A HOMELY WEED 2/ 
An illustration of the truth of this axiom was 
afforded in a recent incident in my experience. 
Sitting at the open window of my country studio 
one summer day, engaged in making a portrait 
of a common weed, a friendly farmer, chancing 
" across lots," seeing me at work, sauntered up to 
" pass the time o' day." As he leaned on the 
window-sill his eye fell upon the drawing before 
me. 
" My !" he exclaimed, " but ain't that pooty ?" 
" What !" I retorted, " and will you admit that 
this drawing of a weed is pretty?" 
" Yes, your draft thar is pooty, but you artist 
fellows alliz makes 'em look pootier 'n they ought 
to." 
So much for the mere attributes of manifest 
outward beauty without regard to consideration of 
" botany " or the structural beauty of the flowers. 
The "botanist" finds beauty everywhere, even 
among the homeliest of Flora's hosts. But in the 
light of the "new botany," which recognizes the 
insect as the important affinity of the flower the 
key to its various puzzling features of color, form, 
and fragrance every commonest blossom which 
we thought we had "known" all our lives, and 
every homely weed scarce worth our knowing, 
now becomes a rebuke, and offers us a field of in- 
vestigation as fresh and promising as is offered 
by the veriest rare exotic of the conservatory; 
