THE ROUND OF PLANT LIFE 



45 



Nature's own way. As the warm days of spring come 

 on: 



The seed absorbs moisture and takes in oxygen. The 

 tiny plant within the seed begins to grow. It breaks the 

 seed coat and pushes its way further downward into the 

 soil and upward into the light. 



" The roots search for food and 

 moisture in the soil as though they 

 had eyes." 



The leaves are held up to the sun- 

 light; and by its help they manufac- 

 ture the food that nourishes not only 

 the plant itself, but man 

 and beast as well. 



The stems develop 

 for the sole purpose of 



Fig. 13. — Stages in the life of a bean. 



holding these leaves up to the hght and conducting to 

 them minerals and water from the soil. 



Lastly the flowers appear, not for beauty, not for 

 fragrance, although we enjoy both. Flowers form seed. 



Not all the seeds produced by a single flower or by a 

 single plant can develop on the same spot of ground. 

 They must be scattered by Nature or by man, and in 

 their new locations, they must begin just as the seed 

 which produced them began. 



