24 ODD HOURS WITH NATURE 



of dodges more than equal to any reverse of 

 fortune or assault of art that may be made upon 

 them. And the saying is entirely true. The bare 

 fields speak eloquently of one great and effective 

 dodge. Just consider the significance of the fact 

 that the surface on which the weeds of the summer 

 cast their seeds has been buried many inches deep 

 by the plough with all the seeds upon it. They 

 are much too deeply laid, most of them, to get 

 their heads up, yet here is a pretty crop already 

 anticipating the spring. What is the explanation? 

 Simply this, that the seeds of the great majority 

 of weeds are equipped with the power of biding 

 their time. Those that are springing on the 

 ploughed and dug ground to-day are not those 

 that were cast a few months ago, but those of it 

 may be many years ago. 



A great deal has been written on the vitality 

 of seeds which will not stand the test of experi- 

 ment. It is an old, old story, for example, that 

 mummy wheat, taken out of Egyptian graves 

 formed thousands of years ago, has been success- 

 fully germinated. As a matter of fact, wheat loses 

 its power of germination in a relatively short time, 

 probably ten years at the most. But many other 

 seeds, particularly those rich in oils, will retain 

 their life for three or four times as long ; and 

 some of them, especially those of the most familiar 

 of weeds, can wait for the favourable moment, 

 even when buried in earth. Take the case of 

 the familiar charlock the wild mustard which 

 makes so glorious a display of yellow gold in the 

 summer fields. It is a familiar fact that along 



