217 



IN THE STUBBLES AND CULTIVATED 

 FIELDS. 



rMHE golden tint of autumn is spread over the 

 fields. The corn is garnered, and with it have 

 gone many of our brightest flowers. A few remain, 

 as if to remind us 



" How many plants we call them weeds 



Against our wishes grow, 

 And scatter wide their various seeds 

 To all the winds that blow." 



The various Thistles are scattering to the autumn 

 winds their " plumed seeds," for the greater part of 

 their glory has departed with the summer. Their 

 home is, however, in waste places, and they ought not 

 to be found in cultivated fields. The Sow Thistle loves 

 the fields and garden. A}' who have kept rabbits, or 

 possessed a garden, know the tall, upright, succulent 

 Corn Sow Thistle (Sonchus arvensis), with its bright 

 yellow flowers, which start from a long hairy seed- 

 cup. The leaves clasp the stem, and are rougher than 

 the annual variety (Sonchus oleraceus), which has 

 smaller flowers, and the succulent stem is full of 



