Volume JO Number 4 



The Plant World 



B /llbagajine of ©cneral :ffiotan^ 

 APRIL, 1907 



THKOUGII BRISTOL SWAIIP. 

 By Grace Greylock Niles. 



Illnstrated by the Author. 



Tlie science of botany, as a profession in onr country, 

 lias not, until recently, offered remuneration sufficient for the 

 livelihood of the student. Few, as yet, fully realize the aim 

 of his work, in spite of the State Agricultural and Botanical 

 Stations, and the numerous popular books discussing plant life. 

 This seems strange considering the attention that our ]>ublic 

 schools give to Nature Study, and the amount of money appro- 

 priated by our Government to encourage observation and ]>ul)- 

 lication of plant notes. 



The botanist properly equipped for a collecting tour with 

 vasculum or press, is still a curiosity among us. For this reason 

 the real student searching, woodland and boo- fo^ material and 

 notes is generally hailed by the country children as merely a 

 new species of tramp. But upon the collector's enthusiasm for 

 exploring lonely and dangerous trails depends his success. 

 Practical ability as well as poetical ability is necessary to pen- 

 etrate nature's solitudes. Suitable dress for the wear and tear 

 of the pathless forests, and unfathomable swamp areas is abso- 

 lutely necessary, and should include water-proof boots, with 

 hobnailed soles, for climbing rocky slopes, or walking through 

 boulder-strewn streams. The vasculum and press must be made 

 as light and compact as ]>ossible. The vasculum should be long 



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