HOW SEEDS TRAVEL.

Lake County Press, Issue 1066, 28 May 1903, Page 3

HOW SEEDS TRAVEL.

j If you are out in the fields among • the flowers in the late summer or early autumn days, you will notice many small particles floating in the air, some high, some low ; if you catch one of those flying motes you will find it is a seed ; these spread themselves out and act like little wings and keep the seed from falling in its passage through the air. Besides being carried by the wind many seeds are carried by animals. Sheep are great collectors of seeds, as their long wool catches and holds the seed pods which are carried to the other ejui of the pasture, or even to some other farm never before infested by that kind of weed. Roving dogs, especially collies and other long-haired kinds, bring burrs of burdock and similar weeds to their owners' farms, Birds carry seeds a great distance, not only in their stomachs, but on their feathers sometimes one will start with a seed in his mouth and drop it on the way Water plays a great part in the distribution of seeds ; swiftly flowing water can carry seeds a great distance. The ocean too, does its share of carrying seed, and tropical islands sometimes exchange seeds by means of the flow of the tides. No doubt people also are unconscious distributors of troublesome weeds by lucking burrs off their garments and carelessly casting them away. Dame Nature has no difficulty in distributing her seeds, for wind and waves, birds, animals and human beings, unconsciously help her in her work. In order that men may have all kinds of plants in their gardens or farms that they may want, railway companies and the royal mails must also assist in this universal distribution of seeds. Thousands of packages of seeds are in these ways sent out every year by the great seed firms. And this branch of business is yearly growing, as intelligence and popular scientific knowledge is diffused.