LUTHER BURBANK 



that its top extends upward in the form of a single 

 tiny stalk. 



Surrounding this neatly packed nest of gera- 

 nium eggs with its single upright stalk, and 

 hugging it closely all around, we should see ten 

 modified leaves, a quarter of an inch or so in 

 length, ending, each, in a pointed stalk as big 

 around, perhaps, as a bristle out of a hair brush; 

 ten such leaves in two rows as if shielding the 

 egg chamber and its central stalk from harmful 

 intruders. 



At the tops of the ten surrounding stalks, we 

 should see the crosswise bundles, nicely balanced, 

 of beautiful golden-orange pollen dust, loosely 

 held in half -burst packages. 



And at their base, we should find the syrup 

 factory of the geranium a group of tiny glands 

 which manufacture a sticky confection that covers 

 the bottom of the flower with its sweetness. 



Shall we take one of the egg-like seeds from its 

 nest and plant it? We might as well plant a 

 toothpick. 



Shall we take a package of the pollen, and 

 put it in the ground? We might as well sow a 

 thimbleful of flour. 



But let us combine one of those eggs with a 

 grain of that pollen, and three days in the soil will 

 show us that we have produced a living, growing 



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