182 HANDBOOK OF NATURE STUDY 



As corn and potatoes are planted in rows, weeds can be 

 kept down among them by cultivating and hoeing. 



Along the road, where the ground has been broken up, 

 we meet the common road weeds, with several of which we 

 became acquainted last fall. You may mention a few of 

 them. In several places, where the ground has never been 

 broken, we find plants still different. Later in the year 

 goldenrods and wild sunflowers predominate there, all of 

 which belong to the native wild flowers of our country. 



On some of the potato plants we found the well-known 

 injurious potato beetle ; on the ground, grasshoppers were 

 common everywhere, and crickets made their music all 

 day long, but could not always be found. A few times 

 we observed a gopher sitting upright and looking at us ; 

 but as soon as we approached, he disappeared into his hole. 



All of us, I am sure, have seen the kingbird. He gener- 

 ally perches on a post or a rail, and from time to time he 

 darts after some insect, catches it on the wing, and returns 

 to his perch. Some of the boys tell me that they hear Bob 

 White, the quail, every morning, and often see him sitting 

 on the fence post. Ernest tells me that he knows where a 

 flock of prairie chickens live, and that several weeks ago he 

 found a nest with twenty eggs in it. 



But when reviewing the plants and animals of the field, 

 we must not forget the soil upon which they all depend for 

 food. We had a good opportunity to observe the soil in 

 several places where road work had been done. On top we 

 found everywhere a layer of black soil, called loam. This 

 loam was from one to one and a half feet thick and con- 

 tained a very large number of roots. Below the loam was 

 a yellowish clay in most places ; in a few localities sand 

 and gravel took the place of the clay. 



Observations. Chinch-bugs, potato beetles, grasshoppers, and others. 



