The boys noticed that the wheat grain did not sprout in the same way as the bean seed. Instead of one stout little root, three usually came out. The tiny shoot seemed to grow from the _outside_ of the grain, and the two large masses of plant-food were missing. [Illustration: Stages in the Germination of Wheat.] Some wheat seeds were soaked and cut down the middle. With the aid of the glass, the boys saw that in the wheat seed the baby plant is attached to _one_ large mass of plant-food, made up of flour with an outside layer of bran. Their uncle then told them that all the flowering plants in the world are of two great families, namely, those whose seeds have only one food store, like the wheat grain, and those whose seeds have two, like the bean. Exercises on Lesson V. 1. Explain all that happens when a horse-chestnut bud opens. 2. Why do the buds which you force indoors wither after they open? 3. What changes come over your bean seeds as they grow? 4. Do the young plants draw any food from the sawdust? If not, what feeds them? 5. What three things does a seed need in order to start growing? [Illustration] 1. Magnified sections of Maize and Wheat Seeds, showing Young Plant, Food Store, etc. 2. Germination of Maize. 3. Maize growing in Sawdust. 4. Maize growing in Tap Water. 5. Bean growing in Bottle over Water. VI.—MORE ABOUT SEEDS. It was raining in torrents outside, and the boys were a little upset inside, for it was Saturday. They always looked forward to Saturday, for it was their great rambling day. “I’m afraid we can’t get out to-day,” said Frank, sadly. “I’m afraid not,” said his uncle. “But that is no reason why we should sulk. We have those maize seeds to look over, you know, and by the time we have done that perhaps the rain will have stopped.” While Frank and Tom were bringing the boxes of seeds, Uncle George and Dolly were busy getting out knives, glasses, mounted needles, and the books they made their notes and sketches in. There were four small boxes in all. Each box had been sown with maize or Indian corn at times a week apart, so that the plants in one box were five weeks old, in the next four weeks old, and so on. “We will begin as we did with the bean. Let us cut the seed open first.” As he spoke, Uncle George laid some soaked maize seeds on the table. “If you look at these seeds carefully, you will notice a large mark on one of the flat sides of each.” “I see it,” said Frank. “It is shaped something like a cone, and its broad end is at the narrow end of the seed.” “It is lighter in colour than the rest of the seed,” said Tom. “You are both right,” said their uncle. “Now I want you to cut the seed longways, right down through the middle of that mark. Then use your glass, and tell me what you see.