For June, 1923 



155 



Preserve the Wild Flowers — Abolish the Sign Boards 



DESTRUCTION OF WILD FLOWERS BY 

 INJUDICIOUS PICKING 



L. P. Jkxsex* 



AT the awakening- of Nature in early Spring, when 

 •'^ the buds burst open and the first wild flowers ap- 

 pear on tlie sunny hillsides, we feel the irresistible 

 call of Nature and much of our leisure time is spent in 

 the country, modern conveyances enabling us to go far 

 afield in a relatively short time. Outdoor life is essential 

 to our health and happiness and we enjoy it to its fullest 

 extent, but in our enjoyment, through ignorance of the 

 laws of Nature, we are often destroying and wasting the 

 very things essential for a continuance of this healthful 

 recreation. When we pick a handful of wake-robins, 

 bloodroot or Dutchman's breeches we are not only depriv- 

 ing others of their enjoyment of them, but also prevent 

 these plants perpetuating themselves b}' seed. 



On that account some plants are becoming scarcer as 

 the years go by, until some, such as the lady slipper 

 orchids, wild lilies, gentians and hepaticas, have become 

 so rare that they can be found only in out-of-the-way 

 places, protected only by their inaccessibility. Not only 

 are many plants being destroyed by picking of their flow- 

 ers, but those growing in the loose soil of the woods are 

 often entirely pulled out when the flowers are picked and 

 the entire plant destroyed. \\^oody plants, such as the 

 flowering dogwood, wild plum, crabapples, hawthorns 

 and others which produce large ntunbers of showy flow- 

 ers, are gradually disappearing from our woodlands, due 

 to injudicious picking. In this case not only a few flow- 

 ers are taken, but large branches are ruthlessly torn ofif, 

 occasioning serious wounds, which, owing to their torn 

 condition, cannot heal. Insects and diseases enter the 

 plant tissue through these wounds and soon destroy the 

 plants. Many wild flowers are so abimdant in a locality 

 and of such a persistent nature, that picking is permis- 

 sible, but the following rules should be strictly observed. 



Never break a branch oft a tree or shrub, but cut with 

 a sharp knife close to the main stem of the plant, making 

 a wound easily healed by Nature. 



Never pull or pick flowers : cut them with a sharp 

 knife, thereby avoiding pulling up the entire plant. 



Do not pick any flowers without leaving enough for 

 seed and for other persons to enjoy. 



Do not pick flowers for a moment's enjoyment, to be 

 cast aside to wither in the sun. 



Do not tear ofi^ large branches of flowering trees and 

 shrubs for the decoration of your auto on the return 

 journey from the woods; by so doing you are destroying 

 the most charming feature of our natural wilderness. 



If you desire to continue the enjoyment of our wild 

 flowers and wish to pass them on to your children, as you 

 surely do, you must help us put a stop to the injudicious 

 picking of them. 



^Arboriculturist. Missouri Uotanic Garden. 



WILL FLORISTS AID TO PRESERVE THE 

 WILD FLOWERS 



R. C. Bexedict'' 



THE whole problem of wild plant conservation may 

 be reduced to a few fundamentals. There are a 

 considerable number of wild plants whose beauty 

 makes them of interest to the general public. In this con- 

 nection they are subject to gathering by the public itself 

 and by the florist trade for distribution and sale to the 



public. In the case of a large number of these wild plants, 

 the natural stock is sufficient to supply all our present de- 

 mands. Such plants do not enter in as part of the proI> 

 lem of wild plant conservation. A considerable number 

 of wild plants however, for example manv rather un- 

 common forms and others formerlv common but now 

 through cullection greatly reduced in number, constitute 

 a problem for the florist and also for the general citizen. 

 It would be unfortunate to render extinct any wild 

 plant which has beauty and general interest. When at- 

 tiacti\e plants become reduced in numbers, it is desirable 

 that the collection of the wild supply should be stopped. 

 .Naturally it will stop itself eventually, but, in the mean- 

 time, regions commonly visited by the public at large may 

 have become so depleted of some of their beautiful plants 

 to supi)ly some distant private estate that visitors to the 

 public domain will be deprived of one of the natural 

 beauties of that region. So much by way of general 

 preamble. Specifically, measures along the following 

 lines have been discu.ssed and in some cases enacted as 

 State laws : 



1. A protected list of uncommon plants has been 

 established for the State of N'ermont. Collection of these 

 plants on public lands is restricted by the law to two 

 specimens apiece for scientific purposes. 



2. Collection on private land with the permission of 

 the owner is specifically permitted as a matter of constitu- 

 tional right. 



3. In another State, Connecticut, the right to collec- 

 tion on private land and to transport within the State 

 re.gion of the State flower, laurel, and some other things 

 is hedged about by the requirement of certain permit 

 forms which must be attached to packages for shipment. 



4. A law was proposed a year or so ago in ]\Iassachu- 

 setts to prevent entirely the public sale of the State flower, 

 trailing arbutus, regardless of its source, whether public 

 or private land. This was properly defeated, it seems to 

 me, since the right of the landowner to dispose of plant 

 growths on his land in any way he chooses seems to me 

 nearly inalienable, though of course, there are necessary 

 restrictions even in this connection regarding weeds and 

 poisonous plants. 



Can there be any reasonable objection on the part of 

 the florist trade to the establishment of full protection on 

 public lands a,gainst commercial collection, also excessive 

 scientific collection ? 



If the commercial raising of certain uncommon wild 

 plants is too difficult to he economic and feasible will not 

 the florist trade be willing to refrain from the use of such 

 species, even though scattered areas maj' still have con- 

 siderable supplies available? 



■Resident Investigator, Brooklyn Botanic Garden. 



CAPE COD WARS ON SIGNBOARDS 



CERTAIN important groups of Cape Cod residents have 

 begun a campaign against the advertising signboard. 

 Their first aggressive move was in the form of a petition 

 to the Boardof Public ^^"orks signed by the Selectmen of 

 fifteen towns in Barnstable county, representing among 

 other things that Cape Cod people are largely dependent 

 for their prosperity on Summer visitors. Whatever mars 

 the distinctive scenic characteristics of the Cape tends to 

 lessen its attraction for these temporary^ sojourners. 

 Advertising signboards, it is contended, have this elifect. 



That, in" brief, is the ground on which the Cape Cod 

 folk pray that certain Cape highways be declared "scenic 



