[Illustration: VIOLETS.]
[Illustration: ALMOND AND APPLE BLOSSOM.]
THE COUNTRY-LIFE-READERS
BY ARTHUR O. COOKE
FLOWERS OF THE FARM
CONTENTS
I. Introduction
II. In the Coppice
III. Flowers on the Walls
IV. Three Handsome Weeds
V. Clover
VI. In "Ashmead"
VII. In the Hay-field
VIII. In the Hay-field (_continued_)
IX. In the Corn-field
X. In the Corn-field (_continued_)
XI. On the Chase
XII. In the Lanes
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
I think that some of you have been with me at Willow Farm before to-day.
When we were there we went into the farmer's fields in early spring, and
saw the men and horses at work with ploughs and harrows. A little later
on we saw some of the crops sown, such as barley and turnips. In summer
we were in the hay-and corn-fields, and later still we saw the ricks
being made.
To-day we are at Willow Farm again, and I want to show you some of the
flowers that grow there. I do not mean those which Mrs. Hammond, the
farmer's wife, grows in her garden, pretty as they are. We will look
rather at the wild flowers in the fields, the hedges, and by the
road-side in the lane. No one sows their seed nor takes care of them in
any way; yet they grow and blossom year after year, and nearly all of
them are beautiful.
Before we begin to look at them we must make sure that we quite
understand just what a flower is. Even those of you who live in large
towns and have perhaps never been in the country, see flowers of some
sort, I feel sure; you see them in shop windows and they are also often
sold in the streets. You have seen wallflowers and daffodils in the
spring, roses in the summer, violets in winter, as well as other kinds.
You do not need to be told that these are flowers.
What about the grass on lawns, and in such places as Battersea Park and
Hyde Park in London? "Oh," you say, "that is not a flower at all--that
is just grass." Yes, it is grass, but the grass has a flower as well as
a rose bush or a violet-plant. It is only because the grass is kept cut
short that you do not see its flower on a lawn. If grass is not cut, or
eaten by animals, it grows tall in spring; then in May or June you would
see the flowers on tall straight stems which stand among the blades of
grass. Many of these grass flowers are very beautiful and we will look
presently at some of them in one of the farmer's fields.
Perhaps some of you have gardens or grass plots at your own homes. If
you see some dandelions in the lawn, or groundsel among the flowers or
vegetables in the garden beds, you say, "Those weeds must be pulled up."
You call the Dandelion and the Groundsel weeds, but they have flowers
all the same; the Dandelion is perhaps one of the most lovely yellow
flowers that we have.
They are weeds certainly in your lawn or garden beds, for they ought not
to be there. Weeds are plants in the wrong place. By and by, in the
farmer's fields, we shall see many pretty flowers which he calls weeds.
We speak of the Nettle as a weed, and do not usually admire it; yet the
Nettle has a flower, as we shall see.
Then what do you think of a tree having a flower? That is perhaps a new
idea to you. Yet if you look at a Horse-chestnut tree in June you will
see at once the large spikes of beautiful white flowers with which it is
covered. Apple trees have a beautiful pink, or pink and white flower,
and the Almond tree bears a lovely pink flower. All other trees have
flowers too, but they are often small. The flowers of the Oak and the
Beech are small, but, though you may not notice them, they are on the
tree each spring.
Almost all plants, including large trees, have flowers--they are
flowering plants. Just a few plants have no flower; ferns have none, nor
have the mosses and lichens which grow on walls and rocks and on the
stems of trees. Fungi, too, such as the mushroom, have no flowers.
Nearly all other plants have flowers. It is by the flower or blossom
that a plant is reproduced. After the flower has faded comes the fruit
and seed; the seed falls into the ground or is sown, and from it springs
another plant. Without the flower there would be no seed.
You see that there are rather more flowers than you had thought. Still,
while we are strolling in the fields and lanes at Willow Farm, we shall
look most at what are generally called flowers; we shall look at
comparatively small plants in which the flower or blossom is easily
noticed because it is large, or bright-coloured, or sweet-scented. But
while we are admiring a Daisy or a Dandelion in the spring, we must not
forget that the great Oak-tree above it also has a flower of its own--we
must remember that the Oak-tree also is a flowering plant.