THE BLOSSOMING PLANTS 



When you take a little seed, dry and hard from be- 

 ing kept through the winter, and put it in the earth, 

 what will happen to it? You expect it to grow into a 

 plant with flowers like those the seed came from, do 

 you not? And in order that it may sprout and grow 

 into a fine healthy plant, you take care of it. You 

 water it carefully, if the clouds do not give it rain 

 enough. 



But that is not all the seeds must have, just earth 

 and water. They must have warmth as well, or they 

 will not grow at all. Many seeds are in the ground all 

 winter. They are dropped from the ripened seed 

 pods late in the summer or in the autumn, and they 

 fall into the soft earth; but they do not come 

 up. They lie there asleep until something calls to 

 them. 



Can you tell me what it is that calls to the little 

 seeds so sound asleep in the moist earth? 



The sun ! Yes, the sun shines down and calls to the 

 sleeping seeds to wake up. It shines bright and warm, 

 the ice and snow begin to melt away, and the water 

 in the brooks runs free and happy. Children come 

 running home from school. 



'^ Mamma," they cry, ^'spring has come!^' 



And sure enough, spring has come. The birds come 

 one by one at first, then in flocks; the trees begin to 



20 



