"It is of the greatest use," replied Uncle Robert. "The little pea plant
couldn't live without it. It is its food that the mother sweet pea
gathered last summer from the soil and air, and stored away in the
little round ball for her baby to feed on until it should be big enough
to get its own food."

"Do you really mean, uncle," cried Susie, with shining eyes, "that the
sweet peas I have planted in that bed are the children of those I had
last year?"

"Why not?" asked Uncle Robert, with a smile.

"I never thought of it before," said Susie, looking at the tiny plant in
her hand; "but I like it. It seems just like a family."

"And that's what it is," said Uncle Robert.

"Don't you think this baby had better go back to bed?" said Susie,
making a deep hole in the ground.

"Wait a moment, Susie," said Uncle Robert.

"Suppose we take it for a visit to the beans, and see if they grow like
it."

So they went to the vegetable garden, where they found a great many
plants, each with two strong, thick leaves sticking through the soil.
Some were quite green and showed a tiny shoot between them. Others were
yellow, with only the tips turned green.