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THE NATURE BOOK 



THE BARN OWL. 



March sun. Soon the Violets begin to 

 show in the woods, and the air grows 

 s\\-eet \\'ith their breath. Ah'eady the 

 woodland path is clothed with the white 

 stars of the Windflower, forming a 

 carpet for the dainty footsteps of Per- 

 sephone. 



Yes ! from the underworld Persephone 

 returns, and at her coming the whole 

 forest mantles with dehcate green. Down 

 the long leafy aisles comes the glad song of 

 the throstle, bringing Tennyson's beauti- 

 ful lines to our mind : 



" Summer is coming, summer is coming, 

 I know it, I know it, I know it. 

 Light again, leaf again, life again, love again, 

 Yes, my wild little Poet." 



And so with the advent of May the Forest 

 bursts into the full glad tide of early 

 summer. F. Martin Duncan. 



CHAPTERS IN PLANT LIFE 



V— THE PLANT AND ITS HELPERS 



By S. LEONARD BASTIN 



With Photographs by the Author 



IN the fierce battle of hfe 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 

 something 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 concern- 

 ing which there is a great diversity of 

 opinion, it seems almost certain that 

 plants benefit by the cross-fertilisation 

 of their blossoms. It is not easy to avoid 

 the conclusion when one considers all the 

 marvellous arrangements which have been 

 entered into, presumably with this object 

 in view. The fact, too, that in so many 

 cases the male and female organs in the 

 flower mature at different times suggests 

 tliat self-fertilisation is not wanted. Not 

 the least amazing feature is the variety 

 of the agents which are induced to help 

 the plant in the distribution of its pollen. 

 Insects, spiders, birds — even the wind 

 and water — act as emissaries in this 

 marriage of the plant. The intricacies 

 of some of the relationships are so astonish- 

 ing that it must always be a matter for 



