50 UNDER THE OPEN SKY 



as a man in winter may warm his fingers by 

 lashing his arms and thus increasing the 

 flow of the blood. 



But not any, nor all of these put together, 

 seem enough to account for this work of 

 bearing the life-giving stream up the stem. 

 We are still waiting for the master mind 

 who shall fathom the forces which work so 

 silently. 



THE RACE OF THE FLOWERS 



What flower will win this year ? Will the 

 bloodroot or the arbutus come in first ? It 

 seems to me quite a question of location 

 and of the kind of weather. On a cleared 

 bank with southern exposure, if we have 

 a sudden burst of very warm spring weather, 

 sometimes the bloodroot will get here first 

 and its white stars will catch every eye. 

 Farther back in the woods, if the sun is 

 warm, the hepaticas will keep even with the 

 bloodroot, but if the weather grows gradu- 

 ally warmer the arbutus always beats them 

 both. What an entire readiness there must 

 be when plants so small as these can so sud- 



