154 NATURE TEACHING 



a plant which possesses the desired character to a 

 certain degree. Those which show this desired char- 

 acter to the greatest degree are allowed to grow and 

 their seed saved. The seedlings from these are again 

 rigidly selected, and the process repeated, season after 

 season, until plants are obtained, the seeds of which we 

 can depend on to give a large number of seedlings with 

 the particular character in question. 



A desirable kind of plant, whether the desired 

 character be in foliage, flower, seed or fruit, may be 

 perpetuated by propagation by cuttings, budding or 

 grafting. The variations presented by seedlings afford 

 the means of producing new kinds of plants ; propaga- 

 tion by cuttings or grafts enables us to reproduce these, 

 otherwise variable, plants with the assurance that their 

 characters will be permanently retained. 



PRACTICAL WORK 



Examine any plants which can be obtained, and 

 clearly make out the relation to each other of flower- 

 bud, flower, fruit and seeds. Notice how the plant for 

 some time forms no flowers, and that, later, first flower- 

 buds appear, then open flowers, and finally fruits con- 

 taining seeds. 



Parts of a Flower. 



Examine any of the following flowers obtainable: 

 tulip, lilies, buttercups, wild rose, evening primrose, pea, 

 bean, wallflower, anemone, dead - nettle, primrose, 

 geranium, cucumber, marrow, hazel, alder, willows, and 

 pines. Some are \n flower almost the whole year 



