PREFACE 
Although students vary widely in their reasons for studying 
Botany, the fundamental facts or principles of the subject are 
not thereby altered. One has considerable freedom, however, in 
the presentation of the subject to adapt the subject matter to 
special aims of different classes of students, and especially is 
this true in courses for agricultural students, since much of the 
work in Agriculture is based upon the principles of Botany. In 
the choice of material to illustrate principles and in the presen- 
tation of the applications of principles, there is special oppor- 
tunity to relate courses in Botany to courses in Agriculture. 
In any elementary course in Botany, regardless of the kind of 
education the student desires to obtain, the primary aim should 
be to give the student a notion of the fundamental principles of 
Botany. This aim should be the guiding one in both recitation 
and laboratory, determining the trend of discussions in recita- 
tion, and the nature of the material and procedure in the lab- 
oratory. The primary aim should be accompanied by a secondary 
aim to relate the subject to the student’s major line of work. 
When the relation of the subject to major lines of work is obvious, 
the student is more likely to appreciate the subject and is thereby 
put in a favorable mood to study the subject. Even for students 
who take Botany merely as a part of a general education, it in no 
way detracts from the course or makes botanical training less 
efficient to present the practical aspects of the subject. 
This book is intended for elementary courses in Botany in 
colleges and universities. In its preparation the aim has been to 
present the fundamental principles of Botany with emphasis 
upon the practical application of these principles. The subject 
matter is presented in two parts, part I being devoted to the 
study of the structures and functions chiefly of Flowering Plants, 
and Part II, to the study of the kinds of plants, relationships, 
Evolution, Heredity, and Plant Breeding. 
In the preparation of the book, I had the following objects in 
view: (1) to present the structures and functions of Flowering 
