THE BEE AND THE FEOWER 
65 
cases, you see, Nature gets what she is after; cross-fer¬ 
tilization. 
Of course, self-fertilization is better than none. Know¬ 
ing this, Nature has devised means for self-fertilization 
in case something interferes to stop cross-fertilization. 
Violets, for instance, have some late buds which never 
open, but pollinize themselves inside the bud. Flowers 
which grow in the water and cannot reach the surface, 
like the water buttercup, are forced to self-fertilization. 
There are many examples of flowers which pollinize 
themselves successfully, but for the most part, Nature 
gives her children the benefit of inheritance from fresh 
stock. 
You know what “inheritance” means, do you not? 
Perhaps you have blue eyes, but you think brown eyes 
prettier. Then you had better marry a brown-eyed girl 
when you grow up, so that your children may have a 
chance to inherit her brown eyes. Or perhaps you have 
red hair and freckles, and there hangs on your dining 
room wall at home an old portrait of a young lady with 
red hair and freckles—of course the artist did not put in 
the freckles, but you have good reasons to know they 
were there. 
“Yes,” you have heard your mother say, “Mary in¬ 
herits her red hair from Great-grandmother Babcock!” 
