HOW SEEDS GERMINATE 



■of the bean fall apart. Can these halves be the two 

 strange green fleshy leaves that we saw on the top of 

 the loop ? They have the same shape, but are white. 

 We shall see. Fastened to a point near the end of one 

 of the halves, is a tiny object that looks like a little 

 plant with the leaves bunched up. You look through 

 your lens, and see two small leaves. They must be 

 leaves, for you see the veins quite clearly. These, 

 then, must be the second pair of leaves that we saw. 

 They cannot be the first pair, for these were not 

 veined. But all this is guess-work ; so now let us 

 make an experiment. 



6. How to watch seeds while germinating. The 

 simplest way of all is to grow the seeds in moist saw- 

 dust. This provides moisture and air ; and these, 

 along with heat, are the three needs at this stage. 

 The seeds can be lifted out now and then, examined, 

 and then returned to the saw-dust. For small seeds, 

 ihe following is a better plan : Get the top of an old 



lamp chimney, or any cylin- 

 drical glass tube open at both 

 ends. Eoll some fresh white 

 blotting-paper into a tube, 

 and slip it into the glass tube. 

 Fill in, then, with loose 

 moist saw-dust. Place now 

 the seeds between the paper 

 and the glass ; pushing them 

 into position with a blunt 

 wire. Put in the half of the 

 French bean that has the 

 plantlet attached to it. Fix, 

 „ ^,. • ^ ,,- ^ , now, the glass tube in a pot or 



Seedlings growing behind glass. " ^ 



