PRACTICAL PLANT PROTECTION 



By WiLLARD N. Ci^ute; 



A N immense amount of sentiment is being wasted on the 

 ■^^ protection of our native wildflowers. In some com- 

 munities the movement has ahiiost reached tlie point where 

 the picking of a blossom from an uncultivated area is regard- 

 ed as an act of vandalism. If it were true that the gathering 

 of wildflowers, or even their destruction, is a misdemeanor, 

 the farmer and the gardener, not to speak of the faithful 

 horse and the placid cow, would be classed among the great- 

 est criminals. What hosts of goldenrod, bouncing bet, toad- 

 flax, daisy and buttercup they have all destroyed ! It depends 

 a good deal upon the species uprooted. If any farmer, single- 

 handed, could exterminate every plant of quack-grass, pig- 

 weed, burdock, wild lettuce and Canada thistle in" the world, 

 instead of being ashamed of the deed he would glory in it 

 and be acclaimed a hero by the legions of hard-pressed agri- 

 culturists battling with the weeds. 



Clearly it is out of the question to expect to protect all 

 the plants with showy blossoms. Several of those already 

 named are not only in no need of protection but actually sur- 

 vive, flourish and extend their holdings in the face of the 

 most determined opposition. There are a large number of 

 others that are well protected by their position on high moun- 

 tains, in the midst of deserts, on inaccessible cliffs and the 

 like. No band of marauders, out for a day's picknicking. 

 will exterminate whole colonies in such places, but the com- 

 mon plants of our more settled communities certainly do need 



