Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1909-01-12


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 radicle.
These different parts are found in ev-
cry seed, no matter how small.
Now that you have seen what is in
the bean, examine pumpkin seed in
the same way. 1t is much the same
inside as the bean, only flatter. The
hilum is at the pointed end, and the
plumule 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 fieshy
seed leaves.
Now let us look at different kind
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, flinty substance
and in part of 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
warm place until it has commenced to
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 part of the plant itself, it Is Of
very great use to 1t, as we shall see.
The little plant when 1t 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
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 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 sc
the plant can get out. But this starch
and oil will not dissolve In water
without first being changed to solu
BILE form. This is accomplished by
means Of fermentS called engines. II
you will put piece Of starch on YOU
tongue for moment you will find thai
1t will begin to taste sweet. This is
because the ferments in the saliva are
changing it to sugar. The engines il
the endosperm work In much the same
way, changing the starch and oil tt
sugar and other soluble substances
These are dissolved by the water ant
go to feed the growing plant.
These engines cannot work withou
air and warmth. You already know
that seed will not terminate In COLI
ground, and If you will put SOM
beans in glass of water and leav,
them for several days you will fine
that they will not terminate, no mat
ter how warm they are kept. becaus
they cannot get air. The reason is tina
without both air and warmth the Ell
zymes cannot prepare the food for TIL
plant, and If 1t cannot get Sod o
course it cannot grow.
After the plant has started to groy
Me seed coat Is no longer Of any us
to it. In some plants, such as corr
the little plant finds its way out yer
easily. The little pumpkin plant, wit
its heavy coat, has harder time. II
deed, were 1t not for Il little contriN
ance with which nature has provide
1t 1t could not get out at all. This is
tiny hook on the lower end of tn