In the case of maize and corn, however, you will find that the seed does not split into two equal parts like the bean, but that the young plant lies at one side of the seed, and a solid white mass fills the rest of the space (~see~ fig. 5). There are also differences in the seedlings which you will notice when they begin to grow. [Illustration: Fig. 5. A, outside of Maize fruit, showing the embryo (~e~) on one side; B, sprouting plant, showing the root (~r~) and shoot (~s~); C, the same further grown.] Now that you have examined some seeds, you should start a number growing, so as to have plenty to watch. They will grow more quickly if you soak them in water for a night before you plant them in damp sawdust, and keep them moist and fairly warm all the time. You should have a number of seeds of each kind planted together to provide enough for you to dig up one of them every day and examine it fully, inside as well as out. Make a drawing of each one so that you will have a complete series of drawings showing how the young plants grow. This will kill them, so that you must leave at least one seedling which is never touched, and which you can watch all through its life. [Illustration: Fig. 6. Growth of Bean seedling: A, the root only showing; B, the root lengthening and shoot appearing.] As the young plant grows, notice how it breaks away from the protection of its nurse leaves; first the root comes out and bends downwards into the sawdust (~see~ fig. 6 A), then the little shoot which bends up into the air. Whichever way you plant the seeds you will find this is always the case, for even if you start with the root pointing up, it will bend round and grow downwards while the shoot bends up (~see~ p. 41). As the plant gets bigger, side roots grow out from the main one, and the little leaves of the shoot begin to open out--the whole plant is growing (~see~ fig. 7). [Illustration: Fig. 7. Later stage in the growth of Bean seedling; side roots developed, and the shoot enlarged.] =Now we may perhaps begin to find out something about the question of feeding in plants.= What are the nurse-leaves doing all the time the plant is growing? You will find in the bean that the seed coats may split open a little, but that on the whole the cotyledons remain all the time enclosed in them, and attached to the young shoot (~see~ fig. 7). Examine the nurse leaves of seedlings of different ages, and you will see that they are much less thick and fleshy in the older seedlings. As the plant gets bigger the nurse-leaves get thinner and less until they become merely dry shrivelled remnants. Now, ~what use could the cotyledons be if they only shrivel away~?