any rate. Most flowers contain nectar, but the Poppy has none at
all. If the bees come to it, it is for the dusty yellow pollen to make
into wax.

The seed pods of some flowers open when ripe, and the seeds fall out.
In others the pod or case does not open but rots away. The Poppy has a
different way of scattering its seed. There is a ring of tiny holes in
the seed case, and through these holes the seed is shaken out. The
leaves are long, but vary a good deal in size and shape. The stems are
covered with stiff and bristly hairs.

CHAPTER X

IN THE CORN-FIELD (_continued_)

Besides the poppies there is Charlock in the field; not much, Mr.
Hammond will be glad to know, for he has been trying for many years to
get rid of this plant altogether. Pretty as the yellow blossoms of the
Charlock are, it is one of the most troublesome weeds which the farmer
has to fight. It is only an annual certainly, and each seed-pod holds no
more than six or seven seeds. The seeds, however, are oily, and this
oiliness preserves them. If they are ploughed deep into the ground, they
may live there for several years, and will produce a plant when turned
up again by the plough or the scuffle.

Mr. Hammond tells me that some years ago this field was full of
Charlock, and in the early summer there would be more Charlock than
wheat to be seen. This is how he got rid of it. Every year he ploughed
the field and got it ready for the crop as early as possible. Then the
Charlock sprang up before the crop of corn or turnips was sown; thus it
could be rooted out. Still, as we see to-day, there is a little left,
though it is growing less each year.

Charlock is wild mustard. There is more seed than blossom here to-day,
for the flowering time for Charlock is in June. If we chew some seed
from a pod, we shall find it hot and biting to the tongue. In some parts
of England many farmers grow mustard as one of their crops.

Near Willow Farm some farmers grow mustard as a catch-crop. They sow it
in autumn, as soon as another crop has been taken off the field. In the
spring it is eaten by sheep, or else it is ploughed in. A catch-crop
ploughed in like this enriches the land. Moreover a number of weeds are
buried with the catch-crop before they have time to blossom and to shed
their seed.

The yellow blossom of the Charlock is pretty, and the Poppy is the
finest scarlet wild flower we have. There is a third flower among the
wheat to-day, the beauti