Emerson says, "Nature is a spendthrift, but takes the shortest way to
her ends." She is like ourselves, she is ourselves written
large--written in animal, in tree, in fruit, in flower. She is lavish of
that of which she has the most. She is lavish of her leaves, but less so
of her flowers, still less of her fruit, and less yet of her germinal
parts. The production of seed is a costly process to the plant. Many
trees yield fruit only every other year.
I say that Nature is a spendthrift only of what she has the most.
Behold the clouds of pollen from the blooming pines and from the grasses
in the meadow. She is less parsimonious with her winged seeds, such as
of the maple and the elm, than with her heavy nuts--butternuts,
hickory-nuts, acorns, beechnuts, and so on. All these depend upon the
agency of the birds and squirrels to scatter them. She offers them the
wage of the sweet kernel, and knows that they will scatter more than
they eat. To all creatures that will sow the seeds of her berries she
offers the delectable pulp: "Do this chore for me, and you will find the
service its own reward." All the wild fruits of the fields and woods
hold seeds that must be distributed by animal agency. Even the fiery
arum or Indian turnip, tempts some birds to feast upon its red berries,
and thus scatter the undigested seeds. The mice and the squirrels
doubtless give them a wide berth, but in the crop of the fowl the seeds
have the sting taken out of them. You cannot poison a hen with
strychnine.
We ourselves are covetous of those things of which we have but few,
extravagant with those of which we have an abundance. When the Western
farmer burns corn in place of coal, be assured he sees his own account
in it. We husband our white pine, and are free with our hemlock; we are
stingy with our hickory, and open-handed with our beech and chestnut.