THE PLANT. 69 



Goethe has clearly shown that the various parts of the plant 

 from the seed to the blossoms are but modifications of the leaf, 

 that all the parts of the flower calyx, corolla, stamens and pistil 

 are only leaves adapted for certain functions. They are formed 

 of the same elements and are arranged upon the same plan. In 

 the changes which they undergo and in the relation which they 

 bear to each other they follow the same laws of development. 



In the variety of leaves and flowers we find perhaps the 

 greatest diversity of beautiful forms in nature. Every kind of 

 plant known to botany has its own peculiar kind of leaf and 

 flower. 



The Flower. 



\Ye have learned in the study of horticulture that there are 

 several ways by which we may reproduce plants, such as layering, 

 cuttings, grafting and budding, but the chief organ of reproduc- 

 tion in plants is the flower. 



The flower is the sexual part of the plant, and its chief func- 

 tion is to produce a seed which contains in embryo a miniature 

 plant of the same variety as that which bore the flower. 



Pollen is the fertilizing part of the flower, and the transfer 

 of the pollen to the stigma is pollination. -Cross-fertilization is 

 where the pollen from one flower is transferred and fertilizes 

 the pistil of another flower. Self-fertilization is where a flower 

 fertilizes itself. 



If the anthers that contain the pollen are cut off before they 

 open and discharge the pollen, and the flower is covered with a 

 paper bag to prevent any other pollen from falling on the pistil, it 

 will soon die and fall. If pollen is brought from another flower 

 and is deposited upon the stigma, the pistil will live, mature and 

 form seeds. The office of pollen is to produce seeds, hence upon 

 this important truth hinges much of the success of such men as 

 Burbank -in their new creations in plant life. 



Variation. 



On account of the universal differences that exist between all 

 things in nature, we have an unlimited field for producing new 

 things among types and species, for among plants and animals 



