Seed-Scattering 249 



Whether they receive assistance or not, however, 

 most of the fig's blossoms produce no ' nuts,' and hence 

 the growth of the sweet flesh must be in some degree, 

 if not altogether, independent of them. 



With many fruits, as already said, it is possible to 

 almost or entirely do away with the seed, and still to 

 secure, and increase the size of, its eatable part. This 

 the gardener can afford to do ; but nature cannot, for, 

 without seed, no offspring. 



Such is the general law, the exceptions to which 

 have been already referred to. But, even when the 

 plant is left in a state of nature, and allowed to 

 produce seed in abundance, it often needs further help, 

 if its progeny are to grow up healthy, and vigorous 

 enough to hold their own among their many com- 

 petitors. The seed must be scattered. 



The gardener often finds it advisable to get his seed 

 from some little distance, the plants raised from it 

 being distinctly better than those grown from seed 

 ripened in the same place. This is one reason why it 

 is for the plant's good that its seed should be scattered ; 

 and here, of course, we mean by the ' plant/ the race, 

 and not the individual. But there are many other 

 reasons. 



If seeds are dropped close round the parent-plant, 

 in a confined space, they grow up in a crowd, and 

 there is a desperate struggle for existence. Being all 

 of the same species, they all want the same kinds of 

 food, and none have much advantage over the rest. 

 A few seeds may have been a trifle larger, and may 

 produce seedlings a trifle stronger, and better able to 

 battle for what they want ; but the difference is usually 

 slight, and the chances are that all will grow up weakly. 



