Photographing Wild Flowers 245 



to aid them in their studies, for it is certain that 

 by no other means can such perfect illustrations 

 be obtained; and, for an herbarium, such pictures 

 are, it would seem to me, invaluable. Not only is 

 it possible to obtain pictures of the plant in its 

 entirety, but each small part of the flower itself is 

 capable of being photographed and afterward 

 enlarged to any size desired, giving the student 

 a chance to study carefully and at his leisure the 

 I minute construction of the plants upon which he 



is at work ; while for comparison and identification 

 no drawing or description can equal a first-class 

 photograph. 



Not only to botanists, however, would I recom- 

 mend the photography of wild flowers, but to any 

 one who has a desire for instructive amusement. 

 Not one person in a hundred has the least idea 

 of the number of really beautiful wild flowers that 

 each year adorn the fields and woods immediately 

 surrounding our homes. 



They, of course, know the daisy, dandelion, 

 thistle, and those more common plants that bloom 

 by thousands through our fields and along our 

 roadsides; but let them create some reason for 

 becoming interested in the flora and they will be 

 surprised to find how many blooms they will 

 discover which they have never before seen or, at 

 least, noticed. 



But, in order to have any success in flower 



