THE CLOVER BLOOMS. 77 



hour's study ; and this particular clover is certainly one 

 of the most interesting among them. I suppose it will 

 sound like a paradox to say that these little creeping 

 herbs rank as the most developed of all the pea-flower 

 tribe ; especially when one considers the tall tree-like 

 laburnums, acacias, and locusts of our shrubberies, or 

 the great stout-stemmed climbing wistaria on our garden- 

 walls ; yet such is the fact. The clovers have undergone 

 a greater amount of modification to suit their special 

 habits than any other species among them all. They 

 are distinctly bee-flowers to a very high degree. Look 

 at that big blustering humble-bee down on the level 

 there : he is out this morning on a special hunt after 

 clover-honey ; for bees, like prudent human beings, never 

 mix their nectars ; they stick to one kind of flower at a 

 time, and probably (though this is not yet certain) store 

 each cell with a single sort of honey only. It is that 

 which gives the higher insects their value as fertilizers : 

 if they went about indiscriminately from one kind of 

 flower to another they would do no good at all, or else 

 would only produce monstrous and infertile hybrids. 

 There are many volatile insects that flit about in this 

 unconscious way from species to species ; and those are 

 the unwelcome visitors against which our flowers fortify 

 themselves with all sorts of hairs, prickles, bristles, and 

 scales. But now, on the other hand, just watch the 

 humble-bee over there. He goes soberly about in the 

 most business-like manner from head to head of the red 

 clover only, taking no notice at all of the creamy Dutch 

 clover that grows in and out among it, nor of this little 

 creeping variety that covers the surface of the hummock 

 here. For a moment now he sniffs suspiciously at an- 

 other red flower among the grass, much like his favorite 

 for the day in tone of color ; but it turns out to be only 



