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THE SPROUTING SEED.

Here is a horse-chestnut. How smooth and bright it is! Upon the outside there is a hard, brown shell

The white substance within looks

much like the meat of a chestnut.

We will partly cover one of the nuts in moist soil, and water it often. We may learn something interesting.

You know that the tree grows from the little seed. Do you suppose there is a tiny plant wrapped up in the horse-chestnut? If there is one, it must be asleep. Perhaps the warm, moist soil will wake it up.

Very soon the nut begins to swell. It is taking in water from the soil. Upon one side of the nut there are two little hollows coming together like the letter V. As the swelling goes on, the part of the shell within the V begins to split away from the rest of the shell.

It takes several days for this to happen, but at last we can see why it is. There in the opening appears a slender shoot. It is splitting the shell apart and forcing its way out.

There must be something within the nut waking to life, for day by day the little stem reaches farther The stem is turning down also

out.

as if it were trying to reach the soil.

The nut has swollen so much now that it has split the shell. Within we can see the white meat of the nut. It splits easily into two parts. The little stem which is pushing its way out is also splitting.

Between the two halves of the stem we now get sight of something new. It is the most wonderful of all. There are some little leaves unfolding. In a few days more they have opened. They are very delicate and tender, but just like the leaves of the horse-chestnut tree from which the nut

came.

The end of the little stem has reached the ground and is pushing down into it. The stem is to be the root of the little plant. Branching rootlets are already starting from it.

But how can the plant grow before it has any roots? It is being fed from the white material within the nut. This is mostly starch. It is just what the little plant needs before it can shift for itself. The two halves of the nut which we have discovered are the seed leaves. After a time the plant will use up all of the food stored in them

They will be of no more use and will shrivel and die.

By this time the little root has gone far down into the ground. The branching rootlets are growing. The leaves are now large enough to help. There are more of them and they are reaching up into the air. The roots take the food from the soil. This food passes up through the stem to the leaves. The sun shines upon the leaves and changes the food in such a way that the plant can use it. A tiny plant lay ready

formed in the seed or nut.

It

was the germ or embryo. Warmth and moisture were all that was needed to wake it into life. It will grow year after year and at last become a tree. Then you will find upon it in the spring long clusters of flowers, and in the fall the pretty red brown nuts like the one you have studied.

nut.

QUESTIONS.

Plant some beans and see if they behave as did the horse-chest

What is the use of the hard shell on the horse-chestnut ?

Mention some other seeds which have a shell on them. What are nuts?

Can you tell where the water soaks into the horse-chestnuts?

Of what use is the meat in nuts? What nuts have you eaten? What would happen if the little stem which pushes out of the shell did not get down into the soil?

What are the two halves of the nut called?

Could you see the plant in the nut before it was put in the moist ground?

Do nuts have a covering? Are any of the coverings of nuts prickly?

What is it that makes the little leaves turn green?

Would the little plant grow without any sunlight?

WHERE THE FLOWERS GROW.

Is there a girl or boy who loes not know where to look for the wild flowers? Children have bright eyes. They did not learn from books, but Nature taught them. She showed them where to look in the meadow, and by the brook.

They have found that each flower has its own home and its own time for blossoming. Some plants love the bright sun. Others hide away where there is always shade. Some love the dry hillsides. Some can live only where their roots reach the water of the pond or brook.

Day after day there are beautiful flowers upon the teacher's desk. The children will tell you where each kind came from.

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