134 LUTHER BURBANK 



making the breezes act as its messenger of 

 reproduction. 



Here is a plant, tall and supple, that responds 

 with graceful movements to the wind. At its 

 top it holds a bunch of pollen-laden tassels — 

 swaying tassels which, with each backward and 

 forward movement, discharge their tiny pollen 

 grains in clouds, which slowly settle toward the 

 ground. 



Below, on the stalk of the plant, are the ears 

 of corn, containing row after row of egg kernels, 

 needing but combination with pollen grains from 

 above to become, each, a seed capable of starting 

 another corn plant on its life. 



Just as the eggs of the dianthus were housed 

 in a protective covering, so the corn eggs are 

 sheathed within protective husks. And just as a 

 tiny stalk protruded from the egg chamber of 

 the dianthus, so does the long silk which pro- 

 trudes from the end of the husk serve the same 

 purpose for the corn seed. 



Remove the husks from an ear of com, and it 

 will be seen that each strand of the protruding 

 silk goes back to one individual kernel on the ear. 

 That, between the rows of kernels, like electric 

 wires in a conduit, each strand of the common 

 bundle of silk protruding leads back to its sep- 

 arate starting point. 



