THi: AMIRICAX RO'IA .\ IS'I' 11 



,in<l all wild will, both lariu^c and siiiall. may call and cnj<)\' the 

 feast. InU our belter Uinds of blossoms are more aristocratic 

 and entertain only a select few. These shut onl the smaU in- 

 sects by numberless devices, or they store the nectar in nec- 

 taries so deep that only the larj^er insects can reach it. More- 

 over, many of them have learned that if the flower is turned 

 sidevvise the insect must always aliji^ht in the same place and 

 in consecjuence the pollen sujjply, if borne in the rij(ht place, 

 tuay be still further reduced. 'Phe wild rose, which is spread 

 open to all comers, mav have a hundred or more stamens, but 

 the number in the flowers that face sidewise is seldom more 

 than ten and usuall\- only ti\ e. Indeed, the mints and figvvorts 

 have but four stamens in each flower, or often only two, many 

 of the orchids get along with a single stamen, while the canna 

 manages to be pollinated with only half a stamen. 



THE CHARM OF BARE BOUGHS 



By Adklua Pkkscott. 



T T is (|uite the fashion among a pessimistic class of people 

 ■*• to speak of autumn as a period of death and decay and 

 to bewail the coming of the cold and drearv winter. I am not 

 very fond of cold weather, myself, but every season has its 

 own special attractions and to me one of the charms of au- 

 tvunn and winter is the unburdened trees. The bulbous and 

 iierbaceous plants of our north-land seem to regard the winter 

 as strictly a rest time, a few leaving a tuft of green leaves to 

 cheer the pessimist, but most of them cuddling down into the 

 soft warm soil for a long nap. 



The trees take it as a vacation period, when all their du- 

 ties and responsibilities falling ofi with the falling leaves, they 

 refresh their souls with a wide outlook and stretch their light- 



