AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[March, 
132 
Last month I asked you in order to learn some¬ 
thing about plants and the way they grow, to sow 
some beans and corn, a sort of instructive “suc¬ 
cotash,” as it were. We can now enlarge our plan¬ 
tation, and put in a few peas and some grains of 
wheat and of buckwheat. Let us take another look 
at our beans, and it will be well to turn to last 
month’s Talk and look at the engravings there 
given, unless you have what is better, the plants 
themselves. When we learn about new things, 
we must become familiar with the names they bear. 
The Embryo of the Seed. 
Every seed, large or small, has within it the future 
plant, which is called the embryo. In some seeds 
this is very small and has but little resemblance to 
a plant-, while in the bean, it fills the whole seed. 
If you soak a bean in water until you can readily 
remove the skin, or seed coat, you can then examine 
the embryo. You will notice in the first place, 
The Radicle, or Little Stem 
bent up to take but little room. In germination, by 
which is meant the starting 
of the embryo into growth, 
one of the first things that 
takes place is for this radicle 
to turn its point, or end, 
downwards, and it begins to 
grow in two directions. In 
growing longer it lifts one 
part of the embryo above 
the surface of the soil, and 
pushes its lower end in the 
other direction and away 
from the light. There is 
one strange thing about the 
pjfr _ section OF radicle : it makes no differ- 
buckwueat, ence how the seed is placed, 
(Enlarged.) whether on its side, or 
with the radicle pointing directly upwards, it 
will, as soon as it gets long enough, turn its point 
downward and continue to grow in that direction. 
You will ask why? I must answer that I cannot 
tell. No one knows, any more than they know why 
young ducks take to water. About many things 
we are obliged to answer, “ the Creator made them 
so.” The radicle turns down in obedience to a 
law, as general and as fixed as that which causes 
the Trausit of Venus. Another thing about the 
radicle you will notice, it is a stem, and not a root, 
as some think, but in a very short time roots grow 
from it. Attached to the upper end of the radicle are 
The Seed Leaves, 
which in the bean are pushed above the soil. When 
your peas come up, you will notice that the seed- 
leaves do not come to the surface, but remain in the 
soil. The proper name for these seed-leaves is 
cotyledons, pronounced with the accent on the e. 
This long word comes from the Greek word for 
cup, or cavity, as in some seeds they are concave. 
The seed-leaves have this name whether they are 
thick and fleshy, as in the bean, or thin and more 
like other leaves, as in the buckwheat. Between 
the cotyledons are the first regular leaves (the 
“ rough leaves ” the gardeners call them,) of the 
bean, very small and folded over on one another to 
form a little bud. This bud is called 
The Plumule 
and is very plain in the bean, while in some other 
seeds it is only a mere point, or does not appear 
until the seed has germinated. It was stated last 
month that in its early growth the bean-plant was 
fed upon the material contained in the cotyledons. 
These, at first, are very plump and full, but when 
the plant has made some growth, they become 
much shrivelled, as shown last month in fig. 3. All 
embryos do not have this food for the young plant 
stored in their seed-leaves, but the embryo is sur¬ 
rounded by the material upon which it is to feed. 
I asked you to sow some buckwheat in order that 
you might examine a seed of this kind. If you 
soak some buckwheat in warm water, and cut a 
grain lengthwise, it will appear as in fig. 1, which is 
much enlarged. You there see the embryo doubled 
up, its radicle pointing upwards, and its two coty¬ 
ledons bent around. This embryo is surrounded 
by the material upon which it is to feed, the very 
flour that you like so well in buckwheat cakes. 
This food placed outside of the embryo is called 
The Albumen of the Seed, 
whether it is floury, as in the buckwheat, or hard 
and oily as in the nutmeg. You see that there are 
two kinds of seeds, those with albumen and those 
without, or albuminous and ezalbuminous seeds. 
Now let us take a look at our corn. Here we have 
a large quantity of albumen, at the bottom of which 
is the embryo—that soft part of the kernel, com¬ 
monly called the “chit.” 
In the first starting 
into growth your corn 
will appear as in fig. 2. 
The radicle pushing 
downward, and its 
plumule ready to grow 
upward. In fig. 3, these 
are seen plainer. t You 
will of course look for 
the cotyledons, and find¬ 
ing nothing like those 
seen in the bean and 
buckwheat, may be puz¬ 
zled at first and think 
that corn has none. By 
soaking the corn and 
working patiently, you 
may remove a small 
portion of the kernel. 
The lower point of this 
is the radicle,that which 
points upwards is the 
plumule, while the very 
thick cotyledon is en¬ 
wrapped around them. 
Observe that in the corn, 
there is but one cotyle¬ 
don or seed-leaf, while 
in the other seeds we 
have mentioned there 
are two. This is a very 
important difference, 
which begins in the 
embryo and is continued 
in the other parts of the 
plant. This difference 
divides our flowering 
plants in two great 
classes, those with two 
seed-leaves and those 
with one. It is well for 
you to learn the names 
of these important 
classes. They are the 
Monoeotyledouous and 
Dicotyledonous Plants 
The plants with one 
seed-leaf are monocotyle- 
donous, and those with 
two seed-leaves are di¬ 
cotyledonous. Thesl are 
the longest names that 
I shall ask you to learn, 
so I hope you will try -Figs. 2, 3, 4.— 
and master them, and germinating corn. 
at the same time understand what they mean. 
Figure 4 shows the corn after it has made its ap¬ 
pearance above ground. Its plumule you will ob¬ 
serve, consists of several leaves, one within an¬ 
other ; these will expand as the stem increases in 
length. The radicle, you see, has produced many 
small roots, and the plant is now able to collect its 
own food from the soil. The Doctor. 
Gardening in West Africa. 
- <*■- 
When a native of West Africa wishes to make a 
garden, he goes into the forest about the middle of 
the dry season (July), and having selected a spot, 
cuts down the trees and bushes. Many of the 
trees are large, especially near the ground, where 
they spread out in great buttresses, which extend 
several feet beyond the trunk proper.' The gar¬ 
dener cuts his trees oil from ten to twenty-five 
feet above ground. To accomplish this he forms a 
hoop or ring of a tough vine. This ring encircles 
the tree, room being left for the axe-man’s body. 
Once inside the hoop, the man places it just above 
his hips, and with his feet firmly braced against 
the body of the tree, gives the vine a little, hitch 
upwards ; he then leans back on the hoop while he 
moves his feet to the point where the axe is to be 
used. So expert are these people, that they seem 
to walk up the trees with the facility of apes. 
The trees lie just as they fall (the tropical sun and 
the heated earth drying them rapidly,) until noises 
in the sky give indication of approaching rains. 
These noises resemble the rumbling of distant 
thunder, or the clanking of chains, and some are 
quite indescribable. W r hen the negroes hear these 
noises, they say “ the rain speaks.” They set fire 
to the brush-wood, burning all except the largest 
trunks. The sun is obscured by the smoke, and at 
night the sky is lurid from the light of so many 
fires. The blackened stumps and ash-covered 
ground present a picture of utter desolation. 
The work of the men is now done, and henceforth 
the women take possession. About the last of 
September rain begins to fall; at first in light 
showers, and then in drenching floods. The 
women hasten to put in the seeds. Each has a cut¬ 
lass and a long wood knife, and a basket. The 
principal crops, stated in the order of their impor¬ 
tance, are plantains, cassava (manioc), ground-nuts, 
and sugar-cane, with a very few peppers of the hot¬ 
test kind, squashes, and small African tomatoes. 
The Pangwes, a large cannibal tribe, plant corn of a 
very poor quality. The ground is not plowed, 
spaded or hoed. A small hole is made with the 
_ knife, and the seed or plant is pushed in. The 
ashes left from the burning of the brush, are the 
only fertilizers, and no after cultivation is given 
except to cut down the weeds and bushes. 
Plantains are a large coarse kind of banana. 
They are propagated from suckers, or young 
shoots, that grow out of the parent stalk near the 
ground. Each stalk bears one bunch only and 
then dies, but in the meantime other stalks have 
come up around the first, and in their turn bear 
fruit and give way to others. More than thirty 
varieties are known to the natives. Plantains are 
very generally used for food by European residents, 
and are the staple article of food among the ne¬ 
groes of the equatorial regions. Cassava is a tall, 
bush-like plant, in appearance a little like our 
alder. The root only is used. The stalk is jointed. 
In planting, the stalk is broken in lengths of two- 
or three joints each, and placed in the ground- 
The roots, which are fit for use in one or two years, 
according to the richness of the soil, are much 
larger than a sweet potato. They have black 
6kins and a white inside, a fibrous core running 
through the middle. These roots contain a poison¬ 
ous juice, which is removed by long soaking in 
water. They are then made into a coarse meal 
called “farina,” or into the sour, indigestible 
bread of the country, called Eguma. This eguma 
has a very disagreeable smell, and an equally bad 
taste. Cassava is not eaten by white men. Sugar¬ 
cane grows well, and might be cultivated largely. 
Maize will grow, but not well. The excessive 
heat and moisture obstruct the formation of 
grain. The only kind I have seen is a small sort. 
The gardens are small, usually from one to four 
or five acres in extent, and are surrounded by 
dense forests. They are generally some distance 
from the villages, often two or three miles. At the 
end of two years the garden fails in fertility, and a 
new one is made, while the old one is allowed to 
grow up with bushes and trees again.— Joseph H. 
Reading, Gaboon. S. Guinea, West Africa. 
