Tom made a rough sketch of it, and showed it to his uncle.
“That is the baby plant, and the great mass above it is plant-food,” said his uncle.
“Come on, Frank. Don’t let Tom do all the finding out. What have you to say?”
“The maize seed has only one mass of plant-food, and it does not seem to have two seed coats like the bean,” Tom replied.
“You are right,” said Uncle George; “but if you look again you will see that there is a thick layer of food stuff outside, which is of a different colour from the rest.
“This is like the bran layer which is round the food store in the wheat grain.
“This food store is starch, or, as we call it, flour.
“Now, let us look at the growing seeds. We will take a few seeds out of each box and see how they differ.
“The seeds in this box, the last sown, are just a week old. You see the root and shoot are just beginning to show.
“Make a sketch, drawing it as large as you can, and write under it, ‘Maize seed after a week’s growth.’