USE OF SEEDS BY MAN 381 



reserves for purposes of growth, whether on the side 

 of the formation of new protoplasm and cell walls, or 

 on the side of the expenditure of energy. A comparable 

 situation occurs at the resuinption of growth in a perennial 

 plant after the winter rest, when the winter buds 

 on the rhizome or woody stem grow out to form new 

 shoots ; but it is not so intense or concentrated as in 

 the seedling. 



Use of Seeds by Man. — Owing to the concentrated 

 supplies of organic food they contain seeds form by 

 far the most important vegetable foodstuffs of man. 

 The great bulk of his cultivated crops are grown for 

 the seed. First in importance among these come the 

 cereals : vsfheat, rice, maize, millet, barley, oats and rye, 

 which all belong to the great family of grasses (Gramineae) . 

 These are all starchy seeds, but with a considerable 

 proportion of protein. The 'protein varies in different 

 cereals, for instance wheat, the standard food of the 

 white man, contains considerably more than rice, the 

 standard food of the natives of large parts of the tropics. 

 Barley is grown in central and north Europe mainly 

 for malting, the seeds being germinated (malt) and the 

 reserves rendered soluble, so that they can be dissolved 

 out in hot water to form the basis (wort) for the making 

 of beer (p. 132). But in other parts of the world 

 barley is grown for bread-making. 



Next in importance to the cereals come the pulses 

 (beans, peas, lentils, etc.), which belong to the legume 

 family, the fruit consisting of a single dehiscent carpel 

 (p. 368). Most of these are also rich in starch, but 

 contain a particularly high proportion of proteins. 

 The pulses are also widely used as foodstuffs, both for 

 men and cattle, but not so extensively as the cereals. 



Finally, there are the fat (oil) containing seeds. 



