GROWTH 1 19 



FIELD WORK 



The subjects treated in this chapter can best be studied in the 

 laboratory, and afford little opportunity for field work, except in regard 

 to the various adaptations for the protection and dispersal of seed. 

 Look through the woods and fields for examples of these adaptations 

 and explain how they are each suited to their purpose. To an imagina- 

 tive mind there is something almost pathetic in what seem to be the 

 shifts employed by the mother plants, themselves incapable of motion, 

 to launch their offspring in the world. 



Note the absence of weeds in woodlands and places remote from 

 cultivation, and account for it. Look along railroads, along common 

 roadsides, around wharves, factories, railroad stations, warehouses, and 

 barnyards, for introduced plants, and account for their presence. Study 

 the history, habits, and the local distribution of some of the common 

 weeds of your neighborhood, and suggest means for extirpating them. 



