164 
NATURE NOTES 
The need of such places in the country is not perhaps so 
keenly felt as their need in large towns, but in these days of 
increased travelling, when so many of the dwellers in our great 
cities find their way to the country districts round, and when 
so much of that land, particularly near London, is being taken 
up for building, one feels that in years to come these spots 
saved from the builders will be the greatest boon to our ever- 
growing population. The plot of ground which is now for sale 
is fifteen acres of the summit and wooded slope of Ide Hill, and 
it is offered for ;i^i,750. There is no other land within some 
miles really secured to the public, and the country round is 
being rapidly taken up for building. 
If any of our members or friends feel inclined to help in an 
effort with which our Society is so much in sympathy, they are 
asked to send their contributions to Miss Octavia Hill, 190, 
Marylebone Road, N.W., or to the Treasurer of the National 
Trust, I, Great College Street, S.W. 
OBSERVATIONS FOR YOUNG BOTANISTS. 
IX. — Flowers and Fertilisation. 
TAKE for granted that all young botanists know the 
general composition of a flower ; so that I need not 
describe the various organs, but will invite their 
observation to their uses. These, of course, are the 
pollination of the stigmas and the subsequent fertilisation of 
the ovules. The application of the pollen to the stigma is 
secured in three different ways ; by “ self-fertilisation,” the 
stigma receiving the pollen from the stamens of the same 
flower ; ” insect-fertilisation,” when insects convey it from one 
flower to another ; and “wind-fertilisation,” when the air takes 
the place of the insects. 
The question arises, w'hat is the relative value of these 
three methods, if there be any difference ? This depends 
upon what we mean by the word “ value.” All that any 
plant requires is to live a healthy life and bear plenty of good 
seed before it dies. Our expressions, such as “ fine foliage,” 
“beautiful flowets,” a “ handsome shrub,” a “ noble tree,” &c., 
are unknown to, and have no meaning in plant-life ; .so that 
chickweed and groundsel are really far better off, from the 
plant’s point of view, than many a “splendid” orchid or 
prfze cucumber which sets no seed. 
Let us begin with self-fertilised plants. These are often 
small and insignificant “ weeds,” as well as being annuals. 
Compare a flower of groundsel with that of a dandelion. In 
the latter the forked stigma protrudes high above the florets. 
