Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-02-09

soaked for few hours. The seed coat
will come off easily. The part Of the
bean that Is inside Is found to be split
in two lengthwise. These two halves
are called cotyledons, which is only an
other name for seed leaves. Spread
the cotyledons apart carefully. II you
look closely you can see little plant
tucked snugly away between them.
Just to one side Of the middle is small
stem, the caulicle. Fastened to 1t Is
the plumule, a tiny bunch of leaves so
small that you may have difficulty in
end Of the bean, is the stubby root, or
radicle These different parts are found
In every seed, no matter how small.
Now that you have seen what is in
the same way. It Is much the same
inside as the bean, only fatter. The
hilum is at the pointed end, and the
plumule is so small that you may not
seeds there are only two main parts,
the seed coat and the little plant. By
far the greater part Of the room inside
the seed coat Is taken up by the fieshy
seed leaves.
Now let us look at a different kind
of seed. Take kernel Of corn that
has been soaked for several hours and
cut 1t in two, lengthwise the narrow
way. The back Of the grain is made
up in part Of hard, flinty substance
and in part Of a white, mealy layer. A
large part of the front Of the kernel Is
taken up by the soft, oily germ.
Look at the cut section Of the germ
carefully. The little plant can be
made out very plainly. The little
pointed stem which points upward and
outward is the cotyledon. There Is
only one cotyledon in corn instead Of
two, as in the other seeds you have
examined If you will take cotyledon
of corn plant that has been left In q
warm place until 1t has commenced to
grow and cut 1t in two lengthwise you
will see that the inside Is packed with
layers of tiny leaves ready to unfold
as soon as their turn comes. This is
the plumule. The other parts Of the
little corn plant you will be able to
make out with little trouble.
You have doubtless been wondering
what the rest of the kernel, the part
back Of the germ, is for. While 1t Is
not a part Of the plant itself, 1t Is OF
very great use to It, as we shall see.
The little plant when it begins to grow
must have food. At first it has no roots
to get this food from the soil, so 1t must
get its nourishment from some other
source This source Is the part OF the
kernel outside of the germ itself, or the
endosperm. In the pumpkin seed and
the bean the endosperm and the cotyle-
dons are the same-that Is, the food
material Is stored in the large, fishy
seed leaves.
This food material consists largely
of starch and oil. Neither Of these can
be used by the developing plant with
out first being changed to a liquid
form. This is one Of the reasons why
seeds will not germinate without wa
ter. The other reason is that the wa
ter Is needed to soften the seed coat so
the plant can get out. But the starch
and oil will not dissolve In water
without first being changed to solu-
uble form. This Is accomplished by
means of ferments called engines. If
you will put a piece Of starch on your
tongue for a moment you will find that
It will begin to taste sweet. This Is
because the ferments in the saliva are
changing it to sugar. The engines In
the endosperm work in much the same
way, changing the starch and oil to
sugar and other soluble substances.
These are dissolved by the water and
go to feed the growing plant.
These engines cannot work without
air and warmth. You already know
that a seed will not germinate In cold
ground, and IL you will put some beans
in a glass Of water and leave them for
several days you will find that they
will not germinate, no matter how
warm they are kept, because they can
not get air. The reason Is that without
both air and warmth the engines can
not prepare the food for the plant, and
II It cannot get food Of course 1t can
not grow.