VOL. XIV. (3) | PRESERVATION OF PLANTS 263 
Council, the following notification from the Home Secretary 
is sufficiently explanatory of the difficulties of the case 
as the general law stands at present. 
*¢ Whitehall, 23rd May, 1902. 
“*Sir,—I have laid before the Secretary of State your letter of the 
Ist instant, stating that the Devon County Council desire to make a 
bye-law dealing with the up-rooting of ferns, plants, etc., in public 
places, and I am directed by. him to say for the information of the 
Council, that he does not quite understand from your letter the precise 
description of the acts which it is proposed to prohibit, and he would 
be glad to see the bye-law in draft. 
If it is confined to cases where serious damage and disfigurement is 
caused in public highways, etc., there may not be much difficulty from 
the legal point of view in framing the bye-law, but the Secretary of 
State would not be willing to allow a bye-law which would be likely to 
injure unsuspecting poor people residing in the district, or to lead to 
the punishment of young children. Possibly, however, the bye-law 
could be restricted in its operations so as not to involve any danger of 
this, ¢.g., by confining it to particular places to be indicated by notices. 
If, however, it is proposed that the bye-law should only apply to 
rare ferns or plants, the difficulties in framing it are likely to be greater. 
In any event a bye-law which would prevent any person from taking 
one or two common ferns or plants from the roadside for his own use, 
would, in the opinion of the Secretary of State, be inadmissible. 
I am, sir, your obedient servant, 
HENRY CUNYNGHAME.” 
-‘* The Clerk to the Devon County Council, 
The Castle, Exeter.” 
(2) As regards plants in danger of destruction or a 
severe diminution of numbers, they are best classified by 
the modes of destruction, and in all these cases it is at 
present only rooting up or removal of plants that is con- 
sidered and not the picking of flowers, &c. 
A. Plants rooted up wholesale by professional plant 
stealers for selling purposes. 
B. Plants liable to be rooted up by trippers and 
villagers. 
C. Plants liable to be rooted up by botanists and 
collectors. 
A. Plants that appeal to plant stealers must be obtain- 
able wholesale and be showy and easily transplanted, and 
$2 
