114 Gardening 
often yield fruits that differ very much in size, shape, 
and quantity and quality of ‘flesh (Fig. 66). 
Seeds from good plants are more likely to produce other 
good plants than are seeds from poor plants. It is im- 
portant, therefore, for the gardener to have good seeds 
that have come from the kind of plants that he wishes to 
raise. 
Both parents of a plant important. Selecting seed 
from good mother plants is an old practice. In this way 
man has long attempted to improve the plants which he 
has cultivated. In more recent times attention has been 
paid also to securing a good plant for the father or pollen 
parent of the young plant in the seed. Our knowledge 
of what a seed is and of how it is formed shows why this 
is necessary. 
What a seed is. A seed contains a small plant with 
very small leaves, stem, and root. This tiny plant is 
called the embryo. Food is usually stored either around 
the embryo or in its first leaves. The embryo, together 
with the food, is inclosed in a tough coat which forms the 
outside of the seed. 
How a seed is produced. To learn how a seed is 
produced, examine the flowers of the garden bean (al- 
though almost any flower may be studied instead). 
Notice that the bean flower has four different kinds of 
parts, as follows: 
(1) At the outside there are five green leaf-like parts, 
which cover the rest of the flower in the bud stage. 
These are called sepals. 
(2) Next are five somewhat leaf-like but white or 
colored parts called the petals. These are of different 
