PREFACE 



IT is now generally accepted by educationists that experi- 

 mental work is an essential part of instruction in any branch of 

 physical or natural science. Too much importance cannot be 

 attached to knowledge gained direct from Nature ; and it is 

 gratifying to know that many questions now set by public 

 examining bodies are designed to test the student's own obser- 

 vations and experience. As an instance of this, it is worth 

 pointing out that in the syllabus for Botany, published by the 

 Department of Science and Art, the examiners remark : 



" The examination will be especially directed towards ascer- 

 taining the amount and character of the practically acquired 

 knowledge possessed by the students." 



To provide students with a means of obtaining such know- 

 ledge, this little work has been prepared in the spirit of the 

 foregoing remarks, as a guide to beginners in the practical study 

 of plants. The attempt is often made to study Botany without 

 the practical examination of plants, and it has produced on the 

 popular mind an impression that the subject is uninteresting. 

 This is the result of the old method of teaching Botany by 

 means of ideals or definitions ; the new method is to examine 

 the plants from as many points of view as possible, and to draw 

 conclusions from actual observations. Studied in this way, 

 the subject becomes one of living interest, instead of being 

 merely a collection of technical names and terms. It is with 

 the idea of placing in the hands of all who are interested in the 

 study of plants a book which shall be a guide and companion 

 during a first course that the present volume has been prepared. 



