PLANTS AND HOW THEY GIK)W IQl 



good fighters lived. Slowly but ST:ivel.y many, of 

 these plants changed to meet their Hew ^rroliild- 

 ings and became unlike their early parents and even 

 unlike their close kin. Each one set to work to pro- 

 tect itself and get its own food, and thus it slowly 

 developed new parts, new ways of growing, and 

 new ways of fighting for food. Only the best and 

 strongest plants lived to spread their seed. In this 

 way the world came to be covered, with untold 

 multitudes of different kinds of plants. 



One Interesting Habit. It is interesting to study 

 about the habits of different plants and how they 

 grow and spread their kind. One of the important 

 things about them that the farmer needs to kn6w is 

 how they scatter their seed, because many weeds 

 grow and fight for life where the farmer does not 

 want them. 



Scattering Their Seed. Some plants, like the 

 cocoanut, grow their seed in a hard shell which is 

 waterproof, and in this they float on streams and 

 rivers to new homes. The seeds of the maple and 

 ash trees have wings, and on these they sail away 

 across the fields wherever the wind will carry them. 

 The dandelion seed has a queer little balloon on 

 which the wind carries it to some far-away home. 

 Then we know the burdocks and stick tights that 

 catch in our clothes or fasten themselves on passing 

 animals and hold tight for a long ride, to fall at 

 last and set up housekeeping in a new region. Any 

 boy or girl who will examine the seeds of plants 



