The aid derived from many sources in the preparation of “Plants and their Children” is heartily acknowledged; but more especially I wish to extend my thanks to Messrs. Holt & Co. for their courtesy in allowing the reproduction of several cuts from their valuable and interesting publication, “The Natural History of Plants,” translated from the German of Kerner von Marilaun. [Illustration: Flower] CONTENTS PART I.—FRUITS AND SEEDS PAGE In the Orchard 9 The Story of the Bee 16 The Apple’s Treasures 19 What a Plant lives for 21 The World without Plants 24 How the Apple shields its Young 27 Some Cousins of the Apple 31 Uneatable Fruits 34 More Cousins of the Apple 36 Still more Cousins 39 In the Woods 41 Why Seeds travel 50 Some Little Tramps 52 Seed Sailboats 56 Winged Seeds 61 Shooting Seeds 63 The Chestnut and Other Seeds 67 Some Strange Stories 69 PART II.—YOUNG PLANTS How the Baby Plant lives 75 A Schoolroom Garden 79 A Schoolroom Garden (_Concluded_) 85 Seeds as Food 89 An Impatient Plant Baby 91 A Humpbacked Plant Baby 94 PART III.—ROOTS AND STEMS Root Hairs 99 Roots and Underground Stems 102 Above-ground Roots 106 What Few Children know 112 Plants that cannot stand alone 114 Some Habits of Stems 117 Stems and Seed Leaves 119 “Well done, Little Stem” 122 PART IV.—BUDS