THE JULY FIELDS 117 



Bartsia lingers by " the flower-lit stream " and is 

 joined by the tiny bright blue Gentiana nivalis, 

 here and there showing its rarer white form ; 

 whilst up upon the mountain-sides, backing and 

 dominating the whole of this crowded, gay array, 

 the Rhododendron is fast putting forth its red, 

 amazing fulness. 



If June be reckoned as a millionaire, then surely 

 July must also, and with the additional prefix 

 " multi " ! " It is with flowers as with men," says 

 Major Reginald Rankin in " The Royal Ordering 

 of Gardens," and " Providence is on the side of 

 big battalions." And, of a truth, this is so in 

 these fields ; bigger battalions it would indeed be 

 hard to find. Is there not here some striking 

 suggestion of an element in ultimate beauty — that 

 of an harmonious brotherhood ? One certainly 

 seems to catch a glimpse of that economic state 

 where individuality is general rather than par- 

 ticular ; where personality is absorbed by the 

 mass, and beauty is conspicuous only in the whole ; 

 where, so to speak, the red neckties of leadership 

 do not flare out in designed and conscious iso- 

 lation. Among themselves plants have their likes 

 and dislikes. It is well known that, for example, 

 certain flowers are only found in the company of 



