30 THE WORLD IX WHICH WE LIVE 



lose them; and they would be lost if the wind blew 

 them into places where they could not grow. So the 

 plant is made to scatter the little seeds about itself 

 where the soil is good and the conditions are right. 

 There are not many seeds and they must be carefully 

 scattered. 



But with the venturesome dandelion all is differ- 

 ent. That plant can grow anywhere, and so it flaunts 

 its seed pod in the air just where the wind can get at 

 it and blow away the hosts of seeds, — anywhere and 

 everywhere. The dandelion's seeds are supplied with 

 little feather-tipped air-floats, and when they are ripe 

 and the wind comes to get them, away they sail. 

 They are quite able to sprout on any ground where 

 the wind may drop them, even if it be upon a heap 

 of ashes. But until its seeds are ripe the dandelion is 

 just as careful of them as any other plant. If you 

 will notice you will see that, after the dandelion blos- 

 som has wilted, the stem lies down upon the ground 

 until the seeds are ripe. Then up it stands, as straight 

 and tall as w^hen it bore a beautiful golden blossom. 



The seeds of the thistle and milkweed have silky 

 fibers that carry them through the air like balloons; 

 while the seeds of the clematis have long feathery 

 tails like plumes, which carry them far away from 

 their parent plant when the autumn wind comes 

 along. The ash trees and maple trees give wings to 

 their seeds so that they, too, can be scattered far 

 and wide. 



Have you ever watched a winged maple seed com- 

 ing down through the air? It turns around and 

 around as it sinks, and if it falls in the grass or soft 



