AND HIS PLANT SCHOOL 185 



colder regions. There are, however, many other points to 

 be considered, for seeds have many strange and interesting 

 habits. Near the geysers in California, where forest fires 

 are frequent, there grows a kind of pine having cones that 

 never open until a fire has burned over the hillsides, de- 

 stroying vegetation. Then these cones burst open, the 

 seeds escape from their prison-houses and, falling upon the 

 ground, now cleared to make room for them, thick forests 

 of young pines spring up. 



A seed is an egg, a plant egg; for within the shell or 

 covering is a little undeveloped plant; and snugly packed 

 with it is a supply of food for its nourishment, when it 

 first awakens, before it becomes able to gather its own 

 nourishment from earth and air. The different parts of a 

 seed can be readily seen with the aid of a good pocket 

 microscope, which one is well repaid for carrying, as it 

 reveals much of wonder and beauty in the varying struc- 

 ture of seeds, almost equalling that of flowers. And seeds 

 are everywhere. They float on the water, fly in the air, 

 carpet the earth, and sleep in the ground beneath our feet. 

 Without the product of seeds the earth would be brown, 

 not green. In seeds, lie sleeping a future generation of 

 plants, only awaiting certain conditions of moisture, heat, 

 and light to awaken them. 



The destruction of a blossom prevents the development 

 of the seeds. Have you ever seen a flower blooming in 

 field or forest, with joy written in its every line of beauty, 



