. My garden neighbors; true stories of nature's children . ^ d a y s of can grow and bearseed in the hardest,driest spots you maycome across. It needsbut very little fertility,and the man can showyou some of it growingin the coal cinders ofhis beaten driveway. Did you ever exam-ine the seeds of thedandelion? They havea plumy balloon atone end, or perhaps Ishould call it a para-chute ; and there is aset of barbs or grap-ling irons at the otherend. Carried by thewind, it floats throughthe air, parachute endup, and when it hitsthe grass or leaves, itsbarbs or grappling 78 UNDESIRABLE
. My garden neighbors; true stories of nature's children . ^ d a y s of can grow and bearseed in the hardest,driest spots you maycome across. It needsbut very little fertility,and the man can showyou some of it growingin the coal cinders ofhis beaten driveway. Did you ever exam-ine the seeds of thedandelion? They havea plumy balloon atone end, or perhaps Ishould call it a para-chute ; and there is aset of barbs or grap-ling irons at the otherend. Carried by thewind, it floats throughthe air, parachute endup, and when it hitsthe grass or leaves, itsbarbs or grappling 78 UNDESIRABLE NEIGHBORS irons take hold, and so it grips and stays untilit gets a turn into the dirt itself. No won-der there are so many dandelions in Now again, there is the thistle. It hasa pretty pink top, and its forms have beenwoven by artists into many pictorial thistle is the Scottish national emblem,and is often worn by the patriotic. Some Scot-tish thistles are really beautiful. 79 MY GARDEN NEIGHBORS But thistles in gardens, no matter how ar-tistic, are hardly quite the thing. There isvery little trouble in the mans garden fromthe inroads of thistles. Now and then onestarts up and has to be dealt with. When the pretty pink or blue flower, orreally flowers — for each head is made upof dozens of blossoms — I say, when the headripens, it produces a lot of fluffy, featheryseeds. They sail away as gaily as so manybirds, floating ofi on the summer w^inds tofind more room in the wide, wide world be-yond. They are certainly adapted to increaserapidly, and in some places, if not dealt withenergetically, become quite a menace. Butlabor conquers all things, even thistles. I have never counted the number of seedsin a s
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1905
