- 14 - 
Luce, W. A., and Morris, 0. M. 
1928. Pollination of deciduous fruits. Wash. Agr. Expt. Sta. Bui. 
223, 22 pp. 
p. 21: Observations made at Wenatchee in the spring of 
1926 and 1927 developed the fact that there are relatively few insects 
visiting the apple blossom in many orchards. These examinations showed 
that there was a lack of insect activity necessary to perform the cross- 
pollinizing in commercial orchards. In orchards where there were still 
plenty of trees of several different varieties the failure of a crop 
was apparently due to lack of insect activity at blossom time. Orchards 
nearest the foot hills or open country produced the heaviest set of 
fruit. The native bees and insects came in abundance from the rocky or 
hilly ground near these o rchards. This condition has been known to 
prevail in many local districts for several different years . 
Where wild bees and other insects are abundant, a minimum 
amount of help is needed from the honey bee, but in the large closely 
planted commercial sections, where there are very few wild bees and 
other insects visiti ng the blos soms, more honey bees should be pro- 
vided . 
Rail-Fence Elimination and Heavy Grazing 
Rail fences constitute ideal nesting places for many species of 
pollinating insects. The replacement of rail by wire fences has destroyed 
such nesting places, for wire fences permit clean, close cultivation. The 
increase in the output of wire fences and their relative cheapness has 
facilitated the use of stock for cleaning up fence rows and out-of-the way 
patches of land which would otherwise harbor pollinating insects. 
It is an axiom in beekeeping that bees starve on sheep ranges. The 
sheep trample the ground and eat the vegetation into the ground, leaving 
few flowering plants. 
There has been an increase of more than 4. million head of sheep on 
farms since 1910. 
The practice of pasturing sheep in woodlands is detrimental to the 
propagation of wild pollinating insects. 
Sims, I. H., Munns, E. N., and Auten, J. T. 
1938. Management of forest soils. TJ. S. Dept. Agr. Yearbook (Soils 
and Men) 1938: 737-750. 
p. 74-4: The number of livestock grazing the farm woods in the 
Central States is estimated to be five times the actual carrying 
capacity and is maintained largely by supplementary feeding of crop 
feeds. 
