t 325 J 



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mam till their ripe seeds are shed, and scattered by 

 the winds, is not only hostile to his own interests, but 

 is likewise an enemy to the public: a few thistles will 

 stock a whole farm; and by the light down which is 

 attached to their seeds, they may be destributed over 

 a whole country. Nature has provided such ample 

 resources for the continuance of even the meanest ve- 

 getable tribes, that it is very difficult to ensure the de- 

 struction of such as are hostile to the agriculturist, 

 even with every precaution. Seeds excluded from 

 the air, will remain for years inactive in the soil,* and 

 yet germinate under favourable circumstances; and the 

 different plants, the seeds of which, like those of the 

 thistle and dandelion, are furnished with beards or 

 wings, may be brought from an immence distance. 

 The fleabane of Canada has only lately been found in 

 Europe; and Linnxus supposes that it has been trans- 

 ported from America, by the very light downy plumes 

 with which the seed is provided. 



In feeding cattle with green food there are many 

 advantages in soiling^ or supplying them with food, 

 where their manure is preserved, out of the field; the 



* The appearance of seeds in places where their parent plants are not found 

 may be easily accounted for from this circumstance, and other circumstances. Many 

 seeds are carried from island to island by currents in the sea, and are defended by 

 their hard coats from the immediate aetion of the water. West Indian seeds (of 

 this description) are often found on our coasts, and readily germinate; their lng 

 voyage having been barely sufficient to afford the cotyledon its due proportion of 

 moisture. Other seeds are carried indigested in the stomach of birds, and suppli- 

 ed with food at the moment of their deposition. The light seeds of the mosses 

 and lichens, probably float in every part of the atmosphere, and abound on the 

 surface of the sea. 



