132 FIELD, FOREST AND FARM 



differently in different plants. In the almond and 

 walnnt it is a reddish skin, and so it is also in the 

 stones of the peach, apricot, and plum. In the pips 

 of the pear and apple it is a tough brown casing. In 

 beans it is smooth and shiny, sometimes quite white, 

 sometimes black and white, sometimes speckled with 

 red spots. In addition, peas and beans of all kinds 

 have at one point on their surface a sort of little oval 

 eye. To this eye was once attached a small short 

 cord that fastened the seed to the wall of the pod 

 and served as a pipe for supplying it with nourish- 

 ment. All seeds have this attachment, or nursing- 

 cord, as we may call it, but not all have so clearly 

 marked as in the bean the eye where the cord is 

 fastened. 



"After the two coverings of the seed have been 

 removed, which is very easily done when the almond 

 is new, there remains a white object, firm and savory, 

 the eatable part of the fruit of the almond-tree. 

 That object is the seed proper; that is to say, the 

 part that would have become a tree if planted in the 

 ground. It is round at one end and rather pointed 

 at the other. From the pointed end projects a little 

 nipple, and all around the edge runs a slight furrow 

 indicating that here the seed may be split in two. 

 Let us insert the point of a knife into this furrow 

 and exert a little pressure. One half will come away 

 and the other half will show us what you see in this 

 picture. 



"The little pointed nipple (r) is called a radicle. 

 It is the part that, if allowed to grow, would push 



