SEEDLINGS 



oily substance, that feels and cuts a little"^ like cheese; 

 within this are two pale little leaves pressed together. 

 Now take an unsprouted seed, and see if you can find these 

 leaves and the beginnings of the stem and root inside the 

 white substance. 



Think out the uses of this white substance. At first 

 it protects the baby plant; later, by swelling, it bursts the 

 coat; but watch it as the seedling grows; the seed-leaves 

 grow larger and thicker, but, at the same time, this sub- 

 stance gets thinner and thinner until it is a mere worthless 

 film. Clearly, this is the food the leaves absorb for their 

 own growth and for the young stem and roots. 



Be sure to see how the seed-leaves escape from the soil. 

 For some time only the little arched stem appears above 

 ground. The roots fasten one end of it firmly in the soil, 

 so that as it grows, it must be always pulling at the buried 

 leaves at the other end. Finally the leaves are brought 

 above ground; they turn green and unfold, and now, 

 because they have chlorophyll and light, they begin food- 

 making. 



But let us look into the history of a few more seeds. 

 High up in the pine trees, tucked away in the thick-walled 

 chambers, often protected by savage spines, are the pine 

 seeds. The trees seem very unwilling to part with their 

 children, for they sometimes keep them shut up in these 

 pine-cone nurseries for several years before they have done 

 fitting them out for their journey. It really is a journey, 

 for when the cones finally open, each seed has a wing on 

 which it is carried far from the home tree. 



Now these seeds are actually in danger, for the food 

 the parent tree has been so long preparing for them is very 

 good for animals too. Squirrels are so eager for pine seeds 

 that they do not always wait to find them on the ground, 

 but climb the trees, and actually cut through the thick, 

 woody walls of the cones with their sharp teeth. But the 



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