FROM GRAIN TO EAR. 7i> 



the corn-plants among which they grow ; they need to have 

 room for their roots in the soil, and space in the air, and 

 sunshine for their stems and leaves. When deprived of 

 these conditions death must follow sooner or later. To this 

 end, and for the loosening of the soil, it is necessary that 

 the corn have the enconragement that a frequent passage of 

 the cultivator and an occasional hoeing will give. It is im- 

 portant that no weeds go to seed. If one out of a thousand 

 is missed in the cultivation, and is left to perfect its growth,, 

 the sound seed may he almost as numerous as when all the 

 weeds are left to struggle together through an imperfect 

 growth. A few rank, seed-laden weeds in a cornfield will 

 stock the land for years to come. From recent estimates it 

 has been shown that a shepherd's parse-plant produces from 

 20,000 to 80,000 seeds ; a curled dock, over 93,000 ; an ox- 

 eye daisy, 96,000 ; a pigweed, 825,552 ; and a large pursley- 

 plant the grand total of 2,146,500 perfect seeds. These 

 figures are trul}' surprising, and show that much hard work 

 must be done to keep such pests from possessing the soil. 

 It is a satisfaction to know that the labor expended in killing 

 the weeds improves the soil and increases the crop. Weeds 

 in one light may be considered as blessings after all, as they 

 put a premium on industry, and serve as a constant stimu- 

 lant to the earnest farmer to attain to a higher and more 

 profitable agriculture. 



The last enemy of the corn-plant to be mentioned makes 

 its appearance after midsummer, and is familiar to all farm- 

 ers under the name of smut. This trouble is a parasitic 

 plant, and a member of the order or group called fungi. 

 Among the larger and more conspicuous of these peculiar 

 plants are the mushroom and the various forms of toad- 

 stools. The moulds belong to the same family. There is a 

 long list of these parasites that prey upon the various crops, 

 among the leading ones of which are the potato rot, grape 

 mildew, wheat rust, onion smut and black knot of the plum 

 and cherry trees. The smut-plant vegetates in the tissue of 

 the corn, and often does much damage to the crop. The 

 dark brown dusty substance of the smutted ear consists of a 

 large number of minute spherical miscroscopic bodies called 

 spores, which serve the purpose of seeds in the economy of 



