Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1875-04-21
The Maryels of a Seed.

| Have You ever cOnSldcred how wonder
ful Il thing the seed of plant is? 1t is Il
miracle. God said " Let there be plants
vieliing seed; :" and it is further added.
each one after his kind
The great naturalist, Cuvier. thought
that the germs of all past. present. and
future generations of seeds were contained
one within another rs if packed in sue
crssion of boxes. Other learned men have
Explained this mystery in 4 different way
But what signify all their explanations /?
Let them explain it rs they will, the Won
der remains the same. and we must look
upon the reproduction of the seed rs a con-
tinucl miracle.
| Is there upon earth machine. is there
n palace, is there even i city, which con-
tans 80 much that is wonderful rs is in
closed in 4 single little Scel-one wrain of
corn. one little brown apple seed. one
| small seed of 4 tree. picked up, perhaps.
| bv 4 sparrow for ncr little ones, the seed
of Il poppy. OF 4 blue-bcll. OF even one of
| the seeds that are so small that they float
about in the air invisible To our ewes? All.
| there is 4 world of marvel and brilliant
beauties hidden in one of these tiny seeds
Consider their immense number, the per
feet separation of the different kinds. their
power of life and resurrection, and their
wonderful fruttulnc>s.
Consider first. their number. About one
hundred and fifty years ago. tie celebrated
Lnn:pus. who has been called the " father
of botany" rcckoned about eight thousand
different kinds of plants; AMI he then
thought that the whole number existing
could not much exceed ten thousand. But
hundred years after him. NJ. De Candolle
of Geneva, described forty thousand kinds
of plants, and supposed it possible that the
number might even amount to one hun
dred thousand.
Well. let me ask YOU. have these one
hundred thousand kinds of lants ever
failed to bear the right seed? Have they
ever deceived us? Has a seed of wheat
ever welded barley. or u seed of = poppy
ever grown up into u suntlower? Has Il
svca amore tree ever sprung from an acorn,
or Il beach tree from Il chestnut? \ little
bird may carry away the small seed of a
sycamore in its bcak to feed its ne>tlinT>,
and ON the way drop it to the ground. The
tiny seed may spring up and grow where
it fell, unnoticed, and sixty years after it
may become Il magnificent tree, under
which the tlocks of the valley and their
shepherds may rest in the shade.
Consider, next. the wonderful power of
! life and resurrection bestowed on the seed
of plants, 50 that they may be preserved
from wear to wear, and even from century
to century.
Let Il child put Il few seeds in II drawer
and shut them up; sixty years afterwards.
when his hair is white and his step is tot
teriny let him take one of these seeds and
will see it spring up into new life, and be-
h,a, tnl ,,l.,
NJ. Jlnancut relates that. in the year
1898, several old Celtic tombs were discov-
cred near b gorac. Under the head of
each of the dead bodies, there Was Il small
square stone or brick with Il hold in each,
containing a few seeds which had been
placed beside the dead by the hcatnen
friends who had buried them. perhaps. one
thousand five hun,lrel, or one thousand
seven hundred years before. These seeds
were carefully sowei by those who found
them. What was seen to spring from the
du>t of the de;td2 Beautiful suntloWers
blue corn flowers, and clover bearing bios
SONS us bright and sweet those which
are woven into wreaths bv the merry chill
dren now playing in our fields
Some years ago, vase, Theoretically
sealed. was found in a mummy pit in Egypt
| by the English traveller, Wilkinson, who
sent it to the British museum The libra
rian there. having unfortunately broken it
discovered in it a few grains of wheat. and
one or two peas. old, wrinkled. and hard
as stone. The peas We're planted care
! fully under the gias>, on the fourth of June,
1914. and at tn. end of thirty days these
seeds were seen to spring up into new life
! They had been buried probably about three
Thousand years ago. perhaps in the time