CHAPTER III 



A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A PLANT 



" Wherever flowers cannot be reared, there man cannot live." — 

 Napoleon I. 



How many people, even among those who care for 

 their gardens and flowers, really take the trouble 

 to enquire into the actual ^' inner workings " of the 

 plant ? By the great majority of people Botany 

 is looked upon as a " dry-as-dust " subject, just a 

 long list of classifications, Latin names of the 

 families and natural orders, and so on. This is 

 largely due to the wrong method of teaching 

 Botany in the past; it is surely a great mistake to 

 begin at that uninteresting end of the subject. 

 The classifications are most necessary, but, of course, 

 they are wearisome to the child or student (as the 

 case may be) who knows nothing at all of the 

 wonderful workings of the plant. 



'' Botany is the science which endeavours to 

 answer every reasonable question about plants " : 

 begin your instructions at that end, explaining 

 something about the physiology and work of the 

 plants generally. Then this " dry-as-dust " subject 

 will seem like a wondrous fairy-tale, as mysterious, 

 even in these matter-of-fact days, as were any of 

 the " Arabian Nights " stories. 



The Root had better be our first consideration; 

 and the office and work of the main root is to support 



