iv REPRESENTATIVE PLANTS 



A manual, of course, cannot begin the fall work in all 

 these ways, and so the latter has been chosen as represent- 

 ing a reasonable method of introducing the pupil to the 

 study. Those who differ may easily start at the appro- 

 priate part of the manual that to them seems most judi- 

 cious. 



It has impressed itself more and more on the author 

 that a thoroughly logical method of procedure in a well- 

 rounded out course in botany is to occupy ten months or 

 two semesters with the seed plants, spending as much time 

 as possible under each division above named upon the 

 practical application from day to day in the laboratory of 

 facts and principles gathered. 



In this daily class work it is possible to produce illustra- 

 tions from the experience of each pupil — through observa- 

 tion, experiment, and everyday contact — that will lead 

 him to axjpreciate the intimate relation of botanical science 

 in some of its varied forms to the welfare of men. In this 

 work there are suggestive leadings that may help members 

 of the class to see that along lines of work having founda- 

 tion in a knowledge of plants and their activities is the 

 possible selection of their life callings. It is believed enough 

 suggestive work has been outlined, if properly elaborated, 

 to easily fulfill this end. This, however, is a matter for 

 the individual teacher to decide for himself, or to adjust 

 to the requirements of boards of education. In any case, 

 practical work should include a considerable experience in 

 the determination of flowers by means of analytical keys 

 and appropriate floras. 



To the course as above ideally outlined there may be 

 added a third semester of botanical work on the evolution 

 of spore plants and the study of principles of ecology. 

 This is a. course of some difliculty, as it deals so largely 

 with microscopic forms and, therefore, requires for its best 

 acquirement a foundation knowledge gained by the seed 



