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necessary to sustain their lives. Lowell so admirably expressed 
this thought when he addressed the dandelion in the following 
words: 
“Tis the Spring’s largess, which she scatters now 
To rich and poor alike, with lavish hand 
' 
To take it at God’s value, but pass by 
The offered wealth with unrewarded eye.” 
Then, too, wild flowers cover up barren spots in the field and 
woods and help to beautify places which would otherwise be 
eye-sores to passers-by. Some plants, such as those of the Ameri- 
can ivy or the Virginia creeper, cling to barren rocks by means of 
but if no rock or wall be near, 
turn into delicate tendrils, which clasp bough and 
twigs, and this vine adapts itself to any station in life and makes 
the utmost of its opportunities. 
Further, a great amount of the honey which most people re- 
gard as the most delicious delicacy comes indirectly from the 
wild flowers. The bee and the wild flower form a sort of mutual- 
benefit society. The sweet scents of the conspicuous corollas of 
the wild flowers may be regarded as advertisements to catch the 
attention of the passing insect and to tell it of the presence of 
nectar. Professor Gray expresses this system in the following 
humorous manner: ‘‘Where free lunches are provided, some ad- 
vantage is generally expected from the treat.” The bumble-bee, 
flying from flower to flower, gets its velvety body sprinkled 
thickly with golden dust. In extracting the nectar which lies 
deep down in the long tubes, it crawls all over the blossom head 
and some of the pollen, which had clung to its breast and legs, 
is sure to be left on the stigmas of the flower. It has also 
brushed against the anthers, and has taken a fresh supply of the 
yellow powder, with which it will fly to another flower head. 
Thus it carries on the process of cross pollination, which is so 
necessary for the maturing of all flowers, and takes in return the 
sweet nectar, which it carries to the hive for food. In order to 
preserve our wild flowers, it is very urgent that we take care lest 
these useful bees become unable to carry on their important work. 
In this connection it might be well to examine the rather curious 
