THE PLANT WORLD 129 



THE PROTECTION OF NATIVE PLANTS.* 



By Idei<ette Carpenter. 



MATTHEW ARNOLD somewhere lias said, " Salvation comes not 

 by the might of the unenlightened many, but through the in- 

 fluence of fhe enlightened few." All great reforms have been 

 brought about by the earnest, determined work of a few, who have so 

 preached and lived their peculiar doctrine that scoffers have been forced 

 to accept and believe. 



In our countrj^ John Burroughs has been the great sower of the seed 

 of the love of Nature. No one has done so much as he to show us the 

 glory of the earth. " The Winter Sunshine," the nests with their trage- 

 dies, the first spring day, the roily river, the running sap, emerald 

 fields and golden dandeloins, all are texts from which he has preached 

 his sermons. The seer of Slabsides has been the source of inspi- 

 ration for the Nature study of the present time; great institu- 

 tions like Cornell University have put the work in a practical form, so 

 that there is no school house in the state, no matter how plain and unpre- 

 tentious, but has its sunny window filled with sprouting seeds and grow- 

 ing plants ; its shelf with pebbles from the brook, and rocks from the 

 nearby hill ; a hang bird's nest, and the hornet's home. 



The seed has been sown ; it has taken root, the stems are already 

 stretching skyward, and it is for us to see that the tender sprout becomes 

 a strong and vigorous tree, bearing as its fruit the intelligent care of all 

 living things. 



In the preservation of the native trees, shrubs and herbs of our 

 State every school should become the educational center. The trees of 

 the immediate vicinity should be identified, those near the school house 

 and in the village should be labeled (to be able to call things by their 

 names is always of interest to children) ; the elm tree beetle, the maple 

 and fruit tree borers, the web moth, and other destructive insects, with 

 their remedies, should be studied. 



The fragrant spicebush, witchhazel, alder, andromeda, laurel and 

 dog- wood might vie with the old world forsythia, syringa and privet in 

 the school yards. 



What country boy and girl does not know where to find the first 

 violets, where to look for the first arbutus, the spotted adder's tongue, 

 the early saxifrage? Have you never heard the secrets of country 

 children — some wonderful patch of violets which no one else knows 

 about, some far away strawberry field ripening in the sun ? The teacher 

 never has to create an interest in the spring flowers. Here is where the 



*Published by courtesy of the New York Botanical Garden, 



