DIRECTIONS FOR STUDY. 



THE first three chapters of this book were prepared for 

 young children, and are, therefore, very simple and rudi- 

 mentary. But the course of observations they contain 

 are not to be dispensed with by beginners of any age. 

 The constant temptation of older pupils will be toward 

 haste and inadequate observation. The danger is that 

 plants enough will not be collected, and that the parts of 

 such as are collected will not be studied with sufficient 

 care. The influence of the teacher will therefore be con- 

 stantly needed to check the too rapid passage of older pu- 

 pils over that portion of botany included in these chapters. 



An excellent way to familiarize pupils with these plant- 

 characters is for them at once to set about preserving and 

 describing specimens of all the- varieties they collect. 



As good an arrangement as any for pressing plants 

 consists of two stout boards, that will not warp or bend, 

 between which the specimens are placed, with any con- 

 venient weight as stones, or masses of iron, of not less 

 than fifty or sixty pounds laid on the top. Between the 

 plants you put layers of drying-paper. Newspapers an- 

 swer very well for this purpose. They should be made 

 into packets of about a dozen thicknesses, stitched togeth- 

 er. Lay the specimens smoothly between these packets, 

 having fastened to each of them as full a description as 

 your studies enable you to write. Put unsized paper be- 

 tween the parts of a specimen that overlap each other, to 

 prevent molding and hasten drying. Be careful to dispose 

 the plants so that they will not lie directly above each 

 other; keep the top of the pile as level as possible, to 



