( 1*4) 

 BEGGARS' IjICE.(fynoglo8sum Morisoni.) 



Although this is nothing more than a weed, and a very trouble- 

 some one when it comes in contact with sheep's wool, yet it per- 

 forms a very important function in the economy of nature, as it 

 constitutes one of the main dependencies for food in certain sec- 

 tions of the State for stock. During the winter months the seeds 

 adhere to the mouths of cattle, causing their mouths to look like 

 warty excrescences adhering to them. The seeds are full of glutten 

 and starch, and deer get fat on them in the season. This weed has 

 seeds covered with minute hooks, so that they cling to anybody 

 coming in contact with them, it being a provision of nature by 

 which they are conveyed to distant points for germination. 



It abounds in almost every section of the State, but especially on 

 the " rim lands " in the " barrens," where it exists in the greatest 

 abundance. Cattle are very fond of it, and it serves a useful pur- 

 pose while all other food is destroyed by the cold weather. In 

 fact, the cattle of the range keep in good thriving order on the 

 seeds alone during the entire winter months. This weed, although 

 it answers such a useful purpose as a food for both cattle and sheep, 

 is a great pest, as the seeds render wool almost worthless, for they 

 adhere with so much tenacity to wool it cannot be separated from 

 them, and no machinery has yet been invented that can remove 

 them. We would not recommend its propagation. 



