NATURE STUDY MADE EASY 



"Do you notice, Nellie, how carefully Aunt Susan cut off that 

 rose? See the slant in the stem. She did that, she told me, 

 because it injures the delicate little cells to break them roughly. 

 She said it was always better to cut them obliquely, like this/ 7 

 and Mary showed the lower part of the stem to Nellie. "It gives 

 a bigger surface to draw up the water, for stems need all the nourish- 

 ment they can get when they are cut from the parent bush." 



"I am glad you told me that," said Nellie, "I shall always cut 

 flowers, hereafter, instead of breaking them." 



"How pretty it looks in the glass there, holding up its head, as 

 though it wished to say, 'Good morning, I am glad you like me.' 



Good morning, pretty rose," said Mary; "I 

 do like you, but I am going now to have 

 a run; I will come back again to look at 

 you." Then the two girls ran merrily into 

 the garden. 



" Do you know," said Nellie, " I can never 

 tell which I like best among flowers. Roses 

 are beautiful, but lilies, too, are so graceful 

 and spotless. It is hard to decide between 

 them." 



"That is true," said Mary. "That reminds me of a pretty poem 

 I once heard recited in school. 



"There were two little girls, who were fond of flowers; one 

 loved the lily, and one loved the rose, and they could not de- 

 cide which they liked best. Ruth said she loved the rose, and 



