CORNFIELD FLOWERS 159 



abroad for English fields and gardens. Other seeds are 

 introduced accidentally, in the litter used to pack foreign 

 bales and parcels, in fodder, and in other ways. The seeds 

 of foreign cornfield plants come in with the corn, and fall 

 from the railway trucks in which it is transported, or about 

 the doors of granaries and warehouses. In such places, 

 especially along the permanent way of the rail, they find the 

 dry and broken soil which they need ; and railway lines are 

 a frequent place for finding exotic cornfield weeds. The 

 seeds imported among more varied merchandise have the 

 same opportunity of distributing themselves as they are 

 jolted on their way by rail ; but our imports of foreign corn 

 and foreign farm and garden seeds are the chief means of 

 distributing foreign weeds. 



Since cornfield flowers like light and broken ground, it 

 is not surprising that they are found in greatest variety on 

 sandy and chalky soils, and mostly avoid the heavy clays. 

 Once a stiff clay land has been brought into good cultivation, 

 it is easier to keep it free from weeds than most other soils. 

 Even when it is allowed to become very foul from the 

 farmer's point of view, there is nothing like the same variety 

 of weeds as on a lighter soil, though they may be stronger 

 and more abundant. The common plume-thistle blooms 

 and seeds thickly amongst the straggling corn ; coltsfoot 

 spreads its broad leaves, and if the state of the field is very 

 bad the dismal tribe of docks competes in monotonous 

 variety. Once the coltsfoot blossom is over, in early spring, 

 there is little to delight the eye among the wild plants of a 

 cornfield on the clays ; for even the plume-thistle is the 

 most commonplace in habit and colour of all its tribe. On 

 lighter soils the presence or absence of lime makes its usual 

 striking difference in the character of the weeds. The 

 brilliant golden corn marigold abhors lime, and is as un- 



