32 OUTLINES OF FORESTRY. 



III. THE WIDE DISTRIBUTION OF 

 PLANT GERMS. 



IN order that seed-time and harvest shall not 

 fail on the earth, nature has distributed the seeds 

 or germs of plant life with a liberal hand over 

 all parts of the surface. Even amid the burning 

 sands of the deserts and the eternal snows of the 

 polar regions, myriad forms of plant germs exist. 



Nature has provided numerous ways for insuring 

 the thorough scattering of these plant germs or 

 seeds. 



Many forms of seeds are provided with delicate 

 hair-like projections, or with wings, by means of 

 which they are carried by the winds to great 

 distances. Others are provided with projecting 

 hooks or bristles, by means of which they catch 

 in the fur of animals, or in the plumage of birds, 

 and are thus carried into distant regions. 



Perhaps one of the most important of the 

 means provided by nature for the distribution of 

 plant germs, is that the seeds, which are swallowed 

 whole by birds or other animals, subsequently pass 



