10 



Nature-Study Agriculture 



Two 



functions 

 of living 

 things 



The parts 

 of a 

 flower 



Why pollen 

 and ovules 

 are 

 necessary 



manufacture of their own food, and must therefore 

 depend, as animals do, upon vegetable or animal matter 

 for their food supply. For this reason they grow usu- 

 ally upon decaying organic matter, such as manure or 

 logs. 



Reproduction of the plant : the seed. So far we have 

 considered only the vegetative parts of ordinary plants, 

 the organs that are essential to the life of the individual 

 plant. But in the scheme of nature every kind of living 

 thing has two chief functions : the one is to preserve its 

 own life as long as possible ; the other is to reproduce. 

 Plants reproduce in different ways, and in Chapter Six 

 we shall consider various methods by which they may 

 be propagated. But most of the plants that we know, 

 and almost all of those with which the farmer has to do, 

 reproduce by means of seeds developed from flowers. 



In Figure 10, the parts of a typical flower are shown. 

 Only the ovules and the pollen are essential to repro- 

 duction. (Exp.g.) The 

 petals, forming the 

 corolla, though the 

 most beautiful part of 

 the flower, can be 

 picked off without seri- 

 ously injuring the seed. 

 The protecting calyx 

 may likewise be re- 

 moved. The ovary is 



Pollen on 

 Anthers 



Filament 



Stigma 

 Style 



Ovules in 

 ovary 



Petals 

 forming Corolla 



Sepals forming 

 Calyx 



FIG. 10. The parts of a flower. (Anther merely the container of 



and filament together constitute a stamen. fa e OVUleS ; the Stigma 

 Stigma, style, and ovary constitute the 



pistil.) and style form the 



