The Columbus journal., 1890-03-05

oIdu1SuS III tu0 CcuL0I. 1u0u Lu6t 06Cu
blossom carries five stigmas, and each
stigma is is connected with the core
fruit. At the proper time the tiny nee
taries are filed with nectar, when the
flower is prepared to receive the pollen
grains from the dusty bees as they are
fitting among them, intent only upon
their own crazy greed for honey, wholly
unconscious of the wonderful part they
are playing in a still mor wonderful
nature. for the nectar is never secreted
until the pollen grains are ripe and ready
for use, when it slowly Oozes forth each
day, a constant bait for the bees until
the pollen is ripe and gone. But as we
have observed, there are five Of these
stigmas, and without a distinct fertiliz-
alton of each one separately an imperfect
fruit is formed which in most cases O n
s~titntes the windfalls. Opposite the
hollow cheek on an apple will he found
miniature seeds, showing that an i'm
perfect fertilization had taken place il
any at all, in that particular pistil. The
apple being one Of a large class of bios
SONS in which the anthers and pistils do
not mature at the same time, self fertil-
~iZation is impossible, and q cross must
be obtained from another blossom Of
the same species Of plant. Gooseberries,
currants and raspberries are also largely
indebted to insects for the fruit they
bear and, in the last two, u~ndeveloped
parts are often found due to imperfect
fertilization, as in the apple and clover.
1t has been stated that unless We have
a few hours Of sunshine when early
cherries are in bloom, we shall have no
cherries at all, and we frequently have q
season when cold rain storms SO pre-
vent the bees from getting out. that not
a cherry is produced.
Our prairie grasses are rapidly disap-
pearing under the advancing cultivation
of all available land, and in many local.
ties hay and pasturage is already be-
coming a subject for serious cOnsidera-
ton. Tame grasses must supply the
want, but the question is, from which
kind may the greater benefit be derived?
I need not mention the superiority Of
the clovers over Hungarian, timothy,
millet and red-tOp IN regard to richness
of hay, building up exhausted land, etc.,
but I do wish to call your attention to
the fact that with any of the ~cl0vers,
still another crop may be obtained, of
delicious nectar. Do not misunder.
stand me; this ia not intended as an ad-
v~ertisement of bees, but the fact is in
disputable that in order to secure fertil-
ization of the clover blossoms, we must
depend upon insect agencies. Not all
strains of bees are able to work on the
red clover heads, owing to the depth Of
the floweret cup, but the humble bee
and the italian hive bees having longer
tongues will work on it, and especially
on the second growth, which you all
know is your seed crop, though it may
not have occurred to you that the very
the second growth yislds the crop
of seed is because the flower heads are
smaller and the cups shorter making it
possible for the insects to accomplish
their work. A few years ago our common
red clover was introduced to Australia,
and it made a most rapid growth in that
warm, rich soil, but they were unable to
raise one bit of seed. After trying for
some time in vain, it was suggested that
humble bees were required to fertilize
the bloom. Some nests we're according
ly shipped from the New England states
and the result wa considered wonder
full, for seed was then raised without
trouble. But the clover spread faster |
than the humble bees increased, when
the same difficulty was again experience
ed; and in 1888 q Nh. Mcdonald of Lex
ington, achieved prominence by his en-
deavor to secure $4,000 worth of
Kentucky humble bees to be shipped to
Australia.
Having shown the utility Of the honey
bee in producing surer, larger and bet
ter crops, may it not safely be consider
ed an advantage to have bees at work on
every farm? In our eastern states one
is almost as certain of finding a number
of colonies Of bees on every farm as the
indispensable pig sly. Certain it is, that
the long row OF white painted, old style
box hives, and the proverbial biscuit
that mother made" furnish some of the
sweet memories of our own childhood
DAYS.