116 BOTANY FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 



ft 



some of our garden flowers. I have often looked 

 in vain for the pistils and stamens in our roses, 

 they were too well fed, and must have thought 

 if \ve had so much food to give them, we were 

 abie to afford luxuries, and so spent the material 

 for seed in beautifying themselves. 



E. Garden flowers will rarely answer for 

 botanical purposes ; wild flowers only are the 

 ones to be relied on. The change I spoke of 

 in relation to the conversation of stamens into 

 pistils, may be seen, as it were, taking place in 

 this monthly rose. On the outside is the calyx, 

 inside this a great many petals, as you ad- 

 vance inward you see filaments with petals on 

 them instead of anthers, and still further, the 

 regular stamens, and in the centre the pistils. 



L. I understand it all now ; this monthly 

 rose is a perfect instructor. 



E. Gardeners have taken a hint from this, 

 and sometimes when they have found fruit trees 

 bear but little in too rich a soil, made the 

 ground poorer, and been amply rewarded for 

 their pains. 



L. There were no stamens in that case. I 

 suppose they had all turned into petals. 



E. Or the tree itself become enlarged by a 



