he Grasses in the hay-field, because these plants are important to
the farmer; they are part of his crops. Then, too, we noticed several
weeds which do him harm.

To-day I am going to take a kind of holiday. I shall show you three
flowers, not because they have much to do with the farmer, but because
they are great favourites of my own.

None of these are very common at Willow Farm, although I know where to
find each one. We will go first down the little stony lane which leads
from near the foldyard gate to the cottages where the shepherd and the
bailiff live. Here we shall find the Alkanet. It is a perennial, and it
blossoms here year after year. I only know one other place in the
village where it grows. Like some other flowers we have seen, it is not
really a native of England.

It has a very beautiful blue blossom, a little like the blossom of the
Forget-me-not which perhaps you know, but the flower of the Alkanet is
of a deeper, richer blue. Here again, as with so many other flowers we
have seen, the blossom is formed of the five lobes of a corolla. In the
centre of each blue blossom is a small white spot.

The blossoms grow in little clusters on a short stalk, and on this stalk
there is always one pair of small leaves. The leaves on the main stems
of the plant are larger; the lower leaves have stalks, but those on the
upper part of the stem are sessile. The leaves are hairy, and so are the
stems, which often grow two or three feet high.

We saw that the Poppy and the Pimpernel were the only two true _scarlet_
wild flowers of our fields. In the same way there is only one other
English wild flower which has such a _deep blue_ blossom as the Alkanet.
That is the Borage; and the Borage, like the Alkanet, is not really a
native of England. For a fine golden yellow flower I do not know
anything which can beat the Dandelion. If we have not seen _every_ wild
flower which grows at Willow Farm, we have at any rate seen three which
have the deepest and richest colours.

Now for my next favourite. This time we go to the shady lane leading
from Willow Farm to the church; that is the only place near here where
I have found the Lesser Periwinkle. There is also a Larger Periwinkle,
very similar to my favourite here, except in size.

[Illustration: LESSER PERIWINKLE.]

To find the Periwinkle in full flower we should have to come in spring,
but, though it is July now, we shall still find a blossom here and
there, I hope. Ev