PREFACE 



Practical men and the agricultural press have from time to 

 time complained of the absence of text-books of botany suited 

 to the wants of the student of agriculture, those in existence 

 being works which treat the subject from a purely scientific 

 standpoint and contain a large amount of matter which, though 

 important to the botanist, is nevertheless of little interest or 

 value to the agriculturist whose time for training in such matters 

 is necessarily limited. 



The recent growth of interest in technical instruction, which 

 has resulted in a^large increase in the number of colleges and 

 schools for agricultural education, has rendered it imperative 

 that so serious a defect should be remedied, and this I have 

 endeavoured to do by writing the present volume. 



The contents are based upon many years' experience in teaching 

 and lecturing to students, practical farmers and gardeners, and 

 embrace all those botanical matters which such experience has 

 led me to consider essential to a sound working knowledge of 

 the general principles of the science and its more immediate 

 application to the crops of the farm. 



Although the book has been primarily written for the benefit 

 of students of agriculture, the greater portion of it is equally 

 well adapted to meet the requirements of gardeners and all who 

 desire to obtain an insight into the general structure and life- 

 processes of plants, a knowledge of which must undoubtedly 

 conduce to a more satisfactory and economical management of 

 all cultivated plants. 



Until quite recently botanical knowledge has apparently 

 been deemed of little importance in examinations in the 

 science and practice of agriculture, the science of botany 

 being usually treated as an ' optional subject.' It is, how- 

 ever, gratifying to note that in the new regulations for the 

 examination for the National Diploma in the science and practice 

 of Agriculture, issued by the National Agricultural Examination 

 Board, Botany takes its proper place as an obligatory subject 

 beside its sister science Chemistry. 



