144 NATURE STUDY -BY GRADES 



having burs, hooks, prickles, etc., and illustrate how these 

 are attached to animal coverings and carried away. 



Discuss the size, covering, food, etc., of the animals doing 

 this work and the corresponding size, location, and nature 

 of the plants bearing such seeds; also the inducements 

 present to get the animals in contact with the seeds. 



Do burs grow on trees, or shrubs, or grass? Why not 

 on trees? Are the plants bearing them good for the food 

 of the animals that carry them away? If not, does grass 

 or other animal food grow in the same parts? When the 

 seeds stick to an animal's covering, how may they get planted ? 

 There are other ways in which animals distribute seeds. 

 Discuss samples gathered by children. 



LESSON XVII 

 SEED DISTRIBUTION BY THE WIND 



What agent besides animals aids in scattering seeds? 

 Collect samples of seeds that have pappus, wings, or other 

 appendages that might cause them to be moved by the wind. 

 Put these in a box by themselves. Notice where such 

 seeds have been distributed by the wind, and where plants 

 are growing from them. 



The milkweed, dandelion, tumbleweed, thistle, maple, 

 box elder, and many other common plants have seeds that 

 are distributed by the wind. Even the large curled pod of 

 the honey locust may be seen rolling over and over on the 

 hard ground, propelled by the same agent. 



Study in detail one or more such plants, e.g. the dande- 

 lion. Notice that however low the plant is, when the seed 

 is ripe, the seed stock lengthens, so that the wind has the best 



