ELEMENTARY BOTANY 



119 



Study the seeds of ten of the most troublesome weeds 

 in the neighborhood. Select large vigorous plants, and 

 estimate the number of seeds produced. A Russian 

 thistle has been found to produce about 20,000 seeds, 

 and a single plant of purslane about 1,250,000 seeds. We 

 may next investigate the methods of seed dissemination 

 and arrange an instructive school collection that will show 

 the various devices adopted by different weeds. As a 

 concluding lesson we may take samples of different grains, 

 — wheat, oats, barley, rye, clover, and the different grass 

 seeds, — and each pupil may examine a small quantity 

 and report the number of weed seeds discovered. 



Weeds have been called by some the " farmer's 

 friends." How can this be so .' They necessitate good 

 cultivation of the soil, and this is of great benefit to 

 the growing crops. They compel the farmer or gardener 

 to keep the ground well occupied with vigorous useful 

 plants. Certainly not all weeds are friends, and after 

 proper methods of cultivation have been attained, they 

 only make the work more difficult. Weeds like the 

 thistle, dandelion, or milkweed, the seeds of which may 

 be carried long distances by the winds, or which are 

 likely to be carried by other means, may be a cause of 

 serious damage to neighboring fields. This brings us 

 to the final topic for study, viz., the weed laws of the 

 state. Obtain a copy of these laws and discuss them 

 with the class.^ 



1 Lyster H. Dewey. " Two Hundred Weeds : How to know them and 

 how to kill them," 1895, and " Legislation against Weeds." Bulletin 

 No. 17, United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C., 1896. 

 This gives all the laws of the different states regarding weeds. 



