Teacher's Leaflet. 1127 



puff of the breath will drive the balloon about a yard before it falls, but when 

 driven by a strong breeze it will float for long distances. When it falls, it lets go 

 of the seed as the wind moves it along the rough surface of the ground. 



Xot all of the silken balloons carry good seed ; that is, seed that will grow, though 

 the farmer would call none of it good. Tlie Canada Thistle in particular bears 

 much infertile seed, which is fortunate for the farmers who would rid their land of 

 its presence. It is in root and branch that all thistles are easiest to attack. "If 

 you don't want thistles you mustn't let them blow," say the farmers, and that 

 is the secret of their extermination, though their blossoming season is so long — 

 that of the Canada Thistle from May to August, and of the Lance-leaf from July 

 to October — and they are so persistent in sending up other flower-heads to take 

 the place of those lost in the "first mowing" that one who attempts to clean a 

 thistle-ridden farm has plenty of work on hand. But it can and should be done. 

 Even the long, whip-cord roots of the Canada Thistle will starve if they are steadily 

 deprived of sustenance by cutting the stalks to the ground. Plow up the thistly 

 meadow or pasture and put in a crop that requires steady cultivation for one 

 season ; look out for stray plants in lane, roadside and fence corners, and above all 

 endeavor to secure the cooperation of all the other farmers in the neighborhood. 



THE MOSQUITO 



Preliminary li'orh. — There is no better way to interest the pupils 

 in mosc|uitoes than to place in an aquarium jar in the schoolroom a 

 family of wrigglers from a pond or rain barrel. for the pupils' 

 personal observation take some of the wrigglers from the aquarium 

 with a pipette and place 



them in a homeopathic _.,,-^. — 



vial; nil the vial three- -^^™^||^^^^^^^ 



fourths full of water and ''ZI^^^^^^^^^^^SMMj^iQ'^. 



cork it. Pass it around 



with a hand lens and give Mosquito eggs enlarged. 



each pupil the opportu- 

 nity to observe it for five or ten minutes. It would be well if this 

 vial could be left on each desk for an hour or so during study periods, 

 so that the observations may be made casually and leisurely. While 

 the pupils are studying the wrigglers the following (|uestions sh.ould 

 be placed upon the blackboard, and each pupil make notes which may 

 finally be given at a lesson period. This is particularly available work 

 for September. 



Lesson X 



THE EARLY STAGES OF MOSQUITOES 



Purpose. — To cause the inipils to observe closely the appearance 

 anfl habits of the larvae and pupae of mosquitoes. 



