8 NEW ZEALAND NATURE-STUDY BOOK 
structure, mode of germination, and growth of the seeds 
we have been examining. 
They are all hard and dry, and require moisture and 
warmth to induce germination. In every case growth 
begins in the embryo, and is promoted at 
first by a food-supply stored up in the seed 
or grain itself ; this food material becoming 
exhausted as the plant continues to grow. 
On the other hand certain marked differ- 
ences are at once apparent. The Pea and 
Bean seeds inside the testa, or seed-coat, 
are composed entirely of embryo, consisting 
of a radicle, a plumule, and two cotyle- 
. dons, whereas the Wheat and Maize grains 
“are made up of an embryo and endosperm, 
separated from each other by a flat plate, 
the scutellum ; the embryo containing only 
one cotyledon. 
Fig. 6.—Wheat 
Seedling. In germination the Pea or Bean sends 
Sees down a single main root on which lateral 
roots are developed, whereas the Maize and 
Wheat produce a number of independent fibrous roots | 
spreading out in all directions. 
The Pea and the Wheat may be taken as representing 
two types of plants which we shall have occasion to refer 
to in a subsequent chapter. ) 
Note.—The elementary portions of the work outlined in this 
chapter should be begun in Class P, where the pupils could be 
taught to describe the general appearance of Bean and Pea seeds, 
and Maize grains. The next step would be to require the pupils 
to gerininate these seeds in damp sawdust, and learn from 
observation the stages of germination and early growth. Every 
lesson in Nature-study should, as far as possible, be accompanied by 
drawing exercises. For instance, a drawing of the Bean seed should 
be made by the child on the slate and the position of the stalk-scar 
accurately marked. The seeds, as they begin to germinate and 
