"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. Why did they
not carry it at once to their nests?"

"They laid it out in the sun and wind to dry; for if it had been stored
away while damp, it would have moulded, and have been spoiled. The
squirrels were busy all that day; when I went to see them again, the grain
was gone. I saw several red squirrels running up and down a large
pine-tree, which had been broken by the wind at the top; and there, no
doubt, they had laid up stores. These squirrels did not follow each other
in a straight line, but ran round and round in a spiral direction, so that
they never hindered each other, nor came in each other's way: two were
always going up, while the other two were going down. They seem to work in
families; for the young ones, though old enough to get their own living,
usually inhabit the same nest, and help to store up the grain for winter
use. They all separate again in spring. The little chitmunk does not live
in trees, but burrows in the ground, or makes its nest in some large hollow