28 



NATURE STUDY MADE EASY 



Here I come creeping, creeping everywhere; 



When you're numbered with the dead 



In your still and narrow bed, 



In the happy spring I'll come, 



And deck your silent home, 



Silently creeping, creeping everywhere. 



SARAH ROBERTS BOYLE. 



LESSON X 



HOW STEMS GROW 



Have you ever noticed how bravely the flowers hold up their 

 heads in the bright sunlight ? What is it that 

 supports the flowers and leaves? It is the 

 stem. The stem of the plant holds up the 

 leaves so that the sun may shine on them and 

 the air pass around them. The stem holds 

 up the flowers so that the sun may color them 

 and the honey bees may visit them. The stem 

 also carries to the leaves the sap food from the 

 root. 



Stems are all sizes from the delicate little 

 stem of the maiden-hair fern, to the strong, 

 huge trunk of the great oak tree. Stems differ 

 in texture. Some, like the geranium stem, are 

 soft and fleshy; others, like the stem of the 

 SUNFLOWER oak, are hard and woody. 



