84 



FIRST LESSONS WITH PLANTS 



above the cotyledons (and which, as we shall see, is present in 

 the seed) is the plumule. The plumule is really a bud. 



107. We are now curious to know how the 

 stem grows when it backs out of the seed and 

 pulls the little seed-leaves with 

 it, and how the root grows down- 

 wards into the soil. Pull up 

 another seed when it has sent a 

 single root about two inches deep 

 into the * earth. Wash it very 

 carefully and lay it upon a piece 

 of paper. Then lay a rule along- 

 side of it, and make an ink mark 

 one -quarter of an inch, or less, 

 from the tip, and two or three 

 other marks at equal distances 

 above (Fig. 83). Now carefully 

 replant the seed. Two days later, 

 dig it up; we shall most likely 

 find a condition something like 

 that in Fig. 84. It will be seen 

 that the marks E, C, B, are practically the same 

 distance apart as before, and they are also the 

 same distance from the peg, A A. The point of 

 the root is no longer at D D, however, but has 

 moved on to F. The root, therefore, has grown 

 almost wholly in the end portion. 



Km. 84. 



the 





