Tl PREFACE 



Even the ignorance that we confese may often be of value to the 

 child. When a teacher who loves his subject admits ignorance, he 

 does it in such a way that it is a valuable stimulus to research on 

 the part of his pupils. In a short time, they become fellow- 

 workers with him, The atmosphere created by this method is one 

 to quicken research and originality ; and here, indeed, we have its 

 best feature. 



The old authoritative method of teaching Botany as a series of 

 ascertained facts with all the qualities of certainty and finality, 

 not only destroyed interest in all but a few minds, but gave no 

 impulse to inquiry —no enthusiasm of research. The barrenness of 

 much so called education lies in the training of young minds to 

 receive passively certain teachings as final ; the truth being that 

 there is no finality in science. The great discoverers were great 

 because they verified and examined and experimented for them- 

 selves ; and we do them homage not for reaching finality but 

 because they made progress. This is why such men are often 

 impatient with the crowd of admirers who form clubs to study 

 their work; good as such clubs are. " If I had been content," says 

 Ruskin, "to sit at another man's feet all my life there would have 

 been to day no Ruskin societies. " In no part of the world, too, is 

 the investigating mind more needed than in this new Southern 

 World of ours. The life-histories of many of our native animals 

 and plants is still unknown. Fine work has been done by our 

 pioneers in Zoology and Botany, and we are grateful for their 

 work ; but the half has not yet been told. Every one who has 

 looked into these things for himself has seen new paths of investi- 

 gation stretching out in all directions ; and the boys and girls 

 who are now being trained to observe are to be congratulated on 

 the wide field that lies before them. 



Only those plants and trees have been used that are well known 

 both in town and country. No plants have been mentioned that 

 are known to botanists only, or that have no popular names. 



The practical aspects of plant-study for Australasian scholars have 

 not been neglected. I have tried to show that the art of the 

 gardener and of the farmer in manuring, watering, draining, rota- 

 tion of crops, budding, grafting and the like are all copied from 

 Nature's methods, and are only to be fully understood when learned 

 in this way. If to-day our fields are more productive than tliey 

 were 50 years ago, it is because we have won Nature to the service 

 of man by a loving study of her ways. It was with no thought of 

 profit, indeed, that Linnaeus and his successors studied in garden 

 andfield. Hard-headedbusinessmen looked askance at what seemed 



