656 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



containing- water, in that they may 

 lend to the home that pecuhar 

 beauty and attractiveness that 

 flowers alone can do. Clearly this 

 is a very different matter compared 

 with reverse instances, or where we 

 see an outing party in an incoming 

 car bringing quantities of wild 

 flowers, flowering branches of 

 shrubs, and the like. Only too 

 often the smaller plants have been 

 pulled up by the roots — a most 

 vicious practice, and one leading to 

 the certain extermination of the 

 species so dealt with, as I have else- 

 where pointed out. The collection 

 of flowers and plants 

 thus gathered is only 

 too frequently tossed 

 out of the car to wither 

 on the roadside, before 

 coming into the city; I 

 can vouch for this 

 from abundant per 

 sonal observation, ex- 

 tending over a long 

 time. Occasionally, 



such bo u q u e t s o f 

 flowers are carried as 

 far as the entrance to 

 die garage, where they 

 are thrown into the al- 

 ley or street, to be 

 swept up with other ref- 

 use by those employed 

 for such iHirjiose. 



In future articles, I 

 shall have pleasure in 

 pointing out in these 

 pages the best methods 

 to be pursued in stud\-- 

 ing the wild flowers 

 near the home, and 

 how such researches 

 may be made to benefit, 

 not only the student 

 undertaking them, but 

 the people in general. 

 This will include the 

 forming of an herba- 

 rium; the correct way 

 to collect flowers ; plant 

 and flower-photogra- 

 I)hy, and similar pur- 

 suits that it does not 

 fall within the scope of 

 the present article to 

 touch upon. 



Among the princi- 



HELP TO SAVE 

 WILD FLOWERS 



THE beautiful wild flowers of this 

 country are steadily decreasing, 

 and some will soon disappear 

 entirely, unless people give 

 more attention to conserving them. 



Pluck wild flowers without limit, if 

 you wish, but do not pull them up by 

 the roots, nor strip full branches from 

 flowering shrubs and trees. This will 

 prevent their destruction. 



Public education is necessary. Re- 

 peat the paragraph above to children 

 and adults and ask them to pass it 

 along. It will help. 



VIOLETS .\RE R.\PIDLY DECREASING 



Fig. 4. — Here we have the Bird's-foot Violet i\'iola peiiala), a most lovely representative 

 of the Violet family; it occurs from Maine to Minnesota and southward. This charming 

 member of a truly historical assemblage of very familiar and much admired flowers the 

 world over is now being rapidly exterminated in the environs of many of our eastern cities 

 and towns, where formerly it flourished in great abundance. During the month of May, 

 which is the time of its blooming, ramblers through the woods often gather the flowers in 

 bunches of from fifty to a hundred or more. Frequently the plant, growing in loose soil, 

 is pulled up by the root, which results in its more certain destruction and ultimate elimina- 

 tion in many districts. The photograph was made of a plant growmg in the woods of north- 

 ern Virginia, and well shows ho%v the flower forces its way through the dead oak leaves in 

 the spring. The form of the leaves is well showri; the flowers show the appearance of two 

 perfect ones, while the three others are in the various stages of final curling up. This speci- 

 men is probably X'iola pedata bicolor. a most elegant variety of the common form. The upper 

 petals are of a rich purple, and as soft as velvet, the three lower ones being very pale and 

 arranged as shown in the illustration. We have a number of species of violets among our 

 wild flower flora, and mention is made of them in many classes and kinds of literature. 



pal plants and shrubs standing 

 in need of protection, with re- 

 spect to thoughtless and injudicious 

 gathering, I may mention, first of 

 all, our Trailing Arbutus (Epigcra 

 rcpcus), so well known to those 

 who know anything at all of our 

 more familiar species that a de- 

 scription here is rendered quite un- 

 necessary. As a flower, it is one 

 of the favorites in American his- 

 tory. In New England it is known 

 as the Mayflower, as it is one of 

 the earliest flowering species of 

 spring. \Vhittier loved its blos- 

 soms, and in one of his beautiful 

 poems he said of it : 

 " O sacred flower of 

 faith and hope, 

 As sweetly now and 



then 

 Ye bloom on many a 



birchen slope. 

 In many a pine-dark 

 glen." 



And Neltje Blan- 

 chan, in her charming 

 " Nature's Garden," 

 asks us : " Can words 

 describe the fragrance 

 of the very breath of 

 spring — that delicious 

 commingling of the 

 perfume of arbutus, 

 the odor of pines, and 

 the snow-soaked soil 

 just warming into life.'' 

 Those who know the 

 flower only as it is sold 

 in the city streets, tied 

 with wet, dirty string 

 into tight bunches, 

 withered and forlorn, 

 can have little idea of 

 the joy of finding the 

 I>ink, pearly blossoms 

 freshly opened among 

 the withered leaves of 

 oak ;ind chestnut, moss, 

 and pine needles in 

 which they nestle close 

 to the cold earth in the 

 leafless, windy nurth- 

 ern forest." 



I can remember 

 when, fifteen or txvnty 

 years ago, great patches 

 of arbutus could be 

 found in many locali- 



