of a 



E ripened seeds of trees are sent forth with 

 many strange devices and at random for 

 the unoccupied and fertile places of the earth. 

 There are six hundred kinds of trees in North 

 America, and each of these equips its seeds in 

 a peculiar way, that they may take advantage 

 of wind, gravity, water, birds, or beasts to trans- 

 port them on their home-seeking journey. 



The whole seed-sowing story is a fascinating 

 one. Blindly, often thick as snow, the seeds go 

 forth to seek their fortune, to find a rooting- 

 place. All are in danger, many are limited as 

 to time, and the majority are restricted to a sin- 

 gle effort. A few, however, have a complex and 

 novel equipment and with this make a long, ro- 

 mantic, and sometimes an adventurous journey, 

 colonizing at last some strange land far from the 

 place of their birth. Commonly, however, this 

 journey is brief, and usually after one short fall 



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