Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1909-01-21

plumule, q tiny BEAN PLANT
bunch of leaves so small that you
may have difficulty in making them
out Farther on, at the end of the
bean, is the stubby root, or radicIe.
These different parts are found in ev
cry seed, no matter how small.
Now that you have seen what is in
the bean examine a pumpkin seed in
the same way. It is much the same
inside as the bean, only fatter The
hiIum is at the pointed end, and the
DlumuIe is so small that you may not
be able to see it at all. In these two
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 1eshy
seed leaves.
Now let US look at 4 different kind
of q seed Take a 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 a hard, fiinty 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 cotyIedon in corn instead Of
two, as in the other seeds you have
examined. If you will take a cotyledon
,Ofo vNlo 40 ho of i'm q
warm place until it has commenced to
grow and cut it 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.
I You have doubtless been wondering
what the rest of the kernel, the part
back Of the germ, is for. While it is
not part of the plant itself, it 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 pump
kin seed and the bean the endosperm
and the cotyledons are the same-that
is, the food material is stored in the
large. fshy 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 terminate 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 this starch
| and oil Will no. dissolve in water
without first being changed to Il solu-
Bile form. This is accomplished by
means Of ferments called engines. If
you will put a piece Of starch on your
! tongue for moment you will find that
| it viii begin to taste sweet. This IS
them Tor several days you will find
that they will not terminate, TO mat
ter how warm they are kept, because
| they cannot get air. The reason is that
| without both air and warmth the en-
zymes cannot prepare the food for the
plant. and if it cannot get food Of
| course it cannot grow.
After the plant has started TO grow
the seed coat is no longer of any use
| to it. In some plants, such as corn,
the little plant finds its way out very
easily. The little pumpkin plant, with
| its heavy coat. has a harder time. IN
deed, were it not for little contriv
ance with which nature has provided
it it could not get out at all. This is
tiny hook on the lower end of the
seed. This hook catches on the end of
the seed coat and peels it back as
neatly as you take off your coat.
Watch for this in q terminating pump
| kin or squash seed and see if you can
! not notice it. In some seeds, like hick-
rory nuts, the plant is unable to get out
until the seed coat is cracked by the
frost or in some other way.
We have seen that a seed cannot
start TO grow unless it has moisture,