i6o8 The Cornell Reading Courses 



One plant of the Cypripedium acaule is better than many to show the 

 forceful curve of the stem rising from the ground with its one rare 

 blossom. No line of this untisual plant, from the root leaves to the toe of 

 the moccasin with its fluttering ribbon ties, should be lost. 



It is a pity to despoil the roadvsides of flowers, sprays of berries, and 

 other growths that have been arranged so picturesquely by the landscape 

 gardener, Nature. By going a bit out of the way into wood or pasture 

 one can usually get any quantity of the same flower and thus leave un- 

 molested those by the wayside to gladden the eyes of all later passers-by. 



The amateur botanist has doubtless been responsible for the disappear- 

 ance of some rare plants. It used to be " accounted for righteousness " 

 in the schools to capture as many specimens as possible, press, mount, 

 label, and file them for future reference. One enthusiastic high school 

 teacher was accustomed to require each member of her class to secure 

 seventy-five specimens. A better test is suggested by Emerson: 



Hast thou named all the birds without a gun. 

 Loved the wood rose, and left it on its stalk? 



There is one hopeful element in this greedy appropriation of the wild 

 flowers. It indicates a growing appreciation of nature, which may lead 

 in time to the perpetuation of some of the fast vanishing species, and 

 the growing of them in their native haunts where the right conditions 

 of soil, water, light, and heat can best be obtained. There are waste 

 lands suitable for such plants, which might be made to yield a good income, 

 and a new industry, the intelligent propagation of wild flowers for city 

 markets, might be established. 



There are many flowers, such as daisies and buttercups, asters and 

 goldenrod. Queen Anne's lace and black-eyed susans, that may be picked 

 in unlimited quantities. If pulled up by the roots, the approbation 

 of the farmer, who regards them as pests, would be secured. Most of 

 these flowers are attractive, too, in large masses, and nature will see 

 to it that these little Ishmaelites of the fields do not perish from the earth. 



The gentian is not " the year's last child," and resources for decorative 

 motives for home, school, and church, are not exhausted when the snow 

 comes. One drawing teacher never begins a winter without some sprightly 

 little sedges in one particular vase, some cotton grass in another, some 

 branches of the bayberry, and a mass of russet oak leaves, which are 

 quite as appealing in color and form as in their green youth. The scarlet 

 berries of the black alder, or Ilex vcrticillata, the bittersweet, the gray- 

 green boats of the milkweed with their silk-winged crew just peeping 

 out, and many berries and seed packs, are as effective for decoration as 

 are flowers. 



