THE KINDLY FRUITS OF THE EARTH 



Long before he had learned to write history 

 he had learned to raise wheat, so that its 

 origin and early culture are quite unknown 

 to us. 



The number of seeds produced by a single 

 plant — such as Horseweed, Pepper-grass, Aster, 

 Goldenrod, Mayweed — is almost unbelievable 

 until one investigates. 



For example, a single well-grown plant of 

 Pepper-grass, Lepidium, produces from 1,200 

 to 2,000 seeds. It is recorded that in one square 

 metre of the surface soil of a fallow field, taking 

 it to the depth of ten inches, there were 10,332 

 seeds having power to germinate, the number 

 determined by three successive weedings. Dar- 

 win reared 80 seedlings from a single tiny clod 

 on a bird's foot. When one watches a flock of 

 sparrows feeding, apparently with satisfaction 

 and contentment, upon what seems to be a bar- 

 ren waste, one needs only to recall the untold 

 number of seeds scattered by the weeds we 

 know, to estimate the enormous amount of food 

 present upon the surface of the soil. Good food, 



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