PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 



single cotyledon. Embedded in it, pointing toward the inside, is the 

 plumule. This cannot be seen plainly until the seed begins to germi- 

 nate. 



Germination of Coconut. When the coconut germi- 

 nates, the embryo elongates, pushing out through the eye, 



and bending downward. 

 After the roots become sev- 

 eral centimeters long, the 

 plumule breaks out through 

 a slit in the embryo, just be- 

 low the shell, and grows up- 

 ward. The 

 inner tip of the 

 cotyledon en- 

 larges, and 

 becomes a 

 porous body, 



called a foot, inside the meat, from which 

 it extracts food for the young, growing 

 plant. 



Draw a coconut seedling, with half of the shell 

 and meat removed. 



What is the taste of the foot? What gives it this 

 taste? 



FIG. 15. Germinated 

 maize 



The Fruit Coat. The husk of the coco- 

 nut is the fruit coat. Many seeds are even more firmly 

 united to the fruit coats than is the coconut. This is 

 true of maize and other grains. 



FIG. 14. Sprouting coconuts 

 ready for planting 



