xii INTRODUCTION. 



personal observations of nature. We shall learn why 

 and how the soil in which plants grow was made, by 

 observing the work still going on about us every day. 

 We shall endeavor to find out for ourselves what the 

 soil really is, by trying experiments with it to see how 

 it behaves under certain circumstances. We shall also 

 look at the different kinds of soils, to see which is 

 best suited to our different plants ; and thus save our- 

 selves from the mistake of planting cranberries on a 

 rocky hillside, and watermelons in a peat-bog, or hunt- 

 ing for violets on a sand-bank, or pond-lilies on a 

 mountain-side. We shall see that while there are trees 

 in every State and Territory, these trees are different 

 in different places, and that this difference depends in 

 part upon the ground in which the trees stand. We 

 shall see that it is not sufficient to learn from our 

 observations of the sun, the wind, and rain, how plants 

 are affected by the weather. We must know more. 

 We must learn how plants feed, and where they get 

 the food they need. It is not enough to learn from 

 our first observations, where to place our garden, and 

 how to arrange our plants in a sunny window. We 

 must know how to select the right soil for the garden, 

 and how to treat it, and how to prepare the soil in our 

 flower-pots ; or all our studies and observations will be 

 so many half-facts, good as far as they go, yet not 

 going far enough. It is to these new studies, experi- 

 ments, and observations, we now advance, remember- 

 ing all we learned before, and using our knowledge to 

 explain much that may seem new and strange. 



