CHAPTER XVII 



SEED-SCATTERING 



The great end of a plant's life is to bear fruit. It is 

 for this that roots and leaves collect nourishment, and 

 that insects and birds are attracted to the blossoms by 

 bright colors and the prospect of food. So entirely, 

 indeed, is fruit-bearing the aim of the plant's life, that 

 many plants are dry and withered by the time the fruit is 

 ripe, having given up all their sap, their very Hfe, to bring 

 it to perfection. In any case, whether it last for one year, 

 or two, or many, the plant's life is devoted to making 

 preparation for its offspring. 



For this reason few wild flowers are double, as the 

 number of petals must be increased at the expense of 

 stamens and pistils, and without these fruit is impossible. 



A cherry-tree covered with double blossoms may be 

 very ornamental, but the gardener grows it for its blos- 

 soms only, and does not expect fruit from it. When his 

 object is fruit, however, he sometimes interferes in another 

 way, which has the same result, so far as the plant is con- 

 cerned; for he increases the eatable part of the fruit, in 

 some cases, as he increases the number of the petals — at 

 the expense of the seed. 



A plant's fruit is the ripened ovary, containing the 

 seed; and when the seed is the part used for food, man 

 naturally devotes his attention to that, and cares nothing 

 for the case. From corn, for example, and from nuts, he 



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