ON VARIATION 



Who can forget its feathery seed ball waiting, 

 when ripe, for the first youngster, or the first draft 

 of air to blow it away on its long sail through the 

 air as it distributes its seeds — some on stones, 

 perhaps, and some on plowed ground — such a 

 multitude of seeds that, though many be lost, some 

 will find themselves throwing roots into new soil, 

 rearing their heads into new air — starting life in 

 a new environment? 



* * * * it 



Or we might learn a lesson from one of the 

 wild chicories which provides some of its seeds 

 with wings to iiy, while others it leaves wingless. 

 Those seeds without wings fall at the feet of the 

 parent plant as if to keep green the old familj' 

 home; while those with wings fly away to start new 

 families, under new conditions, where latent traits 

 and tendencies — latent elements of weakness or 

 strength — ma}' cooperate to produce a better 

 chicory. 



Or from that jo}' of childhood, the squirting 

 cucumber, which, when ripe, fires its seeds, mixed 

 up in its milk}' contents, with such force that they 

 are sometimes carried a distance of twelve to 

 fifteen feet. 



Or even the sweet pea, or our garden pea, which 

 when their seeds have dried, have the ability to 

 throw them some distance from the parent plant. 



[97] 



