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