182 I.KSSONS IN AGRICULTURE 



can care well for them, plant them and nurture them. 

 But we must learn more about them learn how they 

 are made, and why every part of the seed is formed as 

 it is. 



Plants live to produce seed. Plants grow, bear leaf, 

 stem, flower, and fruit for the sole purpose of producing 

 a seed. Why does the plant do so much for the sake 

 of a seed? Because in the seed is the young plant and 

 the food to start it, well protected against drought, 

 cold, and other forces that might injure it, and if the 

 old plant should die when winter comes, the seed may 

 live on and produce a new plant again. 



In the practical exercises which follow, we shall see 

 how the seed is made. 



Practical Exercises 

 1. Study of the Lima Btan 



To facilitate the study of seeds they should be left 

 in water over night. 



Observe the following points of the bean, and make 

 a sentence note of each of the words in black type. 



1. Markings on the surface : 



(a) Scar or hilum where the seed' was attached to 

 the pod. 



(b) Near the hilum a small opening, the micropyle. 



2. Remove the coat or testa. Near the hilum a small 

 pointed body, the caulicle, will be seen. 



Separate the halves or cotyledons, observe that the 

 caulicle bears two small leaves, the plumule. 



The cotyledons, caulicle. and plumule constitute the 

 embryo. 



