Evening star., 1928-04-19

At this time of the year, when thou
sands of city backyard gardeners pu
| seeds into the ground, II is well to con-
slider the miracle of plant growth.
Especially is the seed itself a never
ending source OF wonder to those who
have not allowed their perceptions tC
be dulled by acquaintance,
The evolution OF the seed in the
ground is a true miracle. Note the
tiny. hard bit of stuff; 1t is as dry anc
lifelesS as crumb of stone.
Yet something strange begins TO hap
pen to Ii before 1t has been In the
earth very long. And this strange
something may occur many years after
the queer thing known as a seed came
into the world.
Perhaps no writer has written of this
everyday miracle more entertaininglS
than F. F. Rockwell, in a recent book
when he says.
"A seed. when YOU stop TO consider
1t. is really a marvellous piece of mech
aniSm, Here. within a bomb-like shell
so tiny that In some instances you al
most need a microscope to see titles
hidden the infinitesmial germ of life
which may have to lie dormant fol
weeks, months or even years before II
receives the signal from outside auto
matically to set itself off Compared
with such a masterpiece as this, how
crude seems the cleverest bomb evel
contrived by human ingenuity.
The stimulus required to bring this
apparently dead thing, a dry seed, back
to life, is the correct combination OF
moisture ana temperature. Given this
the covering of the seed. usually tough
frequently extremely hard, but never.
theless very sensitive, responds The
life within. which has been arrested
niraculouSly starts anew With a force
which. II IL could be measured in terms
u pounds = pressure . per square inch
would be simply stupendous. the swell
ing germ bursts from its sealed coffin
ana SENDS one tiny sprout upward
toward the sunshine and the air. anc
another downward in. search of mois-
ture and food"
From then on Mr.. Rockwell point,
out I'm the book. Gardening With Pea
MoSS1. II conditions are favorable
growth Is maryelously rapid.
Every hour almost. there is appre.
ciable development You go to bed one
night, with no sign that anything i:
happening. and the next morning tins
sprouts are pushing up tnrougn tht
surface-lifting and overthroWing what
in proportion to their own size, are
huge slabs of soil weighing tons.
Truly. familiarity breeds contempt
All this miracle of seed termination and
growth we take for granted. The real
wonder is that seeds can thus ressureci
themselves come TO life. and push then
way out of the soil prison, even under
the most favorable conditions. And vel
We cover them with loads Of soil they
cannot possibly lift. with soil that bakes
under repeated waterings. to a cement
like crust. and dries out so thoroughly
10 the depth at which the seeds are
planted that the delicate first tcndrtl.
like root is shrivelled to q crisp-anc
then We write in TO the scotsman and
tell him that his seeds are not goodl"
While admitting the dramatic value
Of Mr.. Rockwell's figures OF speech, thf
bomb and the coffin. one might prefer
TO look upon seed as q sort OF Pan
dora'S box filled with treasures. 1t Is
an even more wonderful chest than
Pandora's. because 1t is box tha;
grows and multipiies itself,
Who. for instance, looking at minute
seed OF one of the fancy varieties OF
petunia, would ever think that from II
would come q plant feet tall, bearing