"
"Well, if that is so, I cannot make out how those long delicate
stems can bear the weight. They bend over like corn to every puff
of wind. It does not seem possible that they could bear a quarter
of the weight of their heavy yellow heads."
"Nor could they, Hubert; but nature has made a wise and very
extraordinary provision for this difficulty. All other plants and
trees with which I am acquainted have their fruits or seeds where
the blossom before grew. In maize it is placed in an entirely
different part of the plant. In a very short time you will
see--indeed you may see now in most of the plants--the stalk begin
to thicken at a foot or eighteen inches from the ground, and in a
little time it will burst; and the head of maize, so enveloped in
leaves that it looks a mere bunch of them, will come forth. It will
for a time grow larger and larger, and then the plant will wither
and die down to the place from which the head springs. The part
that remains will dry up until the field appears covered with dead
stumps, with bunches of dead leaves at the top. Then it is ready
for the harvest,"
"What a strange plant, papa! I quite long for the time when the
heads will come out. What are you going to plant upon that bit of
land you have got ready for sowing now? It is about six acres.
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