Little was known about this wonderful fertilization of the seeds by the pollen two hundred years ago, and a whole century passed before the secret of the blossom and the bees was discovered; and even then it was not fully realized how great was the work of the bees in cross-fertilization. Nor was it understood that the beautiful blossom of the flower, with its sweet nectar, was an exceedingly important factor in attracting the bees. Another century passed before Darwin gave to the world the story of the great work performed by the bees in cross-fertilization—in carrying the pollen from flower to flower, for it is now a well-known fact that all of the blossoms visited by the bees produce better fruit and better flowers.
In the flower where the father and mother part matures at the same time, self-fertilization is the rule. Cross-fertilization occurs in instances where either the father part or mother part ripen at different times, in these cases the pollen is carried from plant to plant by the wind or by the nectar-seeking bees. These busy bees, with their fluffy little feet and fuzzy coats, become completely covered with this all-important flower dust, and in seeking nectar from other flowers they leave the "awakening dust" behind, and thus cross-fertilization takes place; new types of babies are produced, new generations of fruits and flowers.
HOW MOTHER NATURE WORKS
Dr. Chadwick, in her Blossom Babies, gives us a beautiful recital concerning the fertilization of plants, which provides an endless number of interesting stories. The water plants are very interesting in that the pollen is just light enough to float on the exact level of the mother part of the flower, otherwise fertilization could never take place, and there would be no more lovely lilies. Long throated blossoms are fertilized by their attraction for certain moths or humming birds who have long tongues. Mother Nature is exceedingly careful to reproduce her children, and in every conceivable way she sees to it that her plant-seeds are fertilized and distributed. We are all familiar with the dandelion and the thistle and a host of others which fly through the air with actual plumes, some seeds fly with wings, such as the maple; other seeds travel by clinging or sticking, such as the cockle burr; still others float and shoot; while we all know about a lot of seeds that are good to eat, such as the nuts and fruits, as well as many of the grains, such as corn, etc.
An incubator about hatching time is a wonderful object lesson in teaching the story of life. Take the children to visit one and let them actually see the live baby chicks coming forth from the seed-shells. Other wonderful lessons may be drawn from the mother horse or the mother cow; and it is impossible to portray the close companionship, the sublime trust and confidence, which exists between the mother and the child who have been bound together by these ties and sentiments of truthfulness, trustfulness, and frankness.
THE SALMON FAMILY
The little fellow is daily learning that everything that grows comes from a seed, even the salmon which was eaten at lunch yesterday was the text for an impressive story about Papa and Mamma Salmon. In the beautiful Columbia river Mother Salmon is swimming about quietly seeking a shallow place in the stream where she may deposit her cluster of baby seeds, which looks very much like a mass of tapioca pudding as they gently sink to the bed of a shallow spot in the river. There they lay "sound asleep" until Father Salmon, swimming by, is attracted to the spot and, hesitating, talks something like this to himself: "Why the idea, here are some helpless fish-baby seeds, they can't grow and develop without me, here they are sound asleep;" and, nestling over them, he contributes the self-same and all important "something"—comparable to the pollen of the plants—which wakes them up. In the case of the fish the "awakening" substance is not in the form of a powder as in the plant world; but is in the form of a semi-liquid mass, much resembling the white of an egg. The little seeds soon begin to tremble—begin to wake up—and then begin to swell and grow and develop. In a few days what do you suppose happens to these little bulging baby seeds? The very same thing that happened to the chick seed—they burst and out come hundreds of cute little fish minnows. In just a few hours they are all swimming about in a most wonderful fish-like manner.
EARLY QUESTIONS
Some day you will be surprised by your little child suddenly asking you some such question as this: "Mother, where did I come from?" while in the same frank manner you reply: "Why from your mamma, of course; where do you think you could have come from? Everything that grows comes from its mamma—oranges, apples, radishes, cabbages, cats, dogs, and chickies—everything that grows has to have a mamma and papa," and they are often satisfied with this answer for a long time. No child should go to kindergarten without knowing that he came from his mother, and this knowledge should come to him from his own mother's lips. These are different days than those in which our grandmothers lived. The spirit of investigation and of inquiry is in the air. The moving-picture show makes it necessary for children of nine or ten to understand these things—to have a knowledge of certain of the conventionalities of life. Twenty years ago this may not have been so necessary—the youth of that day might have waited several years longer for certain phases of his sex instruction. It is highly important that this knowledge be obtained from a wise and pure and sympathetic mind—from the child's own parents.
One mother put her little girl's questions off week after week, saying: "I will tell you when you get older, dear—no, not now, dear; run away, you are not old enough to know such things, you must forget about them." Thus the unprepared mother sought to gain time in which to consult the doctor or the library. Finally the day came when the mother felt that she was sufficiently wise to answer the query, "Where did I come from," and so with her heart in her throat she approached her daughter, saying: "Come, Mary, mother is going to tell you all about it. I am now ready to answer your question." Imagine her surprise and astonishment when Mary said: "Oh, you needn't mind, mother, Kate told me all about it last week." Now the question in my mind is: how did Kate tell her? How much unnecessary information did this older and experienced Kate put into the pure mind of this innocent little girl?