tice of planting fruit trees in solid 
blocks of one variety is a great mistake 
from the standpoint of pollination. 
Sometimes there will be three rows of 
one solid variety, then three rows of 
another variety. But unless these vari¬ 
eties are friendly to each other, that is, 
unless they are compatible so that the 
pollen of the one may pollinate the 
blossoms of the other, no number of 
bees could bring about results. No or- 
chardist should put out his trees with¬ 
out first consulting his nearest experi¬ 
ment station. That station will tell him 
what varieties are best for him to grow 
on his soil and how to interplant the 
compatible varieties of apples, pears, 
and peaches. Some varieties of fruits 
are self fertile but the majority of them 
are sterile to their own pollen. That 
means that unless they have help from 
another variety in the immediate 
neighborhood, no number of bees will 
be able to bring about cross-pollination. 
Where solid blocks of fruit trees 
of varieties that are incompatible or 
sterile to their own pollen have been 
planted, there are two remedies that 
can be applied. First and best is to top- 
graft some trees with some variety 
that will be compatible to the trees al¬ 
ready in solid blocks. Top-grafting, 
however, will take time before results 
can be achieved. Immediate results for 
the season can be secured by the use of 
bouquets of flowers cut from compati¬ 
ble varieties of the trees of the right 
age of blossom. These can be put into 
tubs or pails and placed between the 
rows of trees. In either case, the advice 
of a competent orchardist, or better 
perhaps, the advice of an experiment 
station, should be sought. 
[ 7 1 
