The Flowering of the Forest Trees 85 
which to feed while it does its first growing, and 
it is protected from damp and from insect enemies 
by a tough, horny shell. The maple germ is also 
provided with sustenance for its first days of life, 
is wrapped in a strong covering, and is provided 
with a wing, so that it can fly far before the au- 
tumn gales. When the descendants of these trees 
Fic. 15.—Twinned fruit of the maple 
(From the Vegetable World.) 
are so well started, a large proportion of them 
will survive, and thus the oak, horse-chestnut, and 
maple families are quite as well kept up as are 
the families of other trees, which cast to the winds 
a large number of seeds less fully equipped for the 
battle of existence. 
For when a plant, in shiftless and stepmotherly 
fashion, hands its offspring over to those untender 
