Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-02-26


The upper portion of the pistil is
called the stigma. From 1t a TUBE
called the style leads downward to the
ovary. This ovary contains one or
more egg shaped cells called ovules.
Each Of these ovules is capable Of de-
veloping into a seed if fertilized with
a pollen grain. When a grain OF pol
len alights on a ripe stigma 1t Is heid
by a sticky substance secreted there.
II soon terminates and sends long,
threadlike projection down through
the style to the ovary. This slender
projection enters the ovary, and the
resultant union Of the male and female
elements causes a seed to develop.
One pollen grain is required for each
ovule, and each ovule develops into
separate seed. There are many thou
sand pollen grains produced by each
stamen, and as there are several sta
mems for each pistil you will see that
a great excess Of pollen is produced.
This is one of natures methods Of
making reproduction more certain.
In flowers like the apple the pollen
may sometimes fall directly on the
stigma in the same flower. More often,
however, the stamen and pistils ripen
at different times. The object OF this
Is to prevent self fertilization, which, II
long continued, will weaken the vitan-
ty of the coming generations. Cross
pollination-that is, the fertilization OF
the ovule of one flower by the pollen
from another plant-unites the
strength of both parents and produces
larger, harder seed.
This has been proven by many exper-
iments. If the tassels are pulled from
a row Of corn before they have time
to shed their pollen, the silks must
necessarily be fertilized by pollen from
other stalks. The cross poliination
will cause the detasseled rows to pro-
duce heavier and larger ears. II this
process is continued from year to year
the yielding power Of that particular
strain will be considerably increased.
In such plants as corn the wind car
ries the pollen for rods in every direc-
ton. The air in the cornfield is so
filled with the yellow dust that there
is seldom any danger that the silks will
fail to catch more than plenty to fer
tilize each of the many ovules that
are to form the future kernels.
Some plants, however, are not so
fortunate in this respect. The pollen
of fruit trees is carried to some extent
by the wind, but not nearly so much
so as that of corn. In such plants as
clover the stamens are at the bottom
of a slender tube, from which they
cannot escape unaided. Plants Of this
nature are dependent on insects to
transfer pollen from one flower to an
other In order to attract these insects
the flowers secrete a sweet nectar,
which collects in the bottom of the
posed.
Ants flies, butterflies and bees are
very fond Of this nectar and in collec-
ing it carry the pollen Of one flower to
lllC Sub VI dllOliSi. oSSo oiS iatSSS
important in doing this work because
they gather so much more of the nee
tar than do the other insects. They
often carry home some Of the pollen,
too, which can be seen sticking in yell
low balls to their hind legs, but enough
is always brushed off to fertilize the
flowers which they visit. The bios
SONS of red clover are so large that the
short tongues of ordinary honeybees
cannot reach to the bottom. 1t is upon
the larger bumblebees that this crop
depends for it's ability to produce seed.
Indeed, it is so entirely dependent
upon them that the crop of clover seed
| is in direct proportion to the number
of bumblebees in the neighborhood. 1t
is anything but pleasant to run into a
big nest of bumblebees with mower
or rake, but before you build fire
over them stop to think whether you
want a crop of clover seed or not.
Some beekeepers are developing
strains of honeybees with exceptional
ly long tongues. Some of these are
able to obtain honey from second crop
red clover, which has smaller blossoms
than the first crop. When these strains
of bees become a little better developed
and more widely distributed the use
fulness of the bumblebee will be over.
In the case of small grain cross
fertilization is impossible, since the
flower is inside of a closed hull Two
varieties of wheat may be planted in
adjoining fields of even in the same
field without the slightest danger of
mixing Varieties of corn, on the 9TH
er hand, often mix when as much as
| forty rods apart.
The selection of seed corn will be
taken up in the next article. The best
methods of selecting small grain is by
means of the tanning mill. BY rum
ming through three or four times as
much seed as is needed all the small
grains may be sieved out and the light
ones blown over, leaving only the heav-