THE PLANT WORLD 241 



special acts of the legislature, different States have adopted floral emblems 

 as follows: Iowa, wild rose ; Maine, pine cone and tassel ; Michigan, apple 

 blossom; Montana, bitter root; Nebraska, golden rod; Oregon, Oregon 

 grape ; Vermont, red clover ; Colorado, white and blue columbine ; Okla- 

 homa, mistletoe ; Utah, sego lily. 



Other States have flowers which have been selected by vote of the 

 school children as State emblems, or for other reasons are popularly rec- 

 ognized as such. They are as follows: California, California poppy; 

 Idaho, syringa ; Kansas, sunflower ; Minnesota, moccasin flower ; Nevada, 

 sagebrush; Washington, rhododendron; Georgia, Cherokee rose ; New 

 York, the golden rod. 



It seems to me that a very appropriate and satisfactory solution of the 

 national floral emblem would be to present Fair Columbia or the Goddess 

 of Liberty with a shower bouquet composed of the different State flowers, 

 or crown her with a garland in which they are entwined. 



The Dying Tree, and How We 



Saved It. 



By I. W. Blake. 



In the spring of 1902 a certain small Catalpa tree failed to leaf out as 

 usual. It appeared to be quite dead, for the bark was gray and dry and 

 seemed ready to scale off. Upon its trunk and lower branches were long 

 scratches which had opened into well-defined cracks, and the cause was 

 quite a mystery. One day this was explained. We discovered that the 

 family cats were making great use of the tree for a hide-and-seek play- 

 ground. Not as a scratching post for claw-sharpening, but for a grand 

 dailj' frolic, swinging deftly among and around these conveniently low- 

 growing branches as they chased and dodged one another. 



To protect the tree from their antics, the trunk was bound snugly with 

 soft flannel strips from the ground up to the height of perhaps four feet, 

 and wound spirally with the ends lapping, just as a surgeon would band- 

 age a broken arm or leg. The covering was also extended to two of the 

 side branches for a short distance, and then soft white twine was bound 

 around to secure all. There was no particular reason for using flannel 

 instead of cotton cloth. The woolen material chanced to be at hand, 

 but the result may indicate that it was perhaps employed to better advan- 

 tage than cotton. 



Abandoned as a spoiled playground by the cats, the tree was left 

 unmolested for about three months, during which period there were no 



