120 BOTANY. 



bryo with care, for it breaks easily. Has its radicle begun 

 to put forth roots ? 



Take from your box a vigorous seed of Indian corn in 

 which the roots have begun to grow, and compare it with 

 Fig. 374- 



Separate the embryo and albumen, and, if it has grown 

 as much as the one pictured above, you may easily find 

 the cotyledon, the plumule, and the radicle. 



When you are sure that you have found the radicle or 

 root-end of your embryo, that you know which part is 

 cotyledon, and which plumule, take another seed of the 



same kind, but less grown one 

 plui ? ule - where the root-end of the em- 



bryo has scarcely begun to swell 

 and see if you can find the 



Cotyledon. | Jll S M Plumule. 



Radicie....lf Fig. 375 represents such an 



FIG. 375. embryo with the parts shown. 



Point out and name the parts 



of the embryo of an apple-seed; of a pumpkin-seed; and 

 of each of your specimens successively, as in former exer- 

 cises. Which of your seeds has the largest plumule before 

 growth begins ? Have you any in which the embryo has 

 at first no plumule at all ? 



Have you failed to find cotyledons in any embryo 

 looked at?* 



* If these experiments with seeds are made as early as April, in 

 this climate, the children who have made them will be ready for more 

 extended observations when planting in the garden begins. Most 

 garden-seeds are too small to be separated into parts by young chil- 

 dren. But, when growth begins, their parts enlarge, and a child, who 

 has before studied larger seeds, will be able to identify the radicle, 

 cotyledons, and plumule, without difficulty. In the kitchen-garden, a 

 universal appendage of country-houses, the sprouting of the radish, 

 onion, beet, parsnip, lettuce, tomato, carrot, cabbage, cucumber, etc., 

 will furnish an excellent continuation of the study of seeds. 



