THE PLANT AND ITS HELPERS 



IN the fierce battle of life there is small chance 

 for the exercise of charity. We have no evidence 

 to show, apart from certain instinctive traits, 

 that one being ever helps another unless some- 

 thing is given in return. The plant, owing to 

 the many inherent disadvantages under which it 

 exists, is sorely in need of helpers to enable it 

 to carry out the functions which it is bound to 

 perform. Yet, surrounded as it is on every side 

 by enemies, it has not been an easy matter to 

 enlist the services of those who are in a position 

 to lend their aid. To this end some of the more 

 ingenious devices in the vegetable kingdom have 

 been brought into being, and there are few more 

 interesting phases of plant life than the relations 

 of the plant and its helpers. 



Although the question is one concerning which 

 there is a great diversity of opinion, it seems 

 almost certain that plants benefit by the cross- 



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