564 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



outside inwards, there is considerable interval during which, although 

 the pistil is mature and some of the anthers are ripe, yet self-fertiliza- 

 tion is difficult ; while from the great frequency of insect visits, fertiliza- j 

 tion is generally effected before the inner anthers are ripe. "* This year ! 

 I placed paper bags over flower buds of both blackberry and loganberry, 

 but neither set fruit, apparently requiring insects to polhnate them. 



Insects in Eelation to Fruit Blossoms. 



Flowers attract insects by their colour, perfume, nectar, and pollen. 

 Aristotle more than 2,000 years ago observed that all kinds of bees and i 

 certain other insects usually confine themselves on one journey to 

 a single species of plant; they are good botanists, for they know that 

 varieties may differ widely in colour of their flowers and yet belong to 

 the same species. Bees will, however, visit closely allied plants, as ! 

 the various buttercups, or two kinds of clover. By examining the j 

 pollen on the bodies of hive and humble bees one sees that the habit 

 is general, but not invariable. In some pollen taken from the leg of 

 a bee by Mr. F. Edenden, he found about nineteen-twentieths of one 

 kind of pollen and one-twentieth of another kind. 



MuLLER says: "Bees almost always alight in the middle ^f the 

 apple flower, and so usually perform cross-fertilization even in t e 

 older flowers, since the five stigmas overtop the stamens and are 

 the first to touch the pollen-covered lower surface of the insect. The j 

 conspicuous flower and easily accessible honey attract many insects, \ 

 and cross-fertilization is insured by the fact that the stigmas are 

 ready before the stamens and also by the prominent position of the 

 stigmas, although here and there flowers occur in which the stigmas 

 are in immediate contact with the anthers." Muller records sixteen 

 different insects as visiting apple flowers. 



** In plums and apples and pears the stamens form a palisade which 

 keeps out short-tongued insects; this is especially marked in flowers 

 like those of the quince, which are largely visited by bees (the short- 

 tongued ones only getting pollen) and the receptacle in the quince being | 

 often bored by the bees." f 



Humble bees, hive and wild bees, appear to be the chief carriers of 

 pollen; some flies, such as the black fever fly, visit fruit blossoms, 

 appear to eat the pollen, but do not seem to help much in distribut- 

 ing it. 



Humble bees continue their work into the early evening and during I 

 slight showers. 



In conclusion, my thanks are due to many who have niost kindly 

 sent me their records of blossoming to take notes from, to the Prin- 

 cipal and to the Lecturer in Fruit-Growing of the South-Eastern 

 Agricultural College for allowing me to make my observations and 

 experiments in the College fruit plantation, and to Mr. F. Edenden, 

 of Wye, for his patience and skill in photographing blossoms and 

 pollens, and diagrams for the lantern slides exhibited. 



* British Wild Flowers in Relation to Insects, by Sir John Lubbock. 



t Frnit Flowers and their Work, by Dr. F. Cavers, of Southampton. , 



