140 THROUGH GLADE AND MEAD. 
new type of flower present in many violets appears later 
in the season than the old type of flower, from which it 
differs fundamentally in being self-fertilized, the sepals 
remaining closed until fertilization is effected. The re- 
version to the self-fertilized method seems, and really is, 
unintelligible from the present stand-point of knowledge, 
assuming that cross-fertilization really invigorates and 
helps plants in the struggle for existence; nevertheless, 
in the case of the violets and many other groups, this is 
certainly the direction in which things are tending at the 
present day.” 
Nine or ten species of wild violets can be found 
within a short radius in almost any part of our county. 
My favorites among them are the early yellow violet, 
which is rare further south except among the mountains, 
the downy yellow violet (Viola pubescens, Ait.), the 
sweet white violet (V. dlanda, Willd.), and the bird- 
foot violet (V. pedata, L.). They all differ more or less 
in habit. Most of them are stemless, leaves and flowers 
springing from the root. Some are found in moist low- 
lands, others in dry upland pastures and thickets. Most 
of them are easily distinguished by their leaves. In the 
sandy soil of the railroad embankment, in such places 
where the gray birch loves to dwell, the thick rootstocks 
of the bird-foot violet send up numerous scapes tipped 
with light blue flowers. In my mind’s eye now there is 
a picture of a field covered with these pretty flowers as 
