a eR ey 
LIFE STORIES OF PEANTS 
CHAPTER XXV 
LIFE STORY OF THE SWEET PEA 
THE life story of the sweet pea can be easily read 
from the plant by any one who wishes to grow it, and 
observe it. The story of the garden pea is similar, 
and some of you may wish to read it. But the sweet 
pea has prettier flowers. It can be grown in the 
garden, or in the plant house, or in the window garden 
where you can see it every day. | 
The seedling stage. The seeds of the sweet pea are 
round, hard, dark grayish brown objects (see Fig. 211). 
We plant them in the moist soil. They take water 
from the soil, swell up, and become soft. This moisture 
and the warmth in the soil start the dormant life in 
the seed into action. It “awakens,” as we say, from 
its long sleep. In a few days, or a week or so, the 
young plant rises through the soil. The leaves are 
now tiny, but as the stem grows and the light has full 
185 
