"
"What was that for, nurse? can you tell me?"
"My dear young lady, I did not know at first, till, upon showing it to my
father, he told me that the squirrels destroyed the germ of the grain,
such as wheat or Indian corn, that they stored up for winter use, that it
might not sprout when buried in the ground or in a hollow tree."
"This is very strange, nurse," said the little girl. "But I suppose," she
added, after a moment's thought, "it was God who taught the squirrels to
do so. But why would biting out the eye prevent the grain from growing?"
"Because the eye or bud contains the life of the plant; from it springs
the green blade, and the stem that bears the ear, and the root that
strikes down to the earth. The flowery part, which swells and becomes soft
and jelly-like, serves to nourish the young plant till the tender fibres
of the roots are able to draw moisture from the ground."
Lady Mary asked if all seeds had an eye or germ.
Her nurse replied that all had, though some were so minute that they
looked no bigger than dust, or a grain of sand; yet each was perfect in
its kind, and contained the plant that would, when sown in the earth,
bring forth roots, leaves, buds, flowers, and fruits in due season.
"How glad I should have been to see the little squirrels gleaning the
wheat, and laying it in the little heaps on the rail fence.
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