74 WEEDS OF FARM LAND 



As the above tables show, the seeds of some leguminous 

 plants are able to live for many years under conditions of dry 

 storage An additional proof was afforded by a number of 

 seeds obtained from the Natural History Museum through the 

 kindness of Dr. Rendle, the keeper of the Botanical Depart- 

 ment. These were tested at Rothamsted in 1916, and one seed 

 of black medick (Medicago lupulina) gathered in 1884 grew 

 well, though other tested seeds of similar age did not germiijr 

 ate. Many weed seeds are able to retain their vitality under 

 most adverse circumstances, and even when they are swallowed 

 by animals or birds large numbers pass through the alimentary 

 tracts unharmed. This has been definitely proved by many 

 experiments. In a single day a cow was estimated to have 

 eaten with her fodder 89,000 seeds of plantain and 564,000 

 seeds of chamomile. 1 Of these 85,000 and 198,000 respectively 

 were voided in the dung, apparently uninjured, and the 

 germinating capacity of the seeds then proved to be 58 per 

 cent, and 27 per cent. Dorph Petersen 2 fed seeds of ribwort 

 plantain (Plantago lanceolate?) and mayweed (Matricaria inodora) 

 to a cow, and found that after passing through the digestive 

 system of the animal 51 per cent, and 26 per cent, respectively 

 germinated out of the total number of seeds fed. About 50 

 per cent, each of sheep's sorrel (Rumex acetosella} and fat hen 

 (Chenopodium album] passed unharmed through a pig, and I 5 

 per cent, of each through a fowl, although the majority of 

 seeds are usually destroyed in the latter case because of the 

 grinding action in the gizzard. In another case in America 

 a cow and a horse were each fed with 2 Ib. of grain screenings 

 in addition to their other food each night and morning for 

 seven days. 3 On the evening of the seventh day they were 

 bedded with sawdust and the excreta for that night collected. 

 The dung and sawdust were thoroughly mixed and put in 

 boxes in a greenhouse and four weeks later the following seeds 

 were found to have germinated and grown : 



1 Hansen, K. (1911), " Weeds and their Vitality," Ugeskriftfor Landmaend, 

 56, pp. 149-151. See Internat. Review of Agric., 1911, p. 738. 



a Dorph Petersen (1910), Jahre^bericht der Vereinigung Jur angewandte 

 Botanik., Summ. in Jour. Bd. Agric., XVIII, 1911, pp. 599-600. 



1 Patterson, H. J., and White, H. J. (1912), " By-Product Feeds," Maryland 

 Agric. Expt. Station Bull., No. 168, pp. 2-3. 



