“Now, boys,” said Uncle George, “I want you to watch these seeds every day. If you do so, you will learn how a seed grows into a plant; and you will learn this not from me, but from the plant itself.” Uncle George filled a wide bottle with water from the tap, and fixed one of the five-week-old maize plants in it by means of a split cork. “I want you to watch this plant growing,” he said, as he placed the bottle in the window. “You ought to draw it once a week. Most people think that plants draw their food chiefly from the soil. This is a great mistake. “Plants take most of their food from the air, as you will see if you watch the growth of this plant. Of course, it has a good food store in the seed; but I think you will be surprised at the growth it makes from that food store, the bottle of tap water, and the air.” Exercises on Lesson VI. 1. Make sketches of a soaked bean and of a soaked maize seed. 2. Place a few beans (or peas) and a few maize (or wheat) seeds in a box of damp sawdust. Water regularly. After a week dig up a seed of each and draw them. 3. Dig up a seed of each at intervals of two weeks, three weeks, and four weeks; draw and compare them. 4. Sow in a box of sawdust a few of each of the following—date stones, orange pips, walnuts, chestnuts. Keep the box in a _warm_ place, and watch how these seeds grow. VII.—THE HORSE POND IN SPRING. When Frank and Tom came home from school one afternoon, they found their uncle very busy finishing a net he had made of green gauze. It had the shape of a shallow bag, and was fixed to a stout wire ring. This ring was fastened to a walking-stick with a piece of strong string. On the table there were three wide glass jars, each with a piece of cord tied round the neck to serve as a handle. “Now,” said Uncle George, as he finished tying the net to the stick, “now we are all ready for a visit to that pond of yours.” [Illustration: Pond-Net and Glass Jars.] The pond was about half a mile away, in the corner of a field near a wood. A small stream ran out of it, and joined a larger one a short distance away. The last time the boys had seen this pond it was covered with ice, and they had a merry time skating upon it. When they reached it on this afternoon, it looked quite different. The grass around its banks was fresh and green, and rushes were peeping up through the water. “Listen!” said Uncle George. “_Croak, croak, cr-roak_” came from beyond the rushes, while here and there a little head would bob up and down in the water. [Illustration: Frog and Spawn in Water.] “Frogs!” said Frank. Uncle George nodded, and, stepping to the edge of the pond, he pulled the net out, and with it a large mass of what looked like clear jelly, having a large number of black dots in it. “Bring the largest jar, Tom,” he said, “we are going to take this home.”