130 FIELD, FOREST AND FARM 



"Who would not like to know," continued Uncle 

 Paul, "something about the formation of the seed 

 that is sown in the ground to become either a little 

 plant or an enormous tree? What is inside it? 

 How can an oak come from an acorn and a pear-tree 

 from the pip of a pear? I will try, my friends, to 

 satisfy the very natural curiosity such a mystery 

 cannot fail to arouse in you. 



"Let us look at the fruit of an almond-tree. First 

 it has an outside skin, green and tender, which at 

 maturity opens of its own accord, dries up, folds 

 back, and lets its contents out. Examining the lat- 

 ter, we find a shell, sometimes fragile enough to be 

 broken with the teeth, but at other times very hard 

 and yielding only to the hammer. Breaking the 

 shell, we come to the seed. Of what use are the two 

 parts we have just removed? We must be very 

 stupid if we cannot recognize in them the coverings 

 intended to protect the seed, the wrappings that 

 shelter the delicate germ from cold, heat, rain, and 

 the teeth of animals. The outer envelope, covered 

 with a short, velvety down, serves as a protection 

 against the weather; the inner one is a veritable 

 strong-box which we have to break between two 

 stones before we can get at its contents. Similar 

 means of defense are found in all fruit, but with 

 wide differences in the different kinds of plants. 

 The cherry, plum, peach, and apricot have the hard 

 shell, the strong-box, of the almond, and also an 

 outer envelope of juicy flesh. The apple and pear 

 have their seeds or pips, as they are called, snugly 



