392 
FRUIT BLOSSOMS 
growers came in conflict; the latter as¬ 
serted that bees injured the bloom, punc¬ 
tured the fruit, and interfered with the 
packing, and consequently in some cases 
they asked the beekeepers to remove their 
bees on the plea that they were a nuisance. 
The fruit-growers little realized that they 
were driving away the agency necessary 
for the proper pollination of fruit bloom. 
Happily at the present time the two fac¬ 
tions understand that their industries are 
mutually dependent. Fruit-growers, indeed, 
derive very much more benefit from bees 
than the beekeepers themselves, as they 
have been repeatedly taught by costly ex¬ 
perience. Some years ago a beekeeper in 
Massachusetts was obliged to remove bees 
from a certain locality on the complaint of 
the fruit-growers that they were a nuis¬ 
ance; but after a year or two had passed 
they were very glad to have the bees back 
again, because so little fruit set on the 
trees in proportion to the bloom. The bee¬ 
keeper was recalled; and, as was to be ex¬ 
pected, not only more’ but finer fruit was 
produced. 
The practical application of the discov¬ 
ery of the agency of insects in the pollina¬ 
tion of flowers in the cultivation of frftits 
and vegetables has been of inestimable 
value to agriculturists. It can be shown 
easily that there are many different kinds 
of plants which, in the absence of insects, 
would remain partially or wholly unpro¬ 
ductive. In the work of pollination the 
services of the bees, or Antliophila (flower- 
lovers), are the most important; while 
among the bees the honeybees, because of 
their highly specialized pollen-gathering 
apparatus, great numbers, and industry, 
far surpass all other species. Fruit or¬ 
chards cannot be planted profitably on a 
very extensive scale without maintaining 
in connection with them numerous colonies 
of honeybees; and it is estimated by Dr. 
Phillips, of the Bureau of Entomology, 
that beekeeping adds indirectly more to 
the resources of the country annually by 
flower pollination than by the sale of honey 
and wax. Several enthusiastic horticultur¬ 
ists have even declared that for all prac¬ 
tical purposes in pollination the honeybee 
is alone sufficient; but this assertion must 
be somewhat modified; for, in the country 
as a whole, domestic or hive bees are aided 
by wild bees, wasps, flies, butterflies, and 
to a less extent by beetles. At the time of 
its discovery honeybees did not exist on 
the Western Continent, and for many thou¬ 
sands of years its varied wild flora had been 
dependent for pollination on the native in¬ 
sects, especially the wild bees. Neither 
were honeybees found in Australia, New 
Zealand, or other Pacific islands when they 
were first visited by Europeans. The in¬ 
digenous insects had in all probability 
more or less successfully pollinated the 
natural floras of these regions in the ab¬ 
sence of the honeybee. In extensive areas 
of the unsettled wilderness there are still 
many flowers which rely chiefly on the wild 
insects, and everywhere they are helpful 
allies of the fruit-grower. 
But while in every country the indige¬ 
nous insects play an important part in the 
pollination of the wild flora, it is neverthe¬ 
less true that modern fruit culture requires 
the special agency of the honeybee. In sec¬ 
tions where immense orchards cover many 
square miles of territory and fruit is grown 
by the ton and carload, the wild insects are 
wholly inadequate to pollinate the great 
expanse of bloom, and many apiaries must 
be established to obtain the best results. 
The only pollinating insects under the con¬ 
trol of man are honeybees, and these must 
be introduced in large numbers in order to 
make fruit-growing commercially profit¬ 
able. Fruit-growing has a marvelous fu¬ 
ture before it, and must ever be associated 
with bee culture. ' 
THE NUMBER OP CULTIVATED PLANTS. 
Only about 44 species of cultivated 
plants were known to the ancient world. 
In his “Origin of Cultivated Plants,” De 
Candolle enumerated 247 species cultivated 
for their roots, leaves, flowers, or fruit, of 
which the Old World furnished 199, Amer¬ 
ica 45, and 13 were of uncertain origin. 
While De Candolle described the majority 
of plants most valuable to the human race, 
Sturtevant has enumerated in manuscript, 
according to Hedrick, 1113 domesticated 
species, which are cultivated today; and a 
total of 4447 which are partially edible. 
Not all cultivated plants are pollinated by 
insects; a part are pollinated by the wind 
and a part are self-fertilized. In order to 
avoid confusing these different groups it is 
