The first step is to purchase a popular illustrated book on this subject,
preferably one in which the flowers are arranged according to color. We
first learn, in the introduction, the principal parts of the flower, as
the calyx, the corolla, the stamen and the pistil. We find that the
arrangements of leaves and flowers are quite constant, that the leaves of
some plants are opposite, of others alternate; of still others from the
root only, that flowers are solitary, in raceme, head, spike or otherwise
clustered.

It now behooves us to take a walk upon a country road with our eyes open
and our book under our arm. Along the roadsides passing vehicles have
scattered the seeds of many flowering plants. We decide to pick and learn
the first white blossom we see. This blossom appears, we will say, upon a
plant about a foot high. We notice that its leaves are opposite, that its
corolla has five petals and that its calyx is inflated. We now look through
the section on white flowers. The first plant described has leaves from
the root only; the second is a tall shrub, these we pass, therefore, and
continue until we find one answering the description, leaves opposite,
calyx inflated, corolla of five petals. When we reach it we have identified
the plant; we now feel a sense of ownership in the _Bladder Campion_, and
are quite shocked when our friend calls it only "a weed." Meantime we have
noted many familiar names and some familiar illustrations which we must
identify on our next ramble.

On consulting our timepiece we find that we have absolutely spent a couple
of hours in complete forgetfulness of the daily grind, to say nothing of
having filled our lungs with comparatively fresh air, and having taken a
little exercise. Best of all, we have started a new set of associations; we
have paved the way for new acquaintances, Linnaeus, Gray, Dioscorides and