clarke] DIRECT METHODS OF STUDYING NATURE 307 



with violence to a considerable distance. The whole subject of the 

 dispersal of fruit is so interesting that much time can be spent in dis- 

 covering and in drawing different contrivances by means of which 

 seeds can be carried away from the plant that produced them, and a 

 better chance in the struggle for existence given to the seedlings. 



In the garden, typical climbing plants are grown on structures 

 which enable them to be seen easily. Wooden uprights are fixed in 

 the ground, and the spaces between are covered with trellis-work or 

 wire netting, and any girls who wish to do so grow climbing plants on 

 these arrangements. All the girls can then study the habits of these 

 plants for themselves, and see why the plant climbs, and how the differ- 

 ent organs are used in climbing. In fine weather the girls come out into 

 the garden and draw plants climbing by twining stems, by hooks, by 

 roots, by tendrils. 



The last piece of ground "annexed" by the students has been 

 devoted to "plant associations" — that is, plants which live elsewhere 

 under the same conditions of soil or climate. For example, a large 

 plot has been given to "Alpine" vegetation, and with the help of 

 others the girls have obtained for it characteristic plants such as the 

 gentians, saxifrages, Alpine anemones, Alpine wallflowers, etc. It 

 can then be seen how closely the plants resemble each other in stem 

 and in leaf structure, although they belong to quite different families. 



The same needs in their native place — namely, protection from the 

 dry weather in summer, and from the frosts in winter — have developed 

 similar arrangements in all; and it is interesting to see how by its 

 compactness, its covering of hairs, and many other arrangements, the 

 plant has been enabled to stand the climate. A garden plot has also 

 been devoted to desert plants, but this isthe-most difficult plot of all. 

 and there is not a large stock of these plants. In four or five other 

 plots are grown other plants which previously lived in some particular 

 locality or soil, and for some plots special soil have been obtained. 

 The girls are thus able to study the characteristics of these plants, 

 and in many cases to see how the plants adapt themselves to their 

 environment. 



In connection with all the subjects mentioned above — pollination, 

 plant physiology, movements of plants, etc. — the gardens have been 

 found invaluable, and incidentally many things have been learned. 

 Some of the girls will long remember that mint propagates itself by 

 means of other structures than seeds. The owners of one plot spent 

 many weary hours trying to root up the mint which monopolized their 



