2o6 THE PORTAL OF EVOLUTION 



the first operation is that the seed sends out two small water- 

 shoots or suckers. These never become roots, but they are 

 all the semblance of roots that grow till after the stooling period 

 is complete, but as soon as there is sufficeint moisture in the 

 soil to cause the seed to malt, this form of growth starts and 

 continues so long as the temperature is between forty-five and 

 eighty degrees Fahrenheit. This stooling process continues, 

 but this cannot produce any roots, only stools, so, after the 

 stool appears above the soil, the sooner an alteration in the 

 temperature, to either side of these degrees, takes place, the 

 sooner the malting stops and the remainder of the flour is 

 turned into starch and the growth of the roots commences ; 

 but should the temperature remain between forty-five and 

 eighty degrees, in the case of a grain of wheat, then the whole 

 of the flour is turned to sugar of milk and the plant is unable 

 to form a root. But the earlier a change in temperature takes 

 place to turn the remainder into starch, the stronger will be 

 the growth of the root. But should it be slow in taking place, 

 the roots will be so few and so weak that when the spring 

 warmth comes, the plant will fade and die, but if the change 

 occurs shortly after the appearance of the stool above the 

 ground, there will be a heavy crop of roots. Many men who 

 profess to be scientific agriculturists fail to grasp the import- 

 ance of this particular stage of plant growth, which, as a prac- 

 tical farmer, I have always found to be one of the most impor- 

 tant factors in deciding if it was necessary to re-sow a crop or 

 not, or to prune a tree or not. This change also decided the 

 subsequent growth of roots and the supply of sugar of 

 milk to the stem and leaves that are destined, when summer 

 comes, to supply and form the flowers and seeds. 



The same life runs on from seed to stool and shoots, 

 then from the stool to the roots, then to the trunk and stems, 

 then to the flowers; then the sugar of milk fills the husks 

 and forms the fresh crop of seeds, and the whole life of the 

 dying plant passes into the vitality of the newly-formed seeds 

 when summer or autumn heat finally converts the sugar of 

 milk into the starch and flour of the new seeds which is to make 

 the life and vitality of the next generation of plants, and in 

 trees, any surplus goes to create next year's leaf and seed- 

 buds, then the seed drops and lies dormant to live again in a 

 new plant. Each of these stages is not a fresh life, but a re- 



