314 



AGRICULTURE. 



weed seed, and worked 

 hardest where the smart- 

 weed formed a tangle on 

 low ground. Later in the 

 season the place was care- 

 fully examined. In one 

 corn-field near a ditch the 

 smart weed 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 removed. In a 

 rectangular space of eight- 

 een square inches were 

 found i, 1 30 half seeds and 

 only two whole seeds. 

 Even as late as May 13 

 the birds were still feed- 

 ing on the seeds of these 

 and other weeds in the 

 fields."* A search was 

 made for 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 



* Quoted from the Year-book, 1898: " Birds as Weed Destroy- 

 ers." 



Year-book, 1898. 



FIG. IO8. WEED SEEDS COM- 

 MONLY EATEN BY BIRDS. 



a Bindweed, b I<amb's-quarters. 



c Purslane, d Amaranth, e 



.Spotted spurge. /-Ragweed, g 



Pigeon-grass. // Dandelion. 



