opens the soil and plants its own seed 

 in the ground. I always think of that 

 whenever I see the Clovers." 



"Well done, Madge. You are devel- 

 oping an excellent memory." 



''Here is a DandeHon. Tell us about 

 it." 



''That would take an hour at leabt, 

 for it is one of the most remarkable 

 of the early flowers with a history worth 

 knowing." 



"Then give us a little story about 

 the Daisy. It is a late flower, but 1 

 like it, and the Aster and the Golden- 

 rod too," said Edith. 



"Yes, they are fall flowers, but the 

 Daisy seems to belong to all the 'sea- 

 sons. It is a pretty little wheel, with 

 a gold hub and spokes of silver, the 

 'constellated flower' that never sets^ 



*The rose is but a summer queen, 

 The daisy never dies.' 



"It not only lives within doors, but 

 is perennial, and so hardy that it has 

 been found blooming in winter. It 

 belongs to the great composite family. 

 There are several varieties. In the 

 West the plant grows tall and coarse, 

 but the flower is small and delicate ; 

 while in the East the Daisies grow near 

 the ground, and are much larger, re- 

 sembling their cultivated sister, the Mar- 

 guerite, of the florist." 



"I can make Daisy chains and tell 

 your fortune with a Daisy," interrupted 

 Bird. 



"We will not stop for that now, but 

 Alice may quote something from the 

 poets about the Daisy if she can." 



"Chaucer calls it the 'eye of day' ; 

 Burns' Daisy was a 'wee, crimson-tipped 

 flower'; and Wordsworth called it a 

 'demure nun,' if I remember rightly." 



"True, though the Daisy is so com- 

 mon you must not think it a plebeian 

 flower, for it is both aesthetic and aris- 



tocratic. Its inner florets are bell-shaped 

 and exclusive, yet it makes a happy 

 compromise by having the outer rays 

 split down, to the great delight of the 

 honey-loving bee. Wordsworth thought 

 the Daisy the flower so genial in its 

 influence and apt to imbue the mind 

 with a love of simple pleasures. He 

 rejoiced that it was man's favorite as 

 well as nature's." 



"Edith has written some lines about 

 a flower just because we told her she 

 couldn't," said John, in a roguish way. 

 "Now, Aunt Jane, please coax her to 

 read them to us, won't you?" 



Aunt Jane looked at Edith, smiled, 

 and said: "Won't you oblige us, dear?" 

 Whereupon Edith finished reading the 

 following just as the tea bell called to 

 supper : 



OUR NATIONAL FLOWER. 



Sir Aster stood by Goldenrod, 

 And sought his love to tell ; 

 At first by many a pleasing nod, 

 At length in words as well. 



Said he to her, in accents bold, 

 "We're made to live together; 

 For you are clad in robes of gold, 

 And I in purple feather. 



"We complement each other well ; 

 It is the work of fate ; 

 Always together we should dwell 

 In most harmonious state. 



"My pedigree of long ago 

 Wise science says is true; 

 My amethystine rays, I know, 

 Were perfected for you." 



"Do you not know," said- Goldenrod, 

 "I am the Nation's flower? 



There's not my peer above the sod ; 



Lone grandeur's now my dower, 



"And you must find another mate. 

 'Tis sad, 'but we must part. 

 Henceforth affairs of gravest state 

 Must occupy my heart." 



Belle Paxson Drury. 



