104 NATURE STUDY AND AGRICULTURE 
notebook enter a complete list of all the flowers that you know growing 
in your neighborhood. Then, as you become acquainted with others, 
add them, noting where they grow, a description of the whole plant, and 
especially of the flower, and any other points of interest. You will, of 
course, meet some kinds whose names you cannot learn at the time. If 
the plant is common and you become well acquainted with it, enter the 
description in your notebook in hope of learning its name later. 
2. A permanent collection of flowers. — Make an herbarium embracing 
as many as possible of the flowers growing in your neighborhood. The 
collection may be made by a single student or by several working to- 
gether. A good herbarium is valuable for the school, where it may be 
used year after year and additions to it made from time to time. 
The specimen may include the whole plant, if it is small; otherwise, 
a piece of the stem with some leaves as well as the flower. Dry it as 
rapidly as possible between soft, unsized papers, under pressure, chang- 
ing the papers occasionally as they become damp from the absorbed 
moisture. When dry, fasten the specimens on thick white paper by slips 
of gummed paper or by glue applied to the specimens themselves. There 
should be only one species on a sheet, and al] the sheets should be of the 
same size. For large herbariums the standard dimensions are 11} x 16} 
inches, but for small collections even 6 x 9 may be used. 
3. Oral and Written Composition. — Many exercises in composition 
should be based upon such topics as are treated in this chapter. For 
example : 
a. Give a clear, full, and interesting description of some flower with 
which you are familiar and which you have before you. The descriptions 
in this chapter have necessarily been made very brief and concise. Make 
yours several times as long, taking up similar points but explaining them 
more fully and also adding many other interesting details. Illustrate 
with drawings showing the form of flowers, leaves, and other features. 
b. Give a general description of a particular group of flowers; as, 
your early spring flowers, your autumn flowers, flowers seen on the way 
to school, the flowers in your garden, etc. 
