PREFACE 



The main purpose of the book is to show some of the edu- 

 cational possibiUties offered by plants of every day use, and 

 at the same time to guide beginners to such general ideas 

 about plants as should form part of a liberal education. 



There are a number of plants that every one ought to 

 know because of their intimate connection with human 

 welfare. These plants represent all parts of the vegetable 

 kingdom, they are the very ones about which most persons 

 have the greatest desire to learn, and they are mainly the 

 ones which were first studied by mankind. Help the be- 

 ginner, therefore, to learn at the outset as much about these 

 economic plants as he is ready for; then help him to classify 

 them scientifically, and he will be prepared to appreciate 

 that wider view of the life of plants which inspires botany 

 toda}'. On this plan I have tried to write such a book as I 

 believe would have been most useful to me when I was a 

 beginner. 



Botany taught by the historical method, as this procedure 

 may be called, not only appeals from the start to the strongest 

 practical incentives, but profits by the student's knowledge 

 in many other departments, which knowledge it often en- 

 riches. Thus pursued botany also offers an exceptionall}'' 

 fine opportunit}^ for cultivating scientific habits of mind and 

 methods of work. These are sure to economize energy in 

 every intellectual undertaking. The scientific attitude and 

 scientific ways of proceeding control modern progress, and 

 in no better way can one catch the spirit of these than by 

 the scientific study of plants. 



So closely similar are the needs of all who wish to make a 

 good beginning that it becomes possible for a book like the 

 present to serve many diverse classes of students. The 



