10 SAGACITY AND MORALITY OF PLANTS. 



It is only within the brief period referred to 

 that the importance of crossing, in flowers, has been 

 fully understood. Variety is the charm of life, from 

 a moss to a man. Interchange of conditions are 

 beneficial, unless they are extreme. Most farmers 

 know that the wheat grown from seed raised on the 

 same field is more liable to " smut " than if it had 

 been raised from seed grown on another farm. Grow 

 the same crop on the same field, and in a very few 

 years the land will " sicken," and refuse to bear. 

 An interchange in those living parts of plants 

 detached for reproductive purposes helps to secure 

 strong plants and abundance of seeds, which are 

 more likely to come off conquerors in that keen 

 and never-ending Battle of Life which is going on in 

 every green lane and field, and along every hillside. 



We have learned to approach the study of plants 

 from more than one new side. Flowers are no 

 longer regarded as created solely for the uses and 

 pleasure of man. Every character and quality 

 they possess has been acquired by them and their 

 ancestry in the struggle for existence. Every dis- 

 tinction individualising each species has come into 

 existence because it has proved best for its well- 

 being. We cannot wonder, therefore, that there are 

 few species of plants which have not a museum of 

 their own — a series of botanical curiosities, such as 

 aborted organs or higher-developed ones, tendencies 

 to " sport " in a certain kind of way, etc., — all of 



