120 BOTANY FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 



seizing upon it, precisely as you do upon the 

 honey which the bee has been laying up all 

 summer. Man, as lord of the earth, makes all 

 things serve his purposes. Did you leave the 

 plant alone, and some are always left for seed, 

 it would, as I mentioned, sprout up and bear 

 flowers and seeds. The store of nourishment 

 it lays up causes the roots to swell and assume 

 the various bulging forms in which you see 

 them. 



Perennials do not begin to flower until they 

 have laid up considerable capital, and then do 

 not ever spend the interest of it, but constantly 

 add to the store. Such are Roses, Lilies, Oaks, 

 and Apple Trees. 



Large and long lived trees produce but little 

 fruit at a time, and that always of a small size ; 

 the little Acorn, for instance, is produced on the 

 Oak, and the Walnut on the Hickory ; and 

 the gigantic tree of Mount Etna is a Ches- 

 nut, with quite small fruit. Could it be con- 

 trived to induce them to yield plenty of fruit, 

 they would diminish in size and soon die. A 

 more effectual plan could not be tried to sweep 

 off our tall forest trees from the earth. So that 

 there are other reasons for Acorns growing on 



