lo PREFACE 



understancl of their scientific pai,^e.s. There seemed 

 nothini,^ suited to the mind of a thoughtful child, 

 and although, since that long-ago time, endless 

 books have been written for young readers and 

 thinkers, delightful books, too, which meet the 

 needs of those who desire information and in- 

 struction, I have not hitherto met with one that 

 makes the careful study of plant-life really inte- 

 resting and practicable for those young people 

 who may not have a teacher to help them in 

 their study. 



It has been my aim in the little volume I 

 now venture to send forth to my young friends, 

 known and unknown, to supply this deficiency. 

 I want to enable them to share the joy of spending 

 hours in a garden learning to understand the 

 structure of plants. I want to make them able, 

 when they see a bud, or a root, or a twig, to 

 know what the history of that object is, how it 

 comes to have the shape it takes, how it deve- 

 loped into its present condition, and what its 

 next ft)rm will be. 



The possession of the simple facts which I have 

 tried to make plain to every intelligence in the 



