The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1899-06-27
Little Folks Column.
FRIENDS OF THE FLOWERS.

@NAGNSS VT E4E @@@~h
The fOwers-even the commonest
that blossom in April along the q
side all have their insect gardeners
who work more faithfully and take bet
ter care Of them than the boys ana
girls with the best kept gardens you
know.
Every kind of flower has it's own kind
of gardener. The pussy willows have
nan gardeners. In the epringtime
in New England little bees, smaller
than the ordinary honey bee, may be
seen coming in hungry sWarms to feed
on the sweets hidden deep in the pussy
willows, but after they have gathered
what honey they need they pay for
their marketing by obligipgly carry
ing the golden grains hele and there
exactly where the blossoms wish them
placed. In that way the bees act az
gardeners, and the plants keep sweet
meat shops that repay them Tor their
trouble. Sometimes q great bundle
bee will come along with his two pol
len baskets, one fastened on each leg;
for he. too, is a gardener who IS vii
ling to carry from n another the
golden powder which the pussIes must
have if they are to live for another
year. There is a delightful book By
Mr.. @ M Weed, called Ten New
England Bio ssoms and Their Insect Wis
itors, which tells US, however, that the
big bumblebees ask too high wages
In nectar and pollen for The return
they give to be profitable gardeners
In comparison with less greedy small
bees, which are really the very best
gardeners of all.
The trailing arbutus has for its gard.
eners the handsome bee fly, the big
bumblebees, the small bees, the beauti-
full bumming-bird moth, and n of
the earliest spring butterflies, which is
called the American tortoise shell.
These gardeners work very hard and
with an Rstonis hing quickness that
should make lazy Buys and girls blush.
They push their long, slender tongues
down to the bottom Of the open flower
cup, which the plant holds OUT 80 glad
ly; they take every drop Of honey that
is offered; and then they load them
selves with the pollen, which they
know perfectly we'll it is their duty to
leave at the next place they go before
they carry the honey to their own
homes.
What would happen, you may ask,
If by any chance, the little gardeners
should be prevented from carrying
pollen from f0wer to f)wer9 The
only thing that interteres with an in
sect gardeners work is rainy weather.
The insects that visited the fruit bios
SONS in some orchards of Southern
New Hampshire had a long period of
dry weather in the Spring Of 1894
They worked 50 busily that the fruit
crop was finer and larger than it has
been years; but in Southern New Jer
sey, during the same season, when the
trees and vines were in bloom, there
were frequent and heavy rains. the
result" Mr.. Weed goes on to say, was
a marked failure of the crops" simply
because natures best gardeners could
not thoroughly do their work.
Ga EAs;er day when you see the ex
quisite Bermuda lily which we all
know best by the name of Easter lily,
think with gratitude OF the tiny gard
ener who worked to make that fjwer
the thing Of beauty that it is The
sphinx moths carry the pollen of the
ESTER lilies They dy at dusk and
only for a few hours, but go well do
they work that they manage to visit
many lily blossoms in a short time.
The lilies help them by sending forth
their S Teetest perfume at the time
that sphinx moths need it for a guide,
and they also hide their honey deep
down IN their glis sening cups where no
other insect a possibly reach to rob
the favored ones of their reEerd -
Our Animal Friends