The Flowering of the Forest Trees 85 



which to feed while it does its first growing, and 

 it is protected from damp and from insect enemies 

 by a tough, horny shell. The maple germ is also 

 provided with sustenance for its first days of life, 

 is wrapped in a strong covering, and is provided 

 with a wing, so that it can fly far before the au- 

 tumn gales. When the descendants of these trees 



FIG. 15. Twinned fruit of the maple 

 (From the Vegetable World) 



are so well started, a large proportion of them 

 will survive, and thus the oak, horse-chestnut, and 

 maple families are quite as well kept up as are 

 the families of other trees, which cast to the winds 

 a large number of seeds less fully equipped for the 

 battle of existence. 



For when a plant, in shiftless and stepmotherly 

 fashion, hands its offspring over to those untender 



