THE RUSHIRE FRUIT FARM, IONIA, MICH. 
3 
Keep in Mind that any berry plant will 
throw its whole energy into making fruit 
Jessie (b). 
unless there is good reason for it. Of course 
you pick the blossoms off from spring-set 
plants. On pedigree stock you will notice 
Princess (b). 
they manifest a disposition to fruit in spite 
of you and fruit buds will develop so you 
will have to go over them several times, 
while those on common or exhausted stock 
will generally yield to the first removal 
of blossoms. 
WJijit is tiie most potent factor in 
causing the degeneration of varieties ? All 
plants, like animals, are male and female 
and seem possessed of the same uncontrolla- 
ble desire to reproduce themselves in the 
same manner. When an animal is left to 
unrestricted e.xcessive mdulgence it becomes 
impotent or sterile and incapable of per- 
forming this function, and this is known to 
the medical fraternitv as seminal weakness. 
Now when plants are allowed to overbear 
this is precisely their condition and you can 
not make them fruit only in a limited way, 
and they will throw their energies intO' 
making foliage and not fruit. 
Keep in mind the all important point, that 
the pulp, or what we call fruit, only grows 
as a receptacle for the seeds to grow in. If 
the seeds are not vigorous the pulp or fruit 
will not develop. Examine a strawberry 
with hard knots and shrunken surface, those 
that pickers call "monkey faces," and you 
will not find any seeds. That is the reason 
that pistilates will not fruit 'alone. They 
blossom all right but there is no pollen, and 
no pollen no seeds; no seeds no ifruit. 
STAMINATE, OB PISTTLATB, OB 
MALE FLOWKE. FEMALE FLOWBE. 
Potency of Pollen. The pollen is 
furnished by the little yellow " liberty caps" 
around the outside of the yellow center, 
which contains as many pistils (female 
organs) as there are seeds in the berry. 
Now the pollen forms immediately after 
the blossom opens and is one of the most 
exhaustive processes known lo vegetable 
pathology. It taxes the energies to the ut- 
most. This is the reason why pistilate vari- 
eties are more productive than perfect flow- 
ering sorts. They are relieved from this 
burden, while the perfect flower carries 
both burdens. Now here is the most im- 
portant point. To prevent this pollen ex- 
haustion the blossoms on spring-set plants 
should be cut ofif before they open and not 
wait till after the berries are set. The next 
year the potency will be very strong in the 
" life-giving powder." The whole crop of 
fruit now depends on the potency of this 
pollen. 
" The History of Stock Breeding in Eng- 
land " records that King George the Third 
was a famous breeder of fine horses. He 
kept a fine stallion for his own use and was 
only permitted to give a very limited serv- 
ice. Seeing the wonderful vigor of the 
colts from this horse the farmers persuaded 
the king to permit them to breed their mares 
to this fine horse, and the king gave the 
groom permission to collect a guinea each 
to be retained by himself, for each one serv- 
ed, so the groom did a fine business. There 
■was a great r;«^, and before the close of the 
season the horse was rendered entirely im- 
potent and never recovered. The results 
