  “To-day,” said Uncle George, “we are going to try to find out something about seeds.” And he placed upon the table a saucerful of beans which had been soaking in water for two days. “First let us look at the seeds as they are when we get them from the shop,” he said, laying a handful of hard, wrinkled beans upon the table. “They are as hard as stones, and very much smaller than those we soaked,” said Frank. “Yes, that is one thing we have learned about them already. Seeds take in water and swell greatly.” As he spoke, Uncle George gave Frank, Tom, and Dolly each a small knife and a needle mounted in a handle. He then laid a small magnifying glass on the table. “Take a soaked bean and look at it well,” he said. “First we will look at the outside of it, then we will see what it has inside.” “My bean is covered all over with a smooth skin,” said Dolly. “And there is a long black mark on one side of it,” Tom added. “Come on, Frank,” said his uncle, “haven’t you got something to say.” “It is sort of kidney-shaped,” said Frank. “Nothing more?” Frank shook his head. “Squeeze it,” said Uncle George, “and tell me what you see.” “Oh, there is water oozing out of a little hole at the end of the black mark,” said Frank. “That shows us that the seed is not quite covered by its skin,” said their uncle. “That little hole is there to allow a tiny root to grow out. “Now let us remove the skin, or skins rather, for there are two of them. Begin as far away from the black mark as you can. You see that the outer skin is tough like leather, while the inner one is soft and silky. Now, if you pull the skins off gently, you will find something like a stout little root pointing towards the little hole you have already noticed. If you look at the edge of the seed you will notice a thin line or crack. Putting the knife into this crack, we find that the seed consists chiefly of two large, flat, white parts or lobes, with a very small object in between them. Let us remove one of these white masses, and have a look at this small object with the glass.” Seed of Runner Bean. Each of the children had a look through the glass in turn. “Why,” said Tom, “it is very like what we found inside the horse-chestnut bud. I can see two tiny leaves.” “Remove the little object on the point of your needle and look at it again,” said Uncle George. “It has got something that your little horse-chestnut shoot did not have, I think.” “There is a little thing like a root,” said Tom. “It is a little plant with a very fat little root,” said Frank. “That is just what it is,” said his uncle. “Has every seed got a little plant inside it, Uncle George?” Dolly asked. “Every seed, Dolly, no matter how small.” Uncle George split up one of the hard seeds that had not been soaked, and showed them a little plant of the same kind inside; but it was so hard and brittle that he could crumble it up into powder between his fingers. “And what are the two large white lobes for?” asked Frank. “These are the seed-leaves. They are stores of plant-food. The young plant is fed by these until its root grows far down into the soil and its shoot grows high up into the air—until it is old enough and strong enough to find food for itself, in fact. “In the bud, the little shoot is fed by the sap of the mother-plant. Here, in the seed, we have a baby plant wrapped up in two coats, one thick and leathery and the other soft and warm; and, in place of a large “Why do we put seeds in the ground to make them grow?” asked Frank. “A seed requires three things to make it grow. These three things are—water, air, and warmth. We can grow seeds without soil at all if we give them these three things. But if either water, air, or warmth be wanting, your seeds cannot grow.” “That is why seeds won’t grow outside in winter, then,” said Frank. “That is the reason,” his uncle answered. “In winter there is not enough heat to make seeds grow. If you sow seeds in a pot of dry soil in summer, and do not give them water, they will not grow.” “I think a seed is a most wonderful thing,” said Tom. “It is,” said Uncle George, “wonderful indeed. The most wonderful thing about it is that there is life in it—sleeping life, awaiting these three things I have told you about. “Dried up, and as hard as a stone, it will keep for years; but when air, warmth, and moisture are given it, it springs into life and becomes a plant, which grows, produces seeds, and dies. “Now, we will plant the rest of the soaked beans—not in ground, for I want to let you see that the seed-leaves contain far more food than the tiny plant requires to feed it until it is old enough to take care of itself. “We will plant these seeds in damp sawdust, from which they can get no food. We will see that they Uncle George then got a box filled with sawdust, and placed the beans in it. He arranged them in different ways. Some beans he placed edgeways, others longways, others lying on their sides. “I am doing this,” he said, “to show you that, no matter how a seed happens to lie in the soil, its root will always grow down and its shoot will always grow up.” He then covered them up with a thin layer of sawdust, and placed the box in a warm corner of the kitchen. The boys promised to water the seeds every day, and to watch them as they grew. Exercises on Lesson IV.
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