BOOK OF THE HOME GARDEN 



to go into the ground and get food and moisture, 

 the sprout to grow above ground to get light and 

 air. Some seeds are really a big storehouse of food 

 for the little plant to use while its root is growing; 

 the pea, the bean, and corn are good examples. 

 Other seeds just seem to be a shell in which the 

 plant lies curled up asleep, and their roots have to 

 go to work right away. 



If you want to see one of Mother Nature's cutest 

 babies, just put a lima bean to soak in some warm 

 water. After a while it will open like a door, and 

 where the hinge is you will find a little root and two 

 weenty, teenty leaves. When we put this seed in 

 the ground it opens just as it does in water, then 

 the root pushes into the ground and somehow seems 

 to lift the bean up right out of the ground, and there 

 the bean sits wide open with the little leaves ready 

 to come out. These bean doors are really first 

 leaves and they nourish the plant while the root is 

 growing. Peas and corn also nourish the little 

 plant, but they do not come up above the ground ; 

 they stay hidden in the soil. 



Some seeds germinate very quickly and others 

 take "forever and a day." Those that take so very 

 long to start may be soaked in water over night, 

 and of all the seeds we are liable to plant, only the 



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