MAPLE SEED 



109 



SUPPLEMENTARY WORK 



How Maple Seeds sprout. — Maple seeds usually sprout while 

 they lie on the top of the ground, or are only lightly covered. 

 Scatter a number of maple seeds on some soil in a box in the 

 schoolroom, and keep the earth wet ; or bring some sprouting 

 seeds to school and plant them in the soil. The first leaves 

 that appear are those that 

 were already formed within 

 the seed. Watch the plants 

 as they unfold from their 

 coverings, while their stems 

 lengthen and grow down- 

 ward into the soil. Then 

 see how the tiny bud be- 

 tween the first leaves grows 

 and becomes a second pair 

 of leaves. How do the sec- 

 ond pair of leaves differ 

 from the first pair ? 



The First Food of a Seed- 

 ling Maple. — Watch the first 

 pair of leaves on a growing 

 seedling. As the plants 

 grow, the leaves become thin- 

 ner and thinner, for their g^^^^^ ^^^ Seedling of Silver 

 substance goes to make the ]\Uple 



stem, roots, and second pair 



of leaves, until the roots can fix themselves in the soil. Finally 

 only their yellow skins are left. Plant some maple seeds in 

 sand. Then the seedlings can not get much food except from 

 the seed leaves. See how large the plants will become. 



Seeds sprouting under Parent Trees. — What kind of maples 

 are growing along the sidewalks near your home ? Look under 

 and around them for their seeds, All through the year you 



