vi PREFACE 



however, meets certain practical difficulties. In the crowded 

 condition of the average curriculum it is difficult to find time for 

 trips long enough for real accomplishment ; moreover, climatic 

 conditions in large portions of the country make field work pos- 

 sible only for a limited period at the beginning and the end of the 

 year. However, within the limits set by these practical conditions, 

 field work is to be encouraged ; and, assuming that the teacher is 

 gifted with enthusiasm of the right sort, even voluntary excursions 

 at out-of-class periods will be productive of valuable results. Es- 

 pecially in connection with the work at the beginning of the year 

 there should be some trips, which may also be utilized by the 

 teacher in collecting material for later study. But the mistake 

 must not be made of substituting, in any large measure, field work 

 for laboratory work. Nothing can replace the individual study of 

 plants in the laboratory under careful direction and supervision. 

 So far as possible, this laboratory study should be of live plants. 

 There is perhaps no way in which a teacher can add more to the 

 interest and consequently to the value of a course in botany than 

 by the actual growing of plants in the schoolroom. 



If the course extends throughout the year, some time may well 

 be devoted in the spring and early summer to the collection and 

 identification of wild plants. The exact amount of work of this 

 nature must be left to the discretion of the teacher ; it will neces- 

 sarily depend upon much the same factors that govern field work 

 in general. If circumstances allow, the ability to identify unknown 

 plants by means of a manual is an accomplishment to the attain- 

 ment of which a reasonable amount of time may profitably be 

 devoted. 



The interest and value of laboratory and textbook study may 

 be greatly enhanced by carefully selected supplementary reading. 

 Lists of references are given in Appendix II for each of the more 

 important topics to be studied, and a fair proportion of the books 

 cited in these lists should be in the school library. Large use may 

 profitably be made of the bulletins and circulars issued by the 

 United States Department of Agriculture and by the experiment 

 stations of the various states. We have included references to 

 many of these publications which will be helpful to the teacher 

 of botany, but the list is by no means complete. They may be 



