A PLEA FOR PRESERVATION. 153 



the perpendicular wall of rock, tantalizingly beyond the reach of even 

 the sure-footed guide. So. I had to look to some other locality for my 

 specimens of Aspidiuiii fragrans. 



. A few years ago a new station for Lygodinvi palmatum was found 

 at Hunter, in the Catskill mountains, and so far as I am aware, it was 

 the only known station in New York State. The " summer boarder " 

 immediately became interested in the "climbing fern" and must 

 have it, so that the poor Lygodium was in danger of extermination. 

 The owner of the grounds, appreciating the desirability of preserv- 

 ing it in its strange home, forbade his family to reveal its Jiiding 

 place and succeeded for a time in protecting and concealing it by 

 placing bushes about it to screen it from public gaze. But his suc- 

 cess was short-lived. I w^as told this year that not a trace of it is left. 

 The vandals found it and w^antonly put an end to the growth of 

 Lygodium palmatum in New York State. 



The scientific botanist must make thorough, complete study of 

 rootstocks, but it is hardly necessary for the amateur and average 

 botanist and collector to verify every point in a rare specimen, how- 

 ever desirable it may be There are so many common varieties, both 

 of fern and flowering plant, that afford ample means for study, that 

 it seems like wanton destruction to uproot the rarer ones unless some 

 good, profitable, intelligent purpose is to be subserved. 



It is not on the plea of scientific interest that the tender Pellcsa 

 gracilis, which you never find anywhere but on a limestone formation, 

 is pulled up by the roots and brought home, I will tell you why that 

 is done — simply because it is the easiest, quickest w^ay to get it, with 

 roots attached, and the delicate, fragile plant can be preserved longer 

 in its freshness. 



If it is counted a virtue to make a blade of grass grow where none 

 ever grew before, it must, with equal force, be reckoned a crime 

 to rob the earth of the graceful beauty of fern growth that comes 

 slowly to its perfection, and is slow to recover possession when de- 

 prived of it. 



If my plea shall help anyone to be a little more considerate this 

 year in rambles through woods and meadows, and along the roadside, 

 it will not have been made in vain, and if any of my friends see fit to 

 furnish me with rootless specimens I shall not dare to complain. 



Mr. Virginius H. Chase, of Wady Petra, Illinois, is desirous of 

 obtaining herbarium specimens, including flowers, fruit and mature 

 leaves of all forms of Choke Cherries growing between Kansas, 

 Nebraska and Illinois. He wishes to trace the eastern limit of 

 Prunus demissa. 



