ig6 



THE PLANT WORLD. 



are simple. The fir seed must be kept moist from maturity to 

 germination, and it grows only in soil that is always moist. When 

 the fall storms shake the cones apart and sift out the winged seeds the 

 latter go glinting through the air for miles and are swept over the 

 bare spots because there is nothing to break the force of the wind, 

 but when they pass over an aspen grove the wind is broken up into 

 eddying currents and the seeds of the firs go sifting down among the 

 branches. They strike a rich soil, well mulched with nutritious leaves 

 and so shaded in summer by aspen leaves that it is always moist and 

 a congenial home for the young firs, and thus they start. 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE FIELD HORSETAIL. 



By Willard N. Clute. 



AMONG the plants that give 

 character to the early days of 

 Spring the field horsetail holds 

 a prominent place. A few 

 bright days are sufficient to cause the 

 curious, tawny, fertile spikes to push 

 up in multitudes. The roadside, the 

 marsh and the railroad embankment, 

 which before showed neither leaf nor 

 bud, at once assume a lively tint from 

 their numbers. 



With the idea of discovering how 

 these plants are able to develop so 

 rapidly, we began investigations in 

 their haunts early last March. It 

 seemed an easy thing to go to a 

 place where the plants were known 

 to grow abundantly and by a little 

 digging secure the underground 

 parts, but it is not as easy as it ap- 

 pears. With no surface indications, 

 it requires careful prospecting to find 

 them. After some search we found 

 the fertile spike just beneath the sur- 

 face, biding its time — an oblong, 

 pointed bud in a coat of mail formed 

 by numerous dark brown sheaths ar- 

 ranged in several whorls (Fig. i). 



