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THE 



FLOWER AND THE BEE 



CHAPTER I 

 FLOWERS AND HUMANITY 



DURING the past half -century we have been learning 

 as never before in the history of the human race the 

 great importance of keeping in close contact with na- 

 ture. Our future health and prosperity depend upon our love 

 for the soil and its productions. The Greek fable which tells 

 how the giant Antaeus, while wrestling with Hercules, never 

 failed to renew his strength whenever he touched his mother 

 earth, will always be true of man, both physically and morally. 

 Of all natural productions, there is none so well adapted for 

 maintaining an intimate communion with nature as the cul- 

 tivation and study of flowers. Whoever plants a flower- 

 garden, benefits not only himself but his whole village. If 

 the human brain is the most wonderful production of evolu- 

 tion, as Haeckel asserts, flowers are the most beautiful; and, 

 says William Winter, ' the ministry of beauty is the important 

 influence upon society that can never fail.' 



There is a fascination about an old garden, indeed, that few 

 can resist. I am glad that the first botanical garden in America, 

 which was planted by John Bartram, the first American bota- 



1 



