THE PI.ANT WORIvD 179 



the teachers of the trials and disappointments peculiar to window-gard- 

 ening under most adverse conditions. 



Now a word or two as to some of the conditions which confront New 

 York members of the society in their endeavors to preserve the wild 

 flowers. Difficulties increase with the increasing love of the children for 

 flowers of every kind and quality and with their insatiate longing for 

 them ; a longing which there are few opportunities of gratifying in a 

 large city which is rapidly devouring the suburbs in its speedy growth. 



This longing finds expression in frequent demands for "just one 

 flower ' ' made on any and every one who carries a handful of blossoms 

 through the city streets. A bouquet of bushel-basket dimensions would 

 not outlast a half-mile walk if an attempt was made to satisfy this crav- 

 ing by the gift of a single blossom to every child that asks for one. 



Is it strange, then, that every stretch of wild accessible to such flower- 

 starved children should be denuded of every bit of bloom in a twinkling, 

 or more singular that whole handfuls of such indiscriminately-plucked 

 blossoms are almost as quickly discarded, because they incontinently wilt 

 and die almost before they can be carried from the cool recesses of their 

 native woods? 



The parks, valuable as they are as breathing places, only partially 

 satisfy this flower hunger, because in them the child may admire but 

 must not pick, nor even handle, bud or blossom, leaf or fruit ; almost as 

 great a restriction as the glass windows of the florists' shops in the heart 

 of the great city, through which they peer longingly at the fragrant 

 treasures so far beyond their reach. 



The larger and wilder parks in the northern suburbs, and notably the 

 New York Botanical Garden preserve in Bronx Park, where the wild 

 flowers are treasured beyond the showiest of hybrids, have felt the de- 

 structive effects of this craving for flowers to a marked degree. Warn- 

 ing signs are displayed, but have little effect, and the predominating ex- 

 cuse of older offenders, " I didn't think it any harm to pick a few wild 

 flowers," gives but little promise of greater discretion on the part of 

 children. 



It must be confessed that the Director-in-Chief of the Botanical Gar- 

 den has thus far not had the heart to attempt to enforce punishment upon 

 the youthful offenders for satisfying a heart-hunger so apparent. I cer- 

 tainly can offer no suggestion as to its cure, although to even remedy it 

 would be to accomplish much in the preservation of the wild flowers. I 

 only know that it would require a fortune in a city of a million and a half 

 of inhabitants, and executive ability of rare character, to satisfy it. 



Again I have only told of conditions in the hope that others may be 

 able to suggest means to meet the evils. The most effectual way to dis- 

 courage trafl&c in wild flowers and plants lies in the refusal of their friends 



