which it is nourished and protected, and its final separation from the
ovary to enter into the outer world as an individual provided with
everything necessary to its needs.

Some mothers use the words "sprout" and "hatch" interchangeably,
speaking sometimes of the hatching of the seeds, in order to make more
vivid the realization of the similarity of processes in the plant and
the bird. They also speak of the birth of the seed. Clearly to
understand the relation of the seed to the mother-plant is to understand
accurately and scientifically the relation of every living creature to
its mother.

The child who enjoys planting the bean one season will want to plant it
the next, for there is nothing children more delight in than planting
things and watching them grow. This interest can be encouraged in any
home, for where there is no available yard a few flower-pots of earth,
or a box of it, will afford opportunity for a good deal of pleasure and
instruction. The child can be encouraged to collect seeds that are
formed like the bean, and plant them too. He will quickly discover that
a peanut is made essentially like a bean, and he will be interested to
plant some raw peanuts. The pea, too, he will soon add to his list. As
the season advances he will discover the cucumber, melon, and squash
seeds, and, with a little help, the apple, pear, and quince seeds, as
well as those of the cherry, plum, and peach. The latter have very hard
outer coats, but are formed in all essentials like the bean. Indeed he
can have a very long list by the end of Summer. But he cannot make these
green seeds grow. That is, many of them will not sprout until they have
lain a certain length of time. So even where they are ripe and fall
from their pods, he had better keep them until toward Spring before
planting, even in the house.

[Illustration: MORNING-GLORY SEED, SHOWING SEED-LEAVES AND EMBRYO]

If he takes pleasure in examining his seeds, he will find in each one
the tiny embryo tucked in between the seed-leaves; in the apple seed the
young apple-tree, in the pumpkin seed the young pumpkin vine. Even the
vegetables being prepared for his dinner can be interesting to him. As
the peas are shelled he can see the pretty green seeds attached to the
side of the pod. He can find the embryo even in the unripe seed, but he
knows there would be no use in planting these green peas, for they are
not yet fit to live apart from the mother-plant. If they were