Plant Life in General 



Fig. 2. A perennially beautiful garden. 



of it many of our most important arts can be practiced only 

 in a cumbersome way. 



Nothing has as yet been said about our natural curiosity 

 as an incentive to the study of plants. Yet the desire to 

 know and understand is so strongly developed in all human 

 beings that it has probably had more to do with the growth 

 of the sciences than all other influences combined. We 

 naturally want to understand why things are as we find them ; 

 we are ever seeking explanations of peculiar objects and un- 

 usual happenings that come to our attention. The study of 

 botany will help to satisfy our wholesome curiosity about 

 plants, and will direct our inquiries into profitable channels. 



Newspapers and magazines often pubHsh accounts of 

 strange plants or of unusual plant habits. We read that wheat 

 found in the tombs of ancient Egypt, where it had been buried 

 for many centuries, was still alive. It is reported that a tree 



