Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1881-05-06

with, yet none demand those requisites 10 sue
cess more than the gathering and preserving
Of Seeds
It is doubtful II the pollen of corn can be
carried by bees. Since there is but little, IL
any honey in the tassels Of corn, bees or 9th
or winged insects seldom interfere with IT,
The corn plant however, being Of so tall a
growth, with the pollen at the very apex, the
| wind gets easy access TO II, carrying the pol
len great distances. II is very rarely that any
single specimen Of corn is fortified by the
| pollen growing upon the same stalk, but by
| that which grows upon more distant stalks
| Neither pop corn nor sweet corn should be
| grown in close proximity TO common field
corn. II the different varieties are so planted,
when, on the following year, the sweet corn
is planted by itself, the harvest may prove q
disappointment in yielding unexpected re-
suits. The same would hold true Of seed pop
| corn, or of field corn, where produced in
proximity to other distinct varieties Of corn.
Potatoes cannot be thus mixed, either by
being planted In the same or in ad joining hills.
Plants do not mix through their roots but
through their flowers. II hybridization were
desirable in potatoes, nothing would hybridize
with greater ease. There is no potato whose
character is so definitely fixed that il will GER
tainly reproduce itself from its own seed
Any of the varieties said to have been pro-
huS1u AAOh tub CTobb-itIllllZhllOQ OF TWO DOD-
ular kinds may have been produced from one
plant alone and without the aid Of any other.
Though the potato seed-ball contains large
number Of seeds, yet when planted none were
ever yet known to reproduce potatoes similar
to the parent plant. No attempts have been
made to fix the variety so that potatoes could
be propagated through their seeds, simply be.
cause they can be produced more readily and
with greater certainty by planting the tubers
themselves. Hence, when q famous potato
is obtained, no one cares TO so FIX its charac-
ter as to make the planting of seeds from the
seed-balls desirable. This is not the case with
the tomato, though of the same species of
plants. Great care is taken TO fix the charac-
ter OF tomato seed, 80 that by planting IL can
reproduce specimens similar in character to
the parent plant. consideration of this in
teresting subject might be indefinitely extend
ed yet sufficient has been remarked to draw
the attention Of the intelligent farmer TO a
closer consideration of the importance of the
proper selection of seed as the foundation for
remunerative crops,-Am. CUItiUdt0r.
The subject treated above is one worthy Of
attention. The study of the principles that
govern the hybridzation of plants and the
introduction of new varieties is interesting
and useful. Some valuable suggestions are
made in the article quoted above, but we no.
tice one statement that calls for little criti-
cism. The Cultivator says: at is doubtful
If the pollen of corn can be carried by bees.
Since there is but little, if any, honey in the
tassels of corn, bees or other winged insects
seldom interfere with it," Judging from these
remarks, the writer never had very close &C.
quaintance with either cornfelds or bees. He
seems to suppose that bees visit flowers for
honey only, and, as corn -tassels have little or
no honey, the pollen cannot be carried by
bees He appears not to be aware of the fact
that bees gather pollen from the flowers of
numerous plants that do not yield honey, nor,
perhaps, of the fact that they gather pollen
at ALL except what accidentally adheres to
their bodies in their search among the flowers
for honey.
That bee bread, which constitutes part of
the food of young bees in the larva state, is
pollen, gathered frequently from flowers that
yield no honey, is fact well known to all
apiculturists. The bees bring the pollen to
the hive in little pellets packed on the sides of
their legs. They seldom gather it faster than
when working on the freshly blown tassels Of
the cornfeld. They gather it mostly in the
morning, or before noon. warm, cloudy
morning. when but little dew has fallen the
night previous is the most favorable time for
bees to work on corn-tassels. If the writer
of the Cultivator editorial could visit a corn
field in full bloom early on such morning, if
in the neighborhood Of bee hives, he would
no longer think it doubtful that the pol
len of corn can be carried by bees.