PEEFACE. 



BOTANIES without number have been published, giving 

 scientific descriptions of plants of such character that 

 the student is enabled by careful analysis of their structure 

 and appearance to determine their names and physical 

 characteristics. Such books are excellent in their way, and 

 the information they contain is necessary for all students of 

 the science ; but all our pupils who take up this study as 

 part of their curriculum have not the scientific mind which 

 makes the acquirement of the science an end in itself. To 

 engage the interest and enthusiasm of such students, it is 

 necessary to show the practical aspects of the vegetable 

 world, and its relations to the needs of every-day life ; to 

 reveal something of its history, which, in itself, becomes a 

 fascinating study ; and to show enough of its economic 

 features to satisfy those who have neither the scientific 

 mind nor the poetic temperament required for a love of the 

 study for itself. 



There has been a long-felt want for a work of such prac- 

 tical character, and this book has been prepared to meet 

 the demand. It does not aim to be exhaustive, as such 

 a treatment would make a book of many thousands of 

 pages, which it would be impracticable to place in the 

 hands of a pupil ; but the author has made a careful se- 

 lection of the most important food-producing trees, shrubs, 

 and herbs, including ornamental plants, fruits, nuts, medi- 

 cinal plants, and those which furnish oils, dyes, lumber, 

 textile fabrics, etc. ^^ , 



^ . /» i m m,^ ^^OPUtTV OF 



71^/ *»ftC0lUB£llB8A8y. 



