504 



THE GUIDK TO NATURE 





Photographing Spring Flowers. 



■Y MRS. M. E. MCDOUGALL, PJ.ATTSBURG, 

 NEW YORK. 



We who love nature are looking 

 forward to the gathering of the early 

 wild flowers, and if interested in 

 camera work, are planning pleasing 

 arrangements, good backgrounds and 

 suitable baskets or dishes to hold our 

 treasures. 



with arbutus. We did not wait until 

 spring, but gathered the buds which 

 form in the fall, tied them in bunches, 

 bound the rootless stems in soft moss, 

 and placed them with partridge vines 

 and berries in glass globes, covering 

 the tops with glass saucers. 



If kept damp and given plenty of 

 sunshine, the buds blossomed, some in 

 the early part of winter, others later 



ARBUTUS DECORATIVELY ARRANGED. 

 This photograph and that of the single hepaticas are by Mrs. McDougall. 



I have used the ingrain wall paper, 

 terra cotta, deep cream and dark 

 green, for backgrounds, fastening it to 

 a large, upright, drawing board and 

 letting it extend over the table. Sim- 

 ple baskets or clear, plain glass do not 

 take the eye from the flowers, and if a 

 loose bunch is laid over one or two 

 books it presents a graceful and pleas- 

 ing appearance. 



We have had a pleasant experience 



toward spring. In February, I saw 

 one small globe with two sprays in 

 blossom, six flowers on one and one on 

 the other. The odor that breathed 

 from that globe when I lifted the cover 

 was delightful. I cannot express the 

 pleasure it gave me. 



I wish the readers of The Guide to 

 Nature would try this. If you have 

 friends who cannot get to the woods, 

 make them a gift of arbutus buds in 



