into three parts at the top, and stands 

 above the pollen pouches which lie at the 

 base of the pistils. In the other kind of 

 flower the opposite arrangement is seen, 

 with the pistils low and the stamens long. 

 The bees visiting the flowers for the 

 honey which is secreted in the eight yel- 

 low glands at the base of the stamens, 

 has part of its body dusted from the pol- 

 len of the short stamens and another part 

 from the long stamens. At the same 

 time he brushes the pollen of each on the 

 receptive tips of pistils of corresponding 

 lengths. By this arrangement close fer- 

 tilization is checked." 



"Dear me !" cried John, "that is almost 

 as curious as buckwheat cakes are good. 

 Whenever I eat them now, I shall re- 

 member how much trouble they cost in 

 the first place. But what can you say 

 about wheat?" 



"That it is also a peculiar seed. The 

 humble ancestor of the wheat is said to 

 have been only a dwarfish grass. Long 

 periods of time passed before wheat at- 

 tained its present high state of develop- 

 ment. It is a bi-sexual, close fertilizing 

 plant. In the various parts of a grain of 

 wheat, in the layers, scales, tissues, cells, 

 teguments and membranes lie its richness 

 of gluten, starch, and albuminoids, which 

 are elements of good flour." 



"A grain of wheat looks to me," said 

 Alice, "as if it might be a little human 

 being who had crossed its arms and 

 rolled itself up in a cloak." 



"I think it looks more like a boat," 

 cried Madge. 



"Yes, the longitudinal furrow on one 

 side, which wath the pointed ends and 

 broadened center, do make it appear 

 somewhat boat-shaped," Aunt Jane re- 

 sponded. "It Avas certainly a providen- 

 tial accident when the slave of Cortez 

 brought to Mexico a few grains of 

 wheat, for upon those little germs, 

 dropped into the soil of a new world, the 

 development of a great nation was in a 

 large measure dependent." 



"Are there many varieties of wheat?" 

 John inquired. 



"Yes ; in the United States alone there 

 are more than 270 named varieties. The 

 wonderful variety of shape adds much 

 interest to seed. A common pink seed, 



under the microscope, looks like a piece 

 of iron ore beautifully carved. Each 

 portulacca seed is a tiny silver shell, 

 while the seed of the begonia suggests 

 nuggets of purest gold." 



"Another curious thing," interrupted 

 Alice, "is that seeds that look just alike, 

 as sweet peas, will yield differently col- 

 ored flowers, some purple, pink, white, 

 and a few of mixed hue." 



"Yes ; and it is so with the poppy,"" 

 cried Edith. "One seed will produce a 

 scarlet enchantress all silk and flame,, 

 while in the small body of another is 

 folded up a curled pink or white beauty."" 



"Some seeds are rich in odor, as the 

 vanilla pod, which is produced on a vine 

 belonging to the orchid family. The 

 Mexican vanilla plant is fertilized artifi- 

 cially, but the work is tedious as the 

 flowers do not open simultaneously." 



"How joyously the workers would hail 

 the advent of some 'altruistic' insect to 

 do this work for them," laughed How- 

 ard. 



"Figs, very curiously, have their flow- 

 ers inside. Each pistillate blossom has 

 an ovary which ripens into a minute nut. 

 This is the seed or true fruit, the fleshy 

 part being only the stem or receptacle 

 of the ovaries. Figs rise in the form of 

 little buds, directly from the joints of the 

 tree. Now, Madge, you may pass 

 around this box of the seedy fruit as a 

 reward for your interest in seeds." 



"Do go on. Auntie, we are not half 

 tired yet," the children exclaimed, as 

 they helped themselves to figs. 



"But, my dears, this subject is well' 

 nigh endless ! There are so many curi- 

 ous devices for scattering seeds. Many 

 of them have spines, feathery tails, 

 wings, down and hair to assist in their 

 wanderings. To germinate requires such 

 various lengths of time, and some will not 

 grow unless scalded and others swal- 

 lowed by birds. The longer we consider 

 the subject the more it opens up of in- 

 terest." 



"Auntie," said Edith, "you quite agree: 

 with the lines — 



" *0, a wonderful thing is a seed, — 

 The one thing deathless forever.' " 



Belle Paxson Drury. 



203 



