x FOOD AND FOOD-PLANTS 121 



Consider next a root, like a carrot or a turnip, or 

 an underground stem, like a potato. All these 

 contain a store for the plant which is to re-start 

 growing in the spring, therefore all contain proteid 

 and starch, and perhaps a little fat. But while 

 the seed must be small because it has to be carried 

 away in some fashion to a distance from the parent 

 plant, the root or stem, which in nature remains in 

 the ground, need not be small. We therefore find 

 that such roots and stems contain a good deal of 

 water the water which is absent in the seed. 



Suppose we were on a sinking ship, and were 

 only allowed to make up a small bundle to take 

 with us into the lifeboat, we should take only the 

 most precious things, should we not ? Well, the 

 annual plant is the sinking ship, and, as it can only 

 give its offspring, the seeds, a small bundle, it is 

 necessary that that bundle should only contain 

 valuable things. Therefore, the seed contains a 

 relatively large amount of proteid, which is the 

 most precious thing ; it often contains fat, which is 

 the next most valuable thing ; and the rest is filled 

 up with the cheaper carbohydrates. In roots, where 

 size does not matter so much, there are fewer bank- 

 notes, that is, less proteid ; but there is a lot of 

 spending money shillings and sixpences and 

 coppers, heavy to carry but useful to have, The 

 spending money consists of starch or sugar, 



