And now why is an apple such an important thing? Why is it worth so much time and trouble? What is its use? “It is good to eat,” chime all the children in chorus. Yes, so it is; but then, you must remember that once upon a time, apple trees, like all other plants and trees, grew in lonely places where there were no boys and girls to eat their fruit. So we must find some other answer. Think for a moment, and then tell me what you find inside every apple. “Apple seeds,” one of you replies. And what is the use of these apple seeds? “Why, they make new apple trees!” If this be so, if every apple holds some little seeds from which new apple trees may grow, does it not look as though an apple were useful and important because it yields seeds? And what is true of the apple tree is true of other plants and trees. The plant lives to bear fruit. The fruit is that part of the plant which holds its seeds; and it is of importance for just this reason, that it holds the seeds from which come new plants. THE WORLD WITHOUT PLANTS We have just learned that the fruit is important because it holds the plant’s seeds; and we know that seeds are important because from them come the new plants for another year. Let us stop here one moment, and try to think what would happen if plants should stop having seeds, if there should be no new plants. We all, and especially those of us who are children, carry about with us a little picture gallery of our very own. In this gallery are pictures of things which our real eyes have never seen, yet which we ourselves see quite as plainly as the objects which our eyes rest upon in the outside world. Some of these pictures are very beautiful. They show us things so wonderful and delightful and interesting, that at times we forget all about the real, outside things. Indeed, these pictures often seem to us more real than anything else in the world. And once in a great while we admire them so earnestly that we are able to make them come true; that is, _we turn our backs upon them_, and work so hard to bring them about, that at last what was only a picture becomes a reality. Perhaps some of you children can step into this little gallery of your own, and see a picture of the great world as it would be if there should be no new plants. This picture would show the world some hundreds of years from now; for, although some plants live only a short time, others (and usually these are trees) live hundreds of years. But in the picture even the last tree has died away. Upon the earth there is not one green, growing thing. The sun beats down upon the bare, brown deserts. It seems to scorch and blister the rocky mountain sides. There are no cool shadows where one can lie on a summer afternoon; no dark, ferny nooks, such as children love, down by the stream. But, after all, that does not matter much, for there are no children to search out such hidden, secret spots. “No children! Why, what has happened to them?”