Foreword 



THE chapters of this book are so arranged as to 

 follow the waxing and waning of plant-life during 

 an average season in the northeastern United 

 States. 



By this plan a few repetitions have been abso- 

 lutely unavoidable, and for these the author apolo- 

 gizes to the she hopes " gentle" reader. The 

 only other arrangement possible would have been 

 a systematic one, adopting the most recent views 

 as to the relationship and development of plant- 

 families. I hardly had courage for such an enter- 

 prise as this, and moreover the thing has been 

 done so fully, so ably, and so recently, that the 

 student who seeks a systematic botany will find his 

 wants already amply supplied. 



This book is written more especially for people 

 who have not time, or, perhaps, inclination, to 

 become actual students, who have not familiarized 

 themselves with botanic nomenclature and tech- 

 nial terms, and who yet love to observe the beau- 

 ties and the wonders of familiar plant-life. 



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