Foreword 
THE chapters of this book are so arranged as to 
follow the waxing and waning of plant-life during 
an average season in the northeastern United 
States. 
By this plan a few repetitions have been abso- 
lutely unavoidable, and for these the author apolo- 
gizes to the—she hopes—‘‘ gentle’’ reader. The 
only other arrangement possible would have been 
a systematic one, adopting the most recent views 
as to the relationship and development of plant- 
families. I hardly had courage for such an enter- 
prise as this, and moreover the thing has been 
done so fully, so ably, and so recently, that the 
student who seeks a systematic botany will find his 
wants already amply supplied. 
This book is written more especially for people 
who have not time, or, perhaps, inclination, to 
become actual students, who have not familiarized 
themselves with botanic nomenclature and tech- 
nial terms, and who yet love to observe the beau- 
ties and the wonders of familiar plant-life. 
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