The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1907-08-02

than a sparrow Yet so bold and
combatiye is he that if the great cat
is surprised by sufficient number Of
the little creatures far from the pro-
tecting shelter of the Jungle it will go
hard with him When alone the bird
will not attack. Supported by flock
OF friends, however, often numbering
several thousand, the bird will seek
out his hereditary foe and give him
battle Chicago News.
The Meadow VioIets Grew Tall.
1t 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 herself in scarlet
and pink velvet. Green was the ia
yorite color; the alders were putting
on green, the grass was green, and
the sweet flags 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 bios
SONS.
Growing beside the little brook that
flowed into the pond, and dotted all
over the meadow, were colonies of
violets. Their smooth, long-stemmed
leaves waved among the grasses like
their pretty long-stemmed blossoms
looked as if they had stretched up
to see the world and then from bash
fulness hung their heads.
One of these violets was swaying
with Impotence: 20, sisters" she
cried, "a big humble bee has just paid
me visit, and what do you think
she has told me? 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 dwarfs?"
Her sisters shook their pretty
heads. Zone of them knew and they
could not imagine any reason why all
violets should not be tall and slender
They determined to ask some one
else; so they inquired of the tall
grasses which grew beside them.
Now these grasses were stupid fell
lows, but they did not like to show
their ignorance; SO, without speaking
they waved their sharp swords as if
they would snap off the heads of their
modest neighbors. The violets droop.
ed and whispered softly among them
selves. There was no one else whom
they could ask except the skunk-cab-
bage, and he was such a disagreeable
fellow that they feared to speak to
him. There seemed to be nothing to
do but ask another bee, and they
waited patiently for one to come
along.
When one did appear she was in a
great hurry ana made only the brief
est call 1t was the same with the
next one and the next, but their pa
tience was rewarded in an unexpected
manner. Just as Gold-band Bombus
was slipping their nectar it began to
rain, and she was glad to crawl I'M
der one Of their umbrellas to wait for
the shower to pass over. She was
such a traveller that she always had
interesting stories to tell, and she
was quite ready to talk about their
dwarf cousins
When they ventured to ask her
why these little ones never grew tall,
she was puzzled for a moment; then
she laughed and said: They did not
need to grow any more" The violets
looked so mystifed she FASTENED to
add Il can find them without" The
violets were more puzzled than ever.
They were too polite to ask her why
it was necessary for her to find them,
but they secretly wondered how 1t
could benefit them to have her come
and take their sweet nectar.
Perhaps Gold-ban1 suspected that
they did not understand, for she con
tinued: You probably do not know
that the yellow pollen dust on your
anthers must fall on your pistils and
penetrate to the ovaries beneath be-
fore seeds can be formed in them. /
should not have known it either, If l
had nc: heard the tame robin telling
what his master, the professor, said.
well, it seems that in order to
grow fine strong seeds the pollen
from ma violet muef fall IN tho p4a