128 THE PLANT WORLD 



memory that of the faded flowers in their little hot hands. But the 

 flowers that they really brought home are, dare we say, immortal? 



In contrast with this, let us for a moment consider the cruel waste 

 that is going on among the mountain flowers in the region of Colorado 

 Springs. On certain days in the week special trains run " flower-trips " 

 which are largely patronized b}^ tourists. They recklessly pull up and 

 tear up the flowers, and return with great armfuls and basketfuls, and in 

 their ungoverned enthusiasm, they often deck the cars and festoon the 

 engine with them ! 



Beautiful places like these that are accessible to a great city should in 

 some way be preserved. They might well become a part of the great 

 park-system that in some States has become an important factor. Unfor- 

 tunately in many of these reservations no restrictions have been placed 

 on the gathering of herbaceous plants, more than that the roots are not 

 to be disturbed. The trees and shrubs are protected, and woe to him who 

 breaks a twig ! But he who plucks the last pink lady's slipper, perchance 

 the last of a thousand generations, goes unchided. This is a sad mistake, 

 for ten thousand may look at a lady'' s slipper , but only one can pluck it. 



As a result of this negligence, many of the wild flowers that were the 

 glory of Middlesex Fells, one of the most beautiful of the reservations in 

 the vicinity of Boston, have disappeared and their places know them no 

 more. So long, however, as the policeman and eternal vigilance are 

 necessary in order to insure protection, the word " negligence " is per- 

 haps too strong a term. The guards at the Botanical Garden in New 

 York may prevent the carrying awa}^ of flowers, but it is almost an im- 

 possibility to prevent their being gathered in those portions where it is 

 desired to keep the wild and natural state. Signs are posted at short in- 

 tervals, but not until our people have become educated into the spirit 

 will they also keep the letter of the law. 



Like many other evils, then, the final remedy lies in education. We 

 must have more of the spirit of the poet who was content to ' ' gaze upon 

 the wild rose and leave it on its stalk." We may rest assured that he 

 did not pick the "violet by a mossy stone," nor did he venture among 

 the daffodils, those glorious daffodils that have made sunshine for a hun- 

 dred years. Had he gone stumbling about among them, gathering the 

 finest here and there and treading down their crisp green leaves, he could 

 never have transferred the untouched vision to others. 



Finally, the government has power to preserve in a large way the fine 

 formations of this countr5^ Tracts of virgin forests in different sections 

 should be set aside on which Nature may continue her experiments un- 

 molested, tracts that should forever be free from the axe, and so far as 

 possible protected from fire. 



The climax-forests of the United States reach their highest develop- 



