this very important question can be answered,--How are the
ovules nourished? They must have food, or they cannot develop into
seeds.

The sap, which is the food of the plant, runs through the little stems
that hold the ovules to the ovary, and thus, entering the ovules,
nourishes them. The ovule has no embryo. It is a very simple little
seedlet indeed. But after a while its little embryo begins to form and
its seed-leaves to develop. When the ovule has developed in this way we
call it a seed. It remains attached to the ovary, receiving nourishment
from the sap until it is quite ripe. As the seed forms in its little
pod, its thick sturdy seed-leaves become larger and fuller. The sap
constantly stores up in them plenty of good food. Thus the parent plant
provides for the seed, so that when it goes out into the world alone it
may not perish until it has learned to care for itself. The food in the
seed-leaves is the bank account which starts the young plant in life.

When the seed is fully formed, its seed-leaves full of food, its embryo
perfect, then we say it is ripe. It no longer needs to draw nourishment
from the sap of the parent-plant. It is able to start in the world on
its own account. When the seed ripens, its little stem withers away, so
that the seed lies loose in the pod. In the case of the bean-pod, when
the seed becomes free the pod opens, and the seed or bean, as we call
it, falls out.

If we look at a ripe bean or pea or any seed we shall find upon one edge
of it the scar where the little stem was attached. The scar is the
umbilicus or "navel" of the seed. The seed does not become free from its
attachment to the pod until it is able to live alone. As long as it
continues to grow it remains attached and receives the sap. As soon as
it has its growth and no longer needs the sap it separates from the pod.
This separation is easy and natural. There is no tearing apart, no
mutilation. It is exactly like the falling of the leaves in the Autumn.
It is, in short, the birth of the seed or infant plant.

Some mothers talk of the mother-plant and the seed-babies from the
beginning. They show how the little seeds are fed and protected, how
they are literally a part of the mother-plant. Other mothers prefer to
tell only the botanical story, leaving all application to animal life
for later consideration. In either case the essential points are a clear
understanding of the growth of the ovule in the ovary, the manner in