50 
WHY SEEDS TRAVES 
T last I think we all understand that by the red ot 
the apple, the purple of the plum, and the,a 
ferent colors worn by the berries we find in the woods, 
these plants are inviting us, and the birds also, to eat 
their fruit, and so release from prison their little seeds. 
But what would happen, do you suppose, if no one 
should accept this invitation? What would become of 
their seeds if these pears and apples and berries were 
not eaten by boys and girls and birds? 
Most of this question you can answer for yourselves. 
If you leave the apple on the tree, after a time it 
falls off upon the ground; and unless picked up, there 
it lies till it decays. In the orchard every fall you see 
apples decaying on the ground. In a little while the 
fleshy part disappears, and the little seeds are thus let 
out of prison without help. 
But many plants are not satisfied to leave their seeds 
so near home. Why is this, do you suppose ? 
Well, this is quite a long story. 
All plants of the same kind need just the same sort 
of food. If too many apple trees grow together, they 
soon use up all the apple-tree food in the neighborhood. 
So if a seed is to grow into a strong, hearty, well-fed 
plant, it ought to begin life in some place not already 
full of plants in search of just the food that it needs for 
itself. 
If a plant or tree makes its fruit so good to eat that 
some boy or girl or bird is likely to pick it, the chances 
