1034. There are two methods of acquiring botanical knowledge, analogous to those by which languages are acquired. The first is the natural method, by which plants are classed according to the natural affinities which they bear to each other, a knowledge of which is obtained by a consideration of the whole of their structure. This knowledge is the highest of which systematic botany is capable. The second is the artificial method by which plants are classed according to their similarity in some few particular points, of structure, without reference to their natural resemblances. An easy and expeditious mode for gardeners to know plants and study the vegetable kingdom is as follows:-
