vi PREFACE 



problem not easily solved. But the writer is inclined to believe 

 that the secondary school is trying to do too much, trying to do 

 work beyond the pupils, trying to do work that should be left 

 for the college. We give the pupils compound microscopes, 

 which is much like giving them a complete set of surveying 

 instruments for use in the study of elementary arithmetic. We 

 try to teach facts when we should teach fundamental principles, 

 close observation and accuracy. We try to teach scientific names 

 when we should teach simple methods of experimental work. 



In this little work the autlior has aimed at three things, 

 viz.: (1) A brief statement of the recognized facts and prin- 

 ciples concerning jjlants and plant growth usually given in text- 

 books for secondary schools. (2) A list of simple exercises and 

 suggestions for observations which the pupil can conduct with- 

 out great difficulty and which will demonstrate many of the 

 statements given in the book. ( 3 ) A list of questions which are 

 intended to be suggestive to the pupils and to encourage further 

 studies. 



The title, " Applied Economic Botany," implies first, that 

 it is intended as a guide to experimental work in the study 

 of plants, such as should be carried on in any high school, 

 and second, that it is intended as a preliminary work to the 

 agricultural studies which are now recognized in many high 

 schools. 



The author has endeavored to make the work so flexible 

 that it may be used in schools regardless of the amount of time 

 devoted to the subject, the available laboratory space and equip- 

 ment. The author has also been mindful of the fact that the 

 course in botany in the secondary school should meet the needs 

 of very different classes of pupils — those who study it as one 

 of the requirements of the curriculum and to whom it must be 

 primarily a cultural subject, those who study it as a prepara- 

 tion to agriculture and horticulture, and those who may use it 



