12 FARM FRIENDS AND FARM FOES 



nectar for honey bees, and the roots of these clovers im- 

 prove the condition of the soil by adding to its store of 

 nitrogen and organic matter. It is doubtful whether in the 

 case of many bits of waste land occupied by these plants 

 it is worth while to attempt to exterminate them. When 

 they grow along alfalfa or other fields in which they are 

 harmful, however, they should of course be destroyed. 



OBSERVATIONS FOR PUPILS 



1. Make a list of twelve common roadside weeds in your locality. 



2. Make drawings of as many of these as you can to use in your 

 Booklet on Weeds. For this booklet print an attractive title-page. 

 Perhaps the one on p. 29 will help you in doing this. 



3. Press and mount some of the leaves and flowers of the roadside 

 weeds to bind up in your booklet. 



4. Make a list with this heading at the top of the page : 



Roadside Weeds I have seen in Neighboring Fields 



5. Find out how the seeds of roadside weeds are scattered. Make 

 lists with these headings : 



Seeds scattered by the Wind 

 Seeds scattered by Water 

 Seeds scattered by Animals 



6. Always watch for new roadside weeds. When one appears, send 

 a specimen to your State Experiment Station to learn its name. Here 

 is the sort of a letter you should send : 



, KANSAS, 

 September 21, 1911. 

 EXPERIMENT STATION, 



MANHATTAN, KANSAS. 



Gentlemen : I am sending you by this mail in a package 

 securely packed a plant I found by the roadside near our 

 school. We do not know its name and we shall be greatly 

 obliged if you will inform me what it is and whether it is 

 likely to become a troublesome weed. 

 Sincerely yours, 



JAMES A. SMITH. 



