ii4 Gardening 



often yield fruits that differ very much in size, shape, 

 and quantity and quality of flesh (Fig. 66). 



Seeds from good plants are more likely to produce other 

 good plants than are seeds from poor plants. It is im- 

 portant, therefore, for the gardener to have good seeds 

 that have come from the kind of plants that he wishes to 

 raise. 



Both parents of a plant important. Selecting seed 

 from good mother plants is an old practice. In this way 

 man has long attempted to improve the plants which he 

 has cultivated. In more recent times attention has been 

 paid also to securing a good plant for the father or pollen 

 parent of the young plant in the seed. Our knowledge 

 of what a seed is and of how it is formed shows why this 

 is necessary. 



What a seed is. A seed contains a small plant with 

 very small leaves, stem, and root. This tiny plant is 

 called the embryo. Food is usually stored either around 

 the embryo or in its first leaves. The embryo, together 

 with the food, is inclosed in a tough coat which forms the 

 outside of the seed. 



How a seed is produced. To learn how a seed is 

 produced, examine the flowers of the garden bean (al- 

 though almost any flower may be studied instead). 

 Notice that the bean flower has four different kinds of 

 parts, as follows : 



(1) At the outsidf there are five green leaf -like parts, 

 which cover the rest of the flower in the bud stage. 

 These are called sepals. 



(2) Next are five somewhat leaf-like but white or 

 colored parts called the petals. These are of different 



