138 THE GARDEN OF EARTH 



not, for its good, for the sake of its health and vigour, be 

 allowed to do this. It is in every way better that the 

 pollen which reaches its pistils should come from some 

 other plant of the same kind. If not from one of pre- 

 cisely the same variety, it must at least be a very near 

 relative ; otherwise the golden dust or sticky little lumps 

 will be useless. 



And just as plants, because they are fixed in one 

 place and cannot possibly travel about, have to use 

 outside help in scattering their ripened seeds, so at 

 an earlier stage, they must from the same reason use 

 outside help in exchanging their pollen, one with another. 



We sometimes hear of what is called " Crossing " by 

 gardeners. That is to say, the gardener takes pollen 

 from one plant from an Orchid, for instance and puts 

 it on the pistil of a second, not precisely the same in kind 

 though closely connected. And from the union of these 

 two may spring a third Orchid, partly like the one and 

 partly like the other. 



Cross-Fertilisation on the contrary is done, not like 

 Crossing by gardeners but by the plants themselves, 

 with outside help. Such help is commonly given by 

 Winds, by Water, and by Insects. 



A child may accidentally share in this important work, 

 though it happens rarely. You may have seen a little 

 boy thrust his nose into a Tiger-lily, with its gorgeous 

 striped petals ; and when he moves away if it is the time 

 of ripened pollen he may have a yellow tip to his nose. 

 Then if he should go to another Tiger-lily plant, and 

 should put his nose into a second flower, he would prob- 

 ably leave a little of the yellow stuff there, on a pistil-tip. 



