24 SEED-FOOD. 



III. 



SEED-FOOD. 



BY FREDERICK LE!IOY SARGENT. 



IN the study of animals we find that as we 

 advance from the lower to the higher forms, there 

 is a wonderful improvement in the way the young 

 are cared for. It is the same with plants, and in 

 those higher forms which produce flowers and 

 seeds the provisions made for the welfare of off- 

 spring afford some of the greatest marvels of vege- 

 table life. 



One of the most direct and obvious ways in 

 which the well-being of infant plants is promoted 

 is by the store of food that is laid up in the seeds. 

 This enables the sprouting seedling to develop 

 root and leaves before it is thrown entirely upon 

 its own resources ; and thus from the start the 

 plantlet can work to advantage. 



The amount of this seed-food varies of course 

 very greatly, as we have all sizes of seeds from the 

 tiniest atoms up to such large ones as coco-nuts. 1 



1 More commonly but less correctly written " cocoanuts." See 

 Imperial Dictionary. 



