Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-05-18
why THE MEADOW vlOLETS
GREW TALL.
By BERTHA L. coLBuRN.

It was the month Of May. and all the
members OF the Flora family looked their
prettiest. The Willows waved their pale
yellow. The willows waved their pale
robes and the great oak was clothing her
self in scarlet and pink velvet. Green Was
the favorite color: the alders were putting
on green. the grass was green. and the
sweet-dags wore green tinted with yellow,
All the little plants. too. were clothed In
green, but they were decorating themselves
with beautiful buttons, stars, or fringes, OF
gay blossoms.
Growing beside the little brook that now-
ed into the pond, and dotted all over the
meadow, were colonies Of violets. Their
smooth 1ong-stemmed leaves waved among
the grasses like little long-handled UNI
brellas, and their pretty long-stemmed bios
SONS looked as IL they had stretched up to
hung their heads.
One of these violets was swaying with
impatience. 20. sisters" she cried, "a
big bumble-bee has Just paid me visit,
She says we have cousins living on the
hillside who are dwarfs and instead Of
carrying smooth silk umbrellas like ours
theirs are rough and furry. Now why
should they be dwarfsr'
Her sisters shook their pretty heads.
None OF them knew and they could not
imagine any reason why all violets should
not be tall and slender. They determined
the tall grasses which grew beside them.
Now these grasses were stupid fellows,
but they did not like to show their ig-
norance; 80, without speaking. they waved
their sharp swords al Il they would snap
of the heads OF their modest neighbors.
The violets dropped and whispered softly
among themselves. There was no one else
whom they could ask except the skunk
cabbage, and he was such disagreeaole
fellow that they feared to speak to MIN.
There seemed to be nothing to do but ask
another bee, and they waited patiently Tor
one to come along.
When one did appear she Yves In great
hurry and made only the briefest call. It
was the same with the next one. and the
next but their patience was rewarded IN
an unexpected manner. Just as Goio-pano
Bombus was slipping their nectar It be.
gan to rain. and she was gao q 70 .. Sfa sor
the shower to pass over. She was sucn q
traveller that she always had interesting
stories to TELL and she was quite READY 70
talk about their dwarf cousins.
little ones never grew tall. she was puzzled
for a moment; then she laughed ana saio:
They did not need to grow any more.
The violets looked SO mystthed she nasteneo
to add. 'q.-c can. find them without. the
yiolets were more puzzled than ever. They
were too polite to ask her why was
necessary for her to find them. but they
secretly wondered how 1t. could peneht lhem
to have her come and take their sweet
nectar.
Perhaps Gold-band suspected that they
did not understand. for she continued:
you probably do not know that the yellow
pollendust on your anthers must tan on
your pistils and penetrate to the ovaries
beneath before seeds can be formed In them.
I should not have known 1t either. Il i had
not heard the tame robin telling what his
master, the professor, said.
ssWelL II seems that in order to grow nne
strong seeds the pollen from one violet
must fall on the pistil Of some other violet.
Every time visit one Of you some grains
Of pollen lodge in my long hail. and are
brushed OF on the club-shaped pistfl OF the
next violet visit. So you see that without
me you would not grow strong seeds, AND II
you were no bigger than your dwarf cousins
I should never nnd you down here In this
tall grass The sun Is coming out now 30
/ must bid you good afternoon
AS Gold-band flew away the yioiets MUIR
INJURED. 1--WE are glad We are tall, for we
would rather live here in the meadow than
on the hillside: but wish we had asked
why our dwarf cousins do not carry silk
umbrellas like ours"