such as Mistletoe and the Meadow Saffron, exude sticky substances which 

 cause them to adhere to birds and other animals. 



In the hardened earth taken from the feet of birds Darwin found a 

 large number of seeds, many of which germinated ; and it is undoubtedly 

 true that seeds are often conveyed from one place to another in the dirt 

 that clings to the feet of animals. 



Seeds often pass through the stomachs of animals without being 

 digested ; and during their passage they are conveyed hither and thither 

 by the animal and finally deposited, to grow and reproduce their kind, 

 whether of weeds or useful plants. Every farmer knows the truth of 

 this statement as regards cattle, horses, and swine ; and it may be men- 

 tioned that Darwin picked from the excrement of small birds twelve 

 kinds of seeds which were perfect in form and germinated in nearly 

 every instance. 



Ants, locusts, and other insects also, do something in the way of 

 distributing the seeds of certain plants, including noxious weeds. 



4. By man. Man himself, however, has most to do with the spread 

 of troublesome weeds, chiefly through the agency of railroads, imple- 

 ments, farm yard manure, feed stuffs, and impure seed. 



Many weeds are carried from one province or country to another in 

 the fodder and litter used hy animals in transit on railways and in grain 

 carried by rail. More or less of the grain, litter, and fodder are scattered 

 at places along the track and at stations where grain and animals are 

 unloaded and cars cleaned out. Weeds thus get a start and spread to 

 neighbouring farms. The Russian Thistle was introduced in this way. 



The constant changing of implements, with dry earth, pieces of sod, 

 etc., attached to them, from field to field and from one farm to another, is 

 a common method of spreading weed seeds all over farms and throughout 

 whole neighbourhoods ; and threshing machines from dirty farms are well 

 known sources of trouble under this head. 



Fresh farmyard manure from city stables is very often full of weed 

 seeds, and should be rotted or piled and allowed to heat thoroughly 

 before it is applied to clean land. Wild lettuce, for example, was brought 

 from Toronto to the neighbourhood of Burlington in manure ; and in this 

 way many other pests have been distributed from towns and cities to the 

 farms of the Province. 



Many new and troublesome weeds are introduced in feeding stuffs 

 and seeds of various kinds. In clover and grass seeds especially, there is 

 often a large number of weed seeds, and the farmer needs to be constantly 

 on his guard against infection from this source. Over sixty samples of 

 clover seed, obtained from fifty-eight seedsmen in Ontario, were examined 

 by the writer a few years ago, and more or less weed seed was found in 

 every sample. The following is a brief statement of the results obtained 

 from an examination of three samples. 



