FRUIT BLOSSOMS 
Cucumber blossom with a bee on it; caught in the 
act. 
of the domestic bee to the human race? Nu¬ 
merous species and countless varieties of 
fruits are already under culture, and Avith- 
in the next century many new forms will 
be domesticated and improved, or intro¬ 
duced from foreign lands. 
Method of bagging a cluster of flower buds to de¬ 
termine whether the variety is self-fertile or self- 
sterile.— (After Lewis and Vincent.) 
mount to that of all other insects. When 
the value of the fruit crop is considered 
both from a hygienic and economic point 
of view, Avho can overestimate the services 
ant in the Avestern continent. Hedrick 
calls North America a natural garden. 
“More than 200 species of tree, bush, vine, 
and small fruits were commonly used by 
the aborigines for food, not counting nuts, 
those occasionally used, and numerous rari¬ 
ties. There are now under cultivation 11 
American species of plums with 588 varie¬ 
ties; 15 species of grapes with 1194 va¬ 
rieties; 6 species of blackberries with 86 
varieties; 5 species of dewberries Avith 23 
varieties; 2 species of cranberries with 60 
varieties; and 2 species of gooseberries 
with 35 varieties, or a total of 45 species 
of American fruits with 2014 varieties.” 
This number is destined to be greatly in¬ 
creased in time by the domestication of 
other wild fruits. Coville has recently 
shown that blueberries can be cultivated; 
and it may be expected that improved va¬ 
rieties Avill be obtained of blueberries, 
huckleberries, juneberries, elderbetrries, 
wineberries, ground cherries, thorn apples, 
buffalo berries, highbush cranberries, 
cloud berries, native mulberries, pawpaws, 
and persimmons. A beginning in the cul¬ 
ture of the fig, the avocado, and the date 
has been made in California; while the 
mango, a delicious fruit, of which there 
are more than 500 varieties, has been in¬ 
troduced into Florida. Hybridizing can 
multiply new forms indefinitely and yield 
Interior of cucumber greenhouse; hive with entrance 
inside. 
A great variety of fruits were intro¬ 
duced into this country after its discovery, 
but wild fruits have always been abund¬ 
