THE NOVEMBER SEED-CROP 



69 



Some take a ride by water, and to aid their 

 navigation, develop water-repellant seed- 

 coats, boat-shaped form, corky floats, etc. 

 Finally some develop automatic ejectors 

 like the capsules of the touch-me-not or 

 jewel-weed, which collapse with explosive 

 violence; or like the close-pinching hulls 

 of witch-hazel, which shoot out the seeds 

 to a distance of several yards. But most 

 seeds are featureless, as regards means of 

 dispersal. They merely fall, singly or in 

 clusters, and are moved about only with the chance 

 removal of the soil with which they mix. 



Of wild seeds there is no end. It shotdd be the object of 

 the following study to survey a small area to find the wild 

 allies of our cultivated seed crops, to observe the differences 

 in size and qualities, and containers, and means of dispersal 

 of as many as possible of the others. 



Fig. 39. Two seeds 

 that often steal a 

 ride with us; a, 

 sweet cisely (Ojmor- 

 hiza); b, pitchforks 

 {Pidens). 



Study 8. The November Seed-Crop 

 The program of this study will cover the exploration of a 

 small area well overgrown with herbage. The variety of 

 forms found wiU be greater if diverse situations wet and dry, 

 in Sim and in shade, are included. Collect seeds of all kinds 

 as encountered (omitting fleshy fruits and nuts) and noting 

 what sort of plant produces each kind. It will be well to 

 take specimens of the seeds in their containers for closer 

 examination at home. 



The apparatus needed beside knife and lens will be a supply 

 of envelopes, large and small, to hold the specimens collected, 

 with names and data. 



The record of this study will consist of annotated and illus- 

 trated lists of the seeds examined, arranged under as many 

 categories as desired: such as; Cereals, Lentils, Seeds with 



