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["Lon J. Rombough" <lonrom@hevanet.com>]

Even self-fertile flowers set better with pollinators around to insure that lots of pollen gets on the stigma.  Not every pollen grain is good and having a lot of pollen on the stigma insures that more "virile" grains are in place to do a better job of fertilizing the ovary.  In the UK it is a practice to "tickle" peach blossoms with a feather to insure that lots of pollen reaches the stigma of the flower.
-Lon Rombough
Grapes, writing, consulting, my book, The Grape Grower, at http://www.bunchgrapes.com  Winner of the Garden Writers Association "Best Talent in Writing" award for 2003. 
For even more grape lessons, go to  http://www.grapeschool.com
For growing supplies and more;  http://www.grapegrowersolutions.com

On Mar 4, 2007, at 3:58 PM, Mark & Helen Angermayer wrote:

I was reading the winter Pomona last night and there was an article that
mentioned peaches take bees for pollination.  I'm still pretty new at the
horticulture thing, but I thought peaches had perfect flowers.  Doesn't that
mean the flowers have both male and female parts and pollinate themselves?
Can anyone clarify?

Mark
Kansas