THE PLANT WORLD 239 



In June, for Children's Day, and at Christmas time, we appeal to the 

 children for help in gathering flowers and greens for the decorations at 

 our Sunday-school festivals. To those who are not acquainted with 

 rural child nature, it would be a pleasure to see how they respond, and 

 how the interest of the elders is enlisted to obtain the desired decora- 

 tions, A poem, or little essay on these occasions, would bring to the 

 children's attention a way in which they could be helpful by care of all 

 these natural beauties, and teach them a reverence for the works of God 

 in nature. 



Where it comes to the preservation of our trees and shrubs, we have 

 reached a problem which can only be solved by legislative enactment. 

 But back of every law must be public sentiment, and a knowledge of the 

 evils which the law is intended to correct. There is a proportion of the 

 rural population who appreciate the tree for itself, and because of the 

 beauty it adds to the landscape, but the larger number look at the trees 

 from a purely utilitarian standpoint. 



An instance comes to my mind of one of the best and largest farms 

 in our region, where no fine tree shades the house, and never a bit of 

 shade refreshes the passer-by along that dusty stretch of road. The 

 owner is but a type of the class of men to be found in all the country 

 round, who can never be reached by sentiment, and would cut down 

 road-side trees or primeval forest without compunction. 



But how sorely we need to arouse both public sentiment and bring 

 to bear the forces of law can be best illustrated by giving an instance of 

 wanton destruction of a glorious bit of forest, with its shrubs and flowers, 

 which lies on our road within the town limits. It is on a very steep hill- 

 side, and after the wood was cut, most of the land was practically value- 

 less. Lying along the road, a most refreshing shade was given where 

 it was much needed ; and the immense trees delighted by their beauty 

 of form and size. A judicious cutting of that forest would have brought 

 no protest ; but it was aggravating, to say the least, to find that after 

 the lumbermen had left, there was not even a single tree along the 

 roadside to furnish the shade and relieve the bareness and ugliness of 

 the spot. If left to itself, in a few years there may be a scraggly second 

 growth ; but at present unsightly weeds and stumps remind us of what 

 many considered one of the chief beauties of our somewhat common- 

 place road. 



Much has been done by lectures and articles in papers and maga- 

 zines, to bring to the attention of the public the need of preserving our 

 natural beauties. This campaign of education must continue, and again, 

 I would say that the children in the schools may be taught, through 

 especially prepared Readers, some of the simple facts in regard to the 

 forests over which many of them may have control. They can learn to 



