Pansy

“ Nurse Hammond had been in the Taylor family ever since Mabel, who was now a young lady of sixteen, was born. All through the years of babyhood and childhood the good woman had watched over her young charge, and now, when she had grown almost to womanhood, she still exercised the same tender, loving watchfulness.
Mabel Taylor's mother died before the child had learned to speak the sweet name of mother. And in all the years that followed, Mabel had only Nurse Hammond to go to for love and petting. Mr. Taylor was a kind father, but he was always at the office, and Mabel saw little of him. ”

“ Only this morning papa had heard Dick use language which made him feel afraid that he ought not to keep him in his employ. Yet how sorry he was for poor orphan Dick, that nobody seemed to care for!
He tried to make him feel that he was his friend; tried to rouse him to want to be a man, and to overcome his grave faults. "You are just the age of my boy Harris," Rosie heard her father say, "and he is just about your size. Harris is a grand boy; he never gave his mother an hour of anxiety, and I can trust him anywhere. ”

“ She handed the children some leaves of the lily of the valley and the tulip, with others from a maple tree near by.
"The shape is different," said one.
"Yes; but that is not what I mean; try again."
"They are not the same color?"
"Try again."
"The maple leaf is divided off by three little ridges spreading apart from the stem," said Ella.
"And how about the others?" asked Mrs. Browne.
"There's only one running through the middle."
"And there's a lot of little cross-marks, or threads, or whatever you call them, in the maple; and in the lily of the valley, and in the tulip they run all one way." ”

“ Right. Well, the parallel-veined leaves belong to the sort of plants which have only one seed-leaf or cotyledon, and we call them monocotyledonous plants; and the netted-veined leaves belong to and distinguish those with two cotyledons, and are called dicotyledonous plants. Now notice that a leaf has three parts: a blade, the broad thin part, a petiole, or, as you would call it, the stem-stalk, which supports it; and, as you see in these quince leaves, there is also a pair of small leaf-like appendages which are called stipules. All leaves do not have these, and some have no petioles. ”

“ Now notice that in the pink the sepals are united in one piece, forming a cup, while the petals are separate. Some flowers have united petals. Those we call monopetalous, and those like the pink we call polypetalous. The sepals, calyx and corolla taken together, are sometimes called the perianth. I do not remember if I told you that the root, stem and leaves are the organs of vegetation while the flower, fruit and seed are the organs of reproduction. ”

“ A vague terror entered Lettie's heart, and she made up her mind that she would never go. What a joyful uproar there was, and how they all talked together! In the evening, when all had gone to bed except Lettie, Hattie, and their mother, Lettie said, "Mother, I think now that a large family is just delightful, and I don't know how you all put up with me before. Please forgive me. I'll not fret any more, if you'll only let me stay at home." You may be sure Mrs. Edmonds forgave her.
The next morning in stepped Miss Patty. ”

“ Now if we leave one of these fleshy roots—for instance the beet—in the ground through the winter instead of storing it in the cellar for table use, when spring comes the plant will begin to put forth a new growth, much more vigorous than that of the first year, and quite different. It will send up strong shoots bearing flowers and ripening seed. ”

“ Dick shifted uneasily from one foot to the other, and his face seemed to be growing red over some feeling, Rosie's papa was not sure what.
At last he said, "It is all very well for a boy like yours to be honest, and all that; why shouldn't he be? Look what chances he has had; and then look what chances I've had! Kicked and cuffed about the world all my life; nobody cares what becomes of me. I heard you pray for Harris this morning, and I thought of it then. There never was a person in this world who cared enough for me to make a prayer about me!"
Little Rosebud
What a strange boy Dick was! ”

“ The radicle is the little thing like a stem that supports the cotyledons, and from the other end of it the root begins to grow. I know so much, anyway! Then the embryo? Oh! that's the whole thing curled up in the seed."
"I wonder which mamma will tell us about this morning," said Ella as she and Tom skipped across the meadow, leaving Mrs. Browne to follow more leisurely with Bennie.
"The root, of course," said Tom; "the root is—well, it is the root of the whole thing. The foundation, you know."
"I hate foundations ”

“ With your clear black eyes shining with love for everybody, your dimpled peachy cheeks, your hair in little damp ringlets, and your four little teeth peeping like pearls through your parted lips. Why does your cry of joy hush, and a grieved look come into the pretty eyes? ”

“ We classify plants as annuals, biennials and perennials; those which live one year, those which die after perfecting the seed the second year, and those which live on year after year."
"Aren't we almost through with roots?" asked Ella.
"I could tell you a great deal about roots, but I suppose you want to get to leaves and flowers, so we will drop the subject of roots and take up the stem next time," said Mrs. Browne, smiling upon her impatient little girl.
CHAPTER III. MORE ABOUT LEAVES.
"WHO wants to study in vacation?" ”

“ The fibrous roots are mainly for the purpose of absorbing nourishment for the immediate use of the plant, and this structure gives them greater surface by which to take up the moisture for rapid growth. Other roots serve an additional purpose. They store up food for the future growth of the plant, and such roots are called fleshy roots, and many of them are useful to us for food. In such the axis is long and thick and with only short branches and of course fewer fibrils. ”

“ Tom and Ella exchanged glances at this, but Mrs. Browne continued, "the root has two uses; it serves to fix and hold the plant firmly in the ground, and also it is the part of the plant that takes up food from the soil. The plant needs to be fed with certain minerals and gases, and these are dissolved in the moisture of the soil, and the water is sucked up by the roots." ”

“ Look through this microscope and you will see the tiny hair-like projections; these take up the moisture, and as there are so many of them upon every little rootlet, they take up a great deal. We call this a branching root; some roots are what we call fibrous. Tom, suppose you see if you can find a buttercup root and bring it here."
FIBROUS ROOT.
Tom sprang to do his mother's bidding, and soon returned with what looked like a hank of thread—long fibres bound together at the surface of the ground, at the top of what we call the axis of the plant. ”

“ Mamma agreed that this was a good suggestion; she had another scheme which interested the children.
"How would you like to have a botany class?" she asked. "You can build your booth just in the edge of the woods, and we will go out there every morning and study the plants which you will find handy." ”

“ Of course old maids don't like children, but neither does Letitia, so we will just suit one another. You have so many you can spare one. I have won Caroline's consent if I can get yours."
The result was that at 8 A. M. Thursday Sidney left Miss Patty and Lettie on the platform of the morning train bound for the great city.
As they entered the car Miss Patty said to Lettie "Let me sit next the window. I hate to sit next the aisle. Some one always tramps my clothes." After they were seated she shut down the wooden screen.
"Why, Cousin Patty," exclaimed Lettie, "don't you want to see out?" ”

“ Browne; "you surely would not wish to drive the birds away from their home?"
"Can't we build a rustic booth, or something, down in the woods?" asked Tom. "It would be something new, and by the time we were tired of that the young birds will have hatched and flown away." ”

“ Don't keep him," urged Morris, pathetically, "because mamma could never tell what things the monkey did, and what things Jack and me did, and it's very hard to have nuffing but bread and milk for your supper when you've only breaked a banjo string." ”

“ Money; ten hundred thousand dollars, and just as much more as you can get. Father says you can do anything with money; but all the money in the world couldn't have saved little sister Rose from dying. ”

“ Edmonds, "I'm puzzled to know what to do with Lettie. Haven't you noticed how fretful and impatient she is?"
"Why, I couldn't well help it," was the answer.
"I hoped she would outgrow it, but it seems rooted. Of course there is a great deal to do in such a family as ours, but her lot is no worse than the rest, and we all have good health."
"I think I can put you on a plan that will cure her," said Miss Patty, and then followed a low-toned conversation.
"Cousin tells me," said Mrs. Edmonds at the supper-table, "that she is going home on Thursday."
"Why, cousin," said Mr. ”

“ Now the calyx and corolla are only the protecting parts, while the essential organs are the stamens and pistils. If you can remember all this, with all the new names, you will do well for to-day, and next time we will talk about the stamens and pistils. Just one thing more, you notice that as you pull out one of the petals of the pink there is a long, narrow part running down into the deep cup. We call that the claw of the petal. Now see if you can find all these organs in other flowers, and give them their names."
SWEET-BRIER.
And leaving the children to busy themselves Mrs. ”