July 25, 1991 - Pondering the Mysteries of SeedsJuly 25, 1991 • The Suffolk Times C5
Pondering the Mysteries of Seeds
By Paul Stoutenburph
Dry and hot and no relief in sight.
My pasture is taking on that honey -
yellow color of dried -out soil and grass.
Barbara's garden takes on a midday wilt
that's only brought back to life when
the sprinkler is turned on. Nuts are
dropping before they are fully mature
from the hickory trees and our fruit
down in the orchard is starting to drop
from the lack of water. It seems we're
in for an old- fashioned dry spell.
As I walk through the pasture I pick a
seed head from the dry and brittle stem
of tall grass. I crumble it in the palm of
my hand and blow away the loose chaff
to expose the seeds and marvel at what's
before me. Here are the harbingers of
life. The survivors will guarantee that
particular plant species shall continue
next year when the conditions are right
for it to emerge.
Inside every new seed is a spark of
life. It could lay dormant for a few days,
as in the case of the silver maple, or as
long as 900 years in the case of the
seeds of the lotus plant. But the old sto-
ries of seeds germinating after thousands
and thousands of years in Egyptian
tombs are just not true. There's a limit
to everything. Each seed is protected
from the heat, cold, moisture and
drought so it can fulfill its mission. But
even here, when conditions become too
extreme, the seeds will die.
Seeds are so complex that even today
we don't understand all the aspects that
go on within them. For instance, how
can seeds ripen and fall to the ground
and remain dormant through the
summer until next year when their
rhythm clocks tell them it's time to
awake and start anew? Surely if they had
sprouted during the summer the young
plants could well be killed by winter's
cold. But no, they hold off until
conditions are right for them.
Seeds Always Amaze Us
Seeds carry within them a food
supply of carbohydrates, fats, proteins
and minerals that will nourish the
embryo and help it along its way.
Having that correct rhythm for
sprouting and the conditions of heat and
moisture and light all coming together
at the right time amazes the best of
scientists
today.
Y
We don't often think of seeds as
man's prime source of food but they
are. Grasses, like the one I held in my
hand, are by far the most important food
source of Il for h
a o they are the family of
0
Focus on
Nature
cereals of which wheat is the main
provider of the world. Rice is second
but finds little acceptance in the
traditional American home. Then there
are rye, barley, corn, millet, sorghum
and oats t hat also provide important
foods for all of us.
Nature provides these seeds in varying
quantities. Perhaps 20 kernels of seed
were in my hand. Yet some plants can
produce hundreds of thousands of seeds.
The size can vary just as much as the
quantity from dust -like seeds to the
seeds of the coconut. All have but one
object in mind and that is to carry on
the parent plant's characteristics. And it
is these characteristics that plant breed-
ers try to improve by selecting the
strongest and best out of many thou-
sands they work with. I doubt if we'd be
too happy eating the corn the Indians
grew compared to the corn we get from
our roadside stands today.
A Price to Pay
It's through this seed selection that
great strides have been made in quality
and quantity but like so many things
there's always a trade off. Some of these
new strains of seeds are less tolerant to
the natural conditions of our world and
require special care. By that I mean they
need additional fertilizers, continual
spraying of pesticides and in many cases
irrigation. These are the prices we have
to pay for our abundant and high - quality
food supply. It's good we have this
ability to produce. With the ever -
increasing population we can never
produce enough if we want to take care
of the peoples of the world today.
I've wandered considerably from my
handful of seeds in the pasture but as I
tossed them I wondered just how many
of my 20 seeds would germinate. They
have many hurdles to overcome. Right
now the birds are gleaning the fields and
picking up seeds that have already
spilled from their overripe heads. As fall
and winter move in the fieldmice will
Thursday Means
The Suffolk Times
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FIELD OF RYE —Most of the fields of grain we see here on Long
Island are rye. The grain is thrashed out and the straw that's left is
usually baled and sold for the bedding of animals.
riddle the pasture floor looking for that
high- protein energy source. Then there's
the largest group of seed predators, the
insects, and they will want their share
and usually get it.
Yet, some seeds will make it and will
sprout with all the vigor they can
muster. Here, too, some will be weeded
out by late frost or perhaps the lack of
water or even a rabbit nibbling away on
its daily routine of food gathering. Of
course, there's always man because the
seedling might be considered a weed and
would be pulled out or sprayed to get rid
of it.
These are but a few of the obstacles
every seed must face in the natural
world. We can cut some of these obsta-
cles down when we plant our seeds in-
doors or in a greenhouse but wherever
they break through and start to mature,
it's a good feeling to see that miracle
before us. Seeds mean many things to
many people. Seeds are a constant
source of wonder. To me, they have a
special place in my book of magic.
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