242 
THE FRUIT 
Special devices for wind distribution are found in the 
Russian thistle and in tickle-grass, a common garden weed. 
In the former case the whole plant breaks off at the level 
of the ground, and is blown about by the wind, fruits and 
seeds being broken off and scattered as it rolls along the 
ground. This is one of the worst weeds of sections of the 
western states. In tickle-grass, only the panicle is broken 
off, but the result is the same. 
Besides the distribution of seeds by means of scattering 
the fruit or the seeds, plants have other means of propagating 
themselves which will be spoken of as they occur. The main 
dependence for keeping up the race, however, in most plants, 
especially the wild ones, is the distribution of its seeds. 
The fruit of a plant, so far as its relation to the plant that 
bore it is concerned, is simply a device for securing the dis¬ 
tribution of the seeds it contains. 
PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS 
214. Fruit. — The fruit-grower’s success depends largely 
upon his knowledge of the proper time for spraying his trees 
in the spring. (Review § 28.) He must wait till the bees 
have finished their visits, for he needs the help they give in 
pollinating the flowers. He must use a poison spray soon 
enough to kill the codling moth and thus prevent her laying 
eggs in the flowers or in the young apples, for this insect de¬ 
stroys much fruit. The best time is when the petals are fall- 
ing, for pollination is then accomplished and there is no danger 
of killing the bees, yet the harmful codling moth is kept from 
injuring the fruit. (Review structure of honey-bee and life- 
history of codling moth.) 
To secure the largest possible crop of strawberries, the 
gardener must be sure he has varieties that produce both 
stamens and pistils or at least that he has a sufficient number 
of staminate plants to produce pollen for the plants which 
bear only pistils. 
