2^.\ 



NATUR.\L HISTORY ( >!• Till- FARM 



season gets warm enough, in order to hold a i)lace among 

 ajrjrr^ssive comix'titors. To be outnin in the race for hght 

 is fatal. So, they put forth tender shoots with all the leaves 

 they can carr>', leaves being their working capital. So, 

 in early sununer, all the world is full of soft green tints. 

 New growth is evei^-where. In dark-hued evergreens, like 

 henilock and spruce, the contrast between the pale new 

 slioots and the mature old ones is very striking. In the 

 heat of summer the new gro\Ni:h will l\arden and new reserves 

 of food will be acciunulated. 



This is the ordinary routine for the larger perennial plants 

 tliat are best suited to our temperate climate. But there 

 are some little plants that avoid the strife of summer by 

 making haste to finish all their work in the spring. Such 

 is the narcissus, now vsnthering on our lawns; and like it 

 nre the adder's-tongue and the sciuiiTcl-coni, and many other 

 early spring flowers that dwell under the hca\^ shade of the 

 woods. Doubtless the onion grew originally where it was 

 subject to late-season shading, and there acquired the habits 

 which it still retains when grown in the open fields. 



Our field crops are mostly annuals, brought from various 

 climes. Some, like oats, are natives of cold countries, and 

 are so^^'n early and mature early. Some, like com, are semi- 

 tropical, and are sown late and grow well only in hot weather. 

 Our hottest spells are proverbial **com weather". Some, 

 like wheat, spend a part of the season thickening up their 

 **stand" by producing offsets from the bases before rising 

 to full height and flowering. We plant one grain of com for 

 each stalk wanted in the field, but not so with wheat or 

 timothy: seedlings of these, early in the season, produce 

 at the surface of the ground a clump of buds, which later 

 shfX)t u]) tall flowering stalks simultaneously. The wheat, 

 after fruiting, dies, but the timothy goes on producing other 

 offsets at the base, holding its ground after the manner of 

 perennials, and getting ready for another season. 



