation as being advantageous for cross-pollination, and that bees in 

 ;he vicinity of a plantation are advantageous, especially in a wet season, 

 'i IS the bees come out to work during the fine intervals. It seems also 

 idvantageous to place hives of bees in different parts of a plantation, 

 md I would suggest one hive to two acres of fruit plantation. 



Cherries. 



In 1909 cherries were in flower from April 21 to May 19, and the 

 Isrop was exceptionally heavy. The different varieties w-ere in flower 

 m average of twenty-two days each, and in full flower about the seventh 

 Dr eighth day after commencing (see Table F). Cherries of different 

 i^arieties come into flower at very nearly the same time, * May Duke ' 

 and ' Morello ' being the latest. In 1909 the earliest and latest flower- 

 ing varieties had fifteen days of simultaneous flowering. The fact of 

 the different varieties being in flower at the same time must assist in 

 I cross-fertilization. 



I Cherries attract bees by their scent as well as by their honey and 

 their white petals. Most cherries have their anthers and stigmas mature 

 at the same time. 



I ■ As to the importance of bees in pollinating cherry blossom, Mr. 

 F. W. E. Shrivell, of Golden Green, Tonbridge, told me he had a 

 large ' Bigarreau ' cherry which bore good crops for many years while 

 he had a hive of bees near,- but on account of the bees getting " foul- 

 brood," they w^ere destroyed, and for three years there were hardly 



^any cherries; since restarting the bees the cherries have been plentiful. 



I The order of flowering taken from three records seems to be some- 

 what as follows: ' Corone,' 'Elvers' Early Black,' 'Elton,' 'Black 

 Tartarian,' ' Governor Wood,' ' Black Eagle,' ' Knight's Early Black,' 

 'Turk,' 'Bigarreau Napoleon, ' ' Eivers' Bijarreau.' 'Waterloo,' 

 * Florence,' ' May Duke,' ' Morello.' 



