44 LIFE ON THE FARM. 



grow forward year after year, constantly adding 

 new growth at one end and dying at the other. 



Such perennial underground stems can be found 

 fresh and alive in the ground during winter. They 

 afford excellent means for plant study during that 

 season of the year when the whole face of the 

 earth seems to be swept clear of all traces of life. 

 A little digging in the earth in the right places, 

 even when the ground is frozen solid, will reveal 

 surprises of fresh and expanding buds of rare 

 beauty and the richest colors. They can be placed 

 in jars of earth in the house during the latter part 

 of winter, when new growth will take place long 

 before any signs appear out of doors. 



Then, too, plants, or rather their children, move 

 from place to place by means of the many devices 

 for scattering seeds. Plants must not only provide 

 for their own life and growth, but also for their chil- 

 dren. Seeds produced by a plant do not fall upon 

 the ground where the parent plant stood, but are 

 carried to new places. The soil which supplied the 

 parent plant, especially if it be a plant which lives 

 for many years,' such as an oak or maple, has all it 

 can do to supply nourishment for itself. The young 

 seeds are sent away to new and unoccupied fields. 



THE STRUGGLE OF PLANTS FOR EXISTENCE. 



Plants have to struggle for life just as man and 

 other animals do. It is a well-known fact that plants 

 usually crowd one another. Thus none are as 



