Rensselaer Republican, Volume 28, Number 14, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 December 1896 — THE USE OF BURRS. [ARTICLE]

THE USE OF BURRS.

They Carry the Seeds of Plants Away from the Parent Stem. After a stroll afield, in the fall, one is apt to wonder, as he works away at the burrs that cover-his clothes, what use they can possibly be. Burrs are a great nuisance to men and animals; but the plants they grew on find thdm very serviceable, for they are simple fruits covered with spines or prickles; and this is only another way plants have to distribute their seeds. That it is a scheme that works well any One can see who has a hunting dog, and keeps it in hiq ward. In the spring fine crops of Spanish needles and clot-burrs come up as if by magic, where there Were none before. They have grown from the burrs the dog brought home in his coat the autumn before. Around woolen mills in ’New' England plants from the West spring up ifi a mysterious way, and nearly always these have burr fruits. They have grown from the burrs taken from the fleece of sheep; In cleaning, and thrown out as waste. Some troublesome weeds have been introduced in this manner. On the prairies there are many plants with this kind of fruit. In former days, when great herds of buffalo roamed the plains, their hair caught up these burrs, which thus stole long rides, like the tramps they are. Even now, In old buffalo wallows plants ace/£ound that do not grow elsewhere In the country round. , /

Some buns, like Spanish needles, have only three or four slend&r spines, or awns, as they are called, at the summit of the fruit. If we look at them through a magnifying glass, we find them bearing sharp, downward pointing barbs, like that of a fish hook. The sand spur, an ill weed that grows on sea beaches and sandy river banks, has burrs covered with such spines. The boy who has stepped on sand spurs with his bare feet knows tthls to his sorrow. The tiny barbs go in easily, but every attempt to draw them out makes them tear into the flesh. Often the spines or bristles are hooked instead of being barbed. The clotburr, or cockle-burr, that grows abundantly in waste ground, and the agrimony of our woods, are examples. Burdock has such hooked prickles on its fruits, and they stick so fast together that children make of them neat little baskets, handles and all. The ticktrefoil has jointed pods, covered thickly with small hooked hairs that can hardly be seen without a magnifying glass. These are the small, flat, brown bums that cover the clothing after a walk through the woods in September. They are most burrs, worse than clot-burrs, they are so small and stick so fast—“ How Plants Spread,” St Nicholas.