The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1909-03-10

plumule, a 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 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 a pumpkin seed in
the same way. 1t is much the same
inside as the bean, only 1atter. 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 fleshy
seed leaves.
Now let us look at a different kind
Of a seed. Take a kernel Of corn that
cut it in two lengthwise the narrow
way. The back of the grain. is made
up in part Of a hard, finty 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 n co%tyledon in corr instead of
two, as in the other seeds you have
examined. If you will take a cotyledon
of a,corn plant that has been left in a
warm place until it has commenced to
grow and cut it in two l~engthwise you
will see that the inside is packed with
layers Of tiny leaves ready to unfold
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 it Is
not a part of the plant itself, it is of
very great use to 1t, 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 it's nourishment from
some other source This source is the
part Of the kernel outside Of the germ
itself, or the e~ndosperm. In the pump
kin seed and the bean the endosperm
and the c%otyledons 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 not dissolve in water
without first being changed to a solu-
BILE 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
1t will begin to taste sweet. This is
because the ferments in the saliva are
changing 1t 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 terminate in cold
ground, and If you will put some
beans in a glass of water and leave