For a plant to shower its
seeds beside itself is almost fatal; so many offspring impoverish
the soil and soon choke each other to death, if, indeed, ants and
such crawlers have not devoured the seeds where they lie on the
ground. Some plants like the violet, jewelweed, and witch-hazel
forcibly eject theirs a few inches, feet or yards. The wind blows
millions about with every gust. Streams and currents of water
carry others; ships and railroads give free transportation to
quantities among the hay used in packing; birds and animals lift
many on their feet - Darwin raised 537 plants from a ball of mud
carried between the toes of a snipe! - and such feathered and
furred agents as feed on berries and other fruits sometimes drop
the seeds a thousand miles from the parent. but it will be
noticed that such vagabonds as travel by the hook or by crook
method, getting a lift in the world frpm every passer-by
-.burdocks, beggar-ticks, cleavers, pitchforks, Spanish needles,
and scores of similar tramps that we pick off our clothing after
every walk in autumn - make, perhaps, the most successful
travelers on the globe.
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