CHAPTER II 



STORAGE OF FOOD IN THE SEED 



14. Food in the Embryo. Squash seeds are not much 

 used for human food, though both these and melon seeds 

 are occasionally eaten in parts of Europe ; but beans and 

 peas are important articles of food. Whether the material 

 accumulated in the cotyledons is an aid to the growth of 

 the young plant may be learned from a simple experiment. 



15. Mutilated and Perfect Seedlings. One of the best 

 ways in which to find out the importance and the special 



use of any part of 

 a plant is to re- 

 move the part in 

 question and see 

 how the plant be- 

 haves afterward. 



EXPERIMENT V 1 



Are the Cotyledons 

 of a Pea of any Use 

 to the Seedling ? 



Sprout several peas on 

 blotting paper. When 

 the plumules appear, 

 carefully cut away the cotyledons from some of the seeds. Place on 

 a perforated cork, as shown in Fig. 4, one or two seedlings from 



1 May be a home experiment. 

 14 



FIG. 4. Germinating Peas, growing in Water, one 

 deprived of its Cotyledons. 



