THE ALL IMPORTANT POLLEN
Now on a second trip into the cornfield, another story may be told of the important work of the pollen. This "father part" of the plant falls upon the silken tresses of the "mother part," by which the pollen is carried down to the sleeping corn-baby seeds—the kernels. And when the "corn dust" does reach the sleeping seeds a great change begins to take place. This change is known to the adult as "impregnation;" to the little child it may be presented as "an awakening" of the sleeping seeds, so that they begin to grow, to develop, to expand and push out, until we have the full-grown seeds seen in the delicious and juicy roasting ear.
Sometimes, in the case of the larger plants and trees, Father Tree may be miles and miles away from Mother Tree and so this all important pollen must be carried by the wind or by the bees, and as it blows against the mother part of the plant-flower she catches it and pushes it downward to the seed babies. The wind scatters the pollen of the oak tree, the hazlenut, the walnut, the birch, the willow and many others; for, without the good kind wind or the bees, the pollen would never find its way to many a mother flower, and the "fertilization" of the seed could not take place.