1866.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
437 
Insects and Plant Fertilization. 
SEVENTH ARTICLE. 
One more arrangement fcir natural cross-fer- 
tilization remains, ■ivliicli -we iviU notice very 
briefly. We take as an illustration the Plan- 
tain. The common Plantain of door-yards 
■would probably be the best example, the flow-* 
crs being less crowded than in the Ribwort 
Plantain {Phmtaijo lanaolatu), -which we have 
actually adopted. AH the blossoms are perfect 
and alike, and have four stamens 'with very 
slender filamcnls, and one pistil with a slender 
style, the upper part of which is hairy and acts 
as stigma. But ■n'hen a spike of Plantain comes 
into flower — which it does from below upward — 
we may sec, as in fig. 1, only the long stigmas 
protruding, as if 
it were a female 
plant only. Later, 
and after the stig- 
ma of these low- 
est flowers have 
begun to wither, 
the stamens will 
appear, the an- 
thers hanging out 
on the long, deli- 
cate filaments. 
And so, as the 
flowering pro- 
ceeds up the spike, 
day after da}', the 
stigma will be 
protruded cpiite in 
advance of the 
stamens, the co- 
rolla just opening 
at the tip to let 
it pass through, 
while the anthers, 
as yet on short 
filaments, are 
snugly ensconced 
within. After a 
day or two, the 
four-lobed mouth 
of the corolla 
will open, the fila- 
ments will sud- 
denly .and greatly 
lengthen, and the 
anthers,which are 
now discliarging 
their pollen, will be hung out in the wind — for 
the Plantain-flowers produce no honey, and are 
neglected by insects. The accompanying figures 
exhibit the whole case : and the explanation,now 
that we understand it, is simple enough. We 
have already seen in dimorphous flowers, also 
hermaphrodite, the stamens and pistils recipro- 
cally long in one flower and short in anoth er, oth- 
erwise similar; so that the pollen is more or less 
prevented from reaching the stigma of the same 
flower (and sometimes even imable to act upon 
it if it did), but is in the way of being carried 
by insects to the stigma of the other sort, upon 
which it promptly takes efiect. In Plantain the 
same end is reached by a different way. Close- 
fertilization is absolutely prevented by the stig- 
ma being thrust out of the still closed blossom, 
long before the anthers that surrounded it are 
able to shed a grain of pollen. But this same 
stigma is exposed to the pollen of other flowers, 
belonging ehher to a lower part of the same 
spike, or to some neighboring plant. By the 
time the stamens of any flower appear, the 
accompanying stigma will probably have been 
Fig. 1.— A spike of the Ribwort 
Plantain (Plantaffo Janceolata)^ 
just coming into blossom, the stig- 
mas only protruding irom the low- 
er flowers. Fig. 2 —Another spike, 
a little later; the stamens of the 
lower flowers now hung out. 
acted on by other pollen, and will be too far 
gone and withering to take au}' of that same 
flower. So cross-fertilization is here made as 
sure as if the flowers were separated into male 
and female — and with great economy of material. 
This arrangement in Pl.antain and some other 
flowers was pointed out by Sprengel, about half 
a century ago; and he gave it the name of di- 
chogamy. Ho saw that it meant cross-fertiliza- 
tion. But .13 neither Sprengel or any one else 
a guide, we commend the whole subject to the 
observation of the curious, confident that many 
interesting facts remain to reward careful obser- 
vation, when the proper season returns. A. G. 
Notes on Grapes and Grape Culture. 
The notes prepared for last month were 
crowded out, and now a press of other matter 
compels us to be very brief. 
Catawba. — Some specimens at Cleveland 
showed what this grand old variety can do 
where circumstances are all favorable. It suc- 
ceeds perfectly in a few localities, and where it 
does, there is nothing better. 
lona. — We hope to have more full accounts 
of the behaviour of this, in widely separated lo- 
cidities, than have yet been supplied. We saw 
aljout 50 vines in the vineyard of Mr. Onder- 
donk, at Ny.ack, N. Y., which forhealth and fruit- 
fulness were all that could be desired. In some 
places it has mildewed. It h.is been somewhat 
largely planted at IIammondsport,but the vines, 
though vigorous, are not 3'ct old enougli to fruit. 
We have no doubt that in Pleasant Valley the 
lona will attain its highest developement. 
Lydia. — This is a very handsome white grape, 
good sized berries, the clusters are not large, 
tliough we only saw the first fruiting of a viue. 
Probably too late for general culture, as it 
seems to ripen about with the Catawba. 
Mottled. — This is, we believe, a Kelly's Island 
seedling. A good sized berry, of a Catawba 
color, mottled with a lighter shade, which gives 
the fruit a not altogetlier healthy look. Judg- 
ing from tlie first fruiting of young vines, this 
seems to be a promising variety, and will prob- 
ably be valuable as a wine grape. 
Walter. — A seedling by Ferris & Caywood, 
Poughkeepsie, N. Y., claimed to be a cross be- 
tween the Delaware and Diana, a claim which 
the fruit seems to sustain. That this is a fruit 
of marked excellence is shown by the award of 
the first prize, "quality to rule," at the Cleve- 
land exhibition. This award created some dis- 
cussion, the committee being three for the Wal- 
ter and two against. Mr. Mottier expressed his 
dissent from the award. This grape 
has a remarkably fine flavor, is 
very sweet, but is rather tougher 
than some others. It is claimed 
that the vine is perfectly liardy 
and a rampant grower. The leaf 
is certainly very robust. We shall 
know more about this variety an- 
other year. To save answering 
questions we may state that this 
variety is not yet in the market. 
Rodgers' Hybrids. — Though these 
grapes havp the endorsement of 
those whose opinion carries Weight 
with it, we have nothing to modify 
in our notes given last year.' We 
hope some good ones may be 
found among the many numbers, 
Fig. 4.— A piece of the same spike, more nmgnihed. with one of the earli'^r and «i * ■ 
one of the later flowers remaining, the rest removed. The stigma of the lower but we h.ave yet to SCO onc that IS 
flower, with the stamens out, is withering; that of tlie upper, wilh the anthers not tOO "foxy" for a table grape. 
BLill enclosed, is re.ldy to receive pollen. 
Fig. 3.— Section lengthwise of a spike of the same, enlarged; 
several of tlie flowers witii the stigma projecting, but tlie 
anthers still enclosed ; the two lower left-hand flowers witli 
their sligmas withering, and their stamens hung out. 
in those days discovered any particular advan- 
tage in this crossing, the subject attracted no 
attention, until the sense of it was recently 
brought out by Mr. Darwin. 
Dichogamy occurs in many Grasses, wliich are 
also fertilized by tlie wind. But it is not rare in 
flowers which are visited by insects ; where the 
arrangement is as effectual as dimorphism in 
securing crossing. It is very common in the 
Umbelliferous f;\mily ; and is very neatly exhib- 
ited in Amorplia or False Indigo, a peculiar ge- 
nus of the Leguminous family. Here the sin- 
gle petal is wrapped around both the stamens 
and the style of the opening flower ; but the 
stigma projects a day or two before the anthers 
are disengaged ; and a bee, passing as it does 
up the spike, carries off pollen from the lower 
and earlier flowers, deposits some of it upon the 
stigmas of higher flowers, and the remainder 
upon those of the next spike or plant visited. 
With these illustrations, which may serve as 
The meeting at Cleveland very 
properly passed a resolution requesting that the 
best of the varieties might be selected and named. 
Korton's Virginia. — Something aflcr tlie style 
of the Clinton, but wilh larger berrj' and bunch. 
The vine is difficult to propagate, and in Mis- 
souri it has not this year suslaincd its former 
reputation. The fruit is only fit for wine, the 
quality of which is alluded to in another article. 
Ives^ Seedling.— TherB is a history to this 
