Evening star., 1928-04-19
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES +. TRACEWELL.

scores OF beautiful blossoms 5 inches
| across?
Who, gazing at hollyhock seed In
| his hand, would suspect, II he did not
| know, that from 1t would come stalk
10 feet high, bearing many fine flowers.
n - n *
The seed is the important thing,
| horticuIturally speaking: termination is
| the transcendant action. The cotyled-
| ons are in the seed. the endosperm Is
| there waiting to feed them.
The actual termination. the sprout-
| ing. depends upon the fertility and VIZ
| tality of the seed. acting in response
to warmth and moisture in the native
element, the earth
The earth is at once the cradle and
the home of the seed. After 1t begins
| To grow. and some time, after the shoots
| get to the light of day, the seed ceases
| to exist. as q seed---it is plant with
| all the requirements of a plant, all the
| rights of n plant.
| Some of the requirements have been
given in the above quotation. Proper
moisture there must be, else there will
| be no termination. 1t is questionable
whether a seed in perfectly dry sand
or earth would ever Sprout. Dry sand
| is used to pack around various tubers,
such as the dahlia, to preserve them
| through the Winter. They do not grow
therein. Thus 1t is seen that darkness
alone will not cause growth. 1t might
help. since lack of light is one OF the
| factors in the seeds situation in the
earth
| Neither would warmth, OF itself
| cause a seed TO respond to the call OF
| the immortal forces which WELD the
| planets as II they were grains Of sand.
| with warmth and darkness there must
/ be that third factor, and most impor-
| tant-water.
All life came from the deeps. We are
| told. There would seem to be some
thing almost pathetic. deep and tender
! in the urge which all life has toward
water It is the very vehicle Of life
| life is in solution,
X n
Picture the seed lying In the ground
not more than quarter Of an inch
deep, at the most probably not more
than half that depth.
Let's goi" calls the darkness.
who are you?" responds the seed.
Il knew YOU in the paper bag, and
you weren't anybody"
Lets begin" screams the warmth.
Don't be In such a hurry" replies
the seed. II sat In that bag all Winter
near a radiator. and you're not so hot. :
This is a very modern young seed, OF
course--almost "moderniStic.'
Here am" whispers water.
"Hoorayi" shriils the seed. feeling 81
stir through It's every fiber. Let's gol
And go IL does with will. II grabs
up Its hat and coat. kicks the door open
and starts two ways at once, most
| wonderful performance. far outdoing
man. A man can go in one direction
only at time. but seed goes both up
and down at the same instant.
Its little root goes down. searching
food. its little sprout goes up. seeking
light and air The portion below ground
depends upon water, that above mostly
on light. The vital process of food alb
sorption underground takes place only
in the presence Of water, since the foods
must be IN solution to be utilized by
the growing plant. The work OF the
leaves above ground. under the infiu-
ence Of light rays. is no less wonderful
and interesting.
The manufacture OF the green mat
ter In plants, or the chlorophyl, Is an
achievement of Natures chemical lab
oratories. quite on par. as a miracle
with the termination OF the seed from
which IL all began,