124 SOILS AND PLANT LIFE 



First: by spores (minute bodies, which are borne by 

 lower plants, such as the puff ball or the corn smut, and 

 which correspond to the seed of the higher plants). 



Second : by seed. 



Third : by some part of the parent plant other than the 

 seed or spore. 



The beginning point of all plantsis the seed or the spore. 

 Every seed contains, as we have seen, a tiny plant, which 

 under the proper conditions will unfold and expand, be- 

 coming more and more complex until it produces flowers 

 and finally seeds like the one from which it grew. 



It must not be understood, however, that all higher 

 plants in their natural state are propagated entirely by 

 seed. The wild strawberry produces runners; the wild 

 plum, sprouts or suckers ; and the snap willow loses many 

 live branches which serve as cuttings. Many plants have 

 wholly or partially lost their ability to produce seed, 

 and depend upon bulbs, tubers, etc., to perpetuate the 

 species. 



A few of our cultivated plants, such as the seedless 

 orange, produce no seed, while almost none of our fruits 

 come true to seed. That is to say, the seed of a Jonathan 

 apple will not produce a Jonathan tree, nor will a tree 

 grown from aBing cherry produce the same kind of cherries. 

 Man must secure some part, as a leaf, a bud, a stem or a 

 root of the original tree or vine, or one of these parts from 

 a plant which came from the original. All the vines 

 bearing Concord grapes have come in this way from a 

 single vine still growing at Concord, Massachusetts. 



96. Propagation by Spores. — The plants which are 

 propagated by spores are of two classes : 



(1) Those Uke the ferns, the mosses and the green pond 

 scums, all of which contain green coloring matter and can 



