The little white 
blossoms that a 
few weeks ago 
were so plentiful 
have nearly all 
‘disappeared. 
Who among 
you can tell me Bie 2 Fic. 240 
how these juicy berries have managed 
to take the place of the blossoms? 
Why, ever so many of you can tell me 
much of the story, at any rate. It is 
very nearly that of the apple and cherry 
and plum and pear. The nectar-hunting bee 
carried the pollen of its many stamens from 
one strawberry blossom to another, leaving 
some of it on the flat tips of its numerous pis- 
tils. Down the pistils’ stalks went the tiny life 
bearing tubes which pushed their way into the 
little seeds below. | 
So far, the story of the strawberry is not new Fic. 243 
to us; but just here it begins to differ from 
the stories of the apple and pear, of the plum 
and peach and cherry. The flowers of all these 
trees had but one seedbox. But each of the 
m/e 
many little strawberry pistils has a separate we ay 
seedbox; and when the little seeds within get 
their touch of new life, the flat, cushionlike 
object (Fig. 241) which bears these many pistils Fic. 244 
begins to act in a most surprising manner. 
‘ This flat flower cushion swells upward and outward 
