Free Seed Distributions 



what God gave him thistles for he 

 must of course keep on fighting them, 

 and passing laws and making it a 

 crime to allow them to run to seed. 

 Meantime, dear reader, did you ever 

 examine thistle grain in the original 

 package? I suppose that thousands 

 of farmers and farm boys cut down 

 millions of thistles every summer who 

 have never studied a ripening seed- 

 head. Of course, the pestiferous plants 

 are supposed to be cut before the seed 

 is set; but nevertheless many of them 

 escape the scythe, and each one of 

 these has seed enough to thistleize a 

 whole community. Next August locate 

 the purple bloom of our common "bull" 

 thistle, wait until it has turned brown 

 at the tip and the bulbous seed pouch 

 beneath is well distended. Then cut 

 one of these from the parent stem and 

 dissect it. I know where a family of 

 them grew through this hot, dry sum- 

 mer in a boggy roadside into real 

 giants of their tribe, one having a butt 

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