314 



AGRICULTURE. 



weed seed, and worked 

 hardest where the smart- 

 weed formed a tano-le on 

 low ground. Later in the 

 season the place was care- 

 fully examined. In one 

 corn-field near a ditch the 

 s m a r t w e e d formed a 

 thicket over three feet 

 high, and the ground 

 beneath was literally black 

 with seeds. Examination 

 showed that these seeds 

 had been cracked open and 

 the meat renioved. In a 

 rectangular space of eight- 

 een square inches were 

 found 1,130 half seeds and 

 only two whole seeds. 

 Even as late as May 13 

 the birds were still feed- 

 ing on the seeds of these 



rt— Bindweed. 5-I,ambs-quarters. aud Other Wecds lu tile 

 c — Purslane. rf-Aniaranth. e — _ . , , , .^^ 



Spotted .spurge. /-Ragweed. ^— nelds, " A searcli was 



Pigeon-grass, h — Dandelion. i r i r • 



made tor seeds of various 

 weeds, but so thoroughly had the work been 

 done that only half a dozen seeds could be 

 found. The birds had taken practically all the 



Year-book, 1S98. 



FIG. 108. — WEED SEEDS COM 

 MUNLY EATEN BY BIRDS. 



Quoted from the Year-book, 1S98: " Bird.s as Weed Destroy- 



ers. 



