WESTON HAVE YOU A NATURE HOBBY 179 



It would be fine to have a number of boys and girls from different 

 sections of the State become specialists in the Violet Family 

 since that is the family to which our State Flower belongs. 



A picture of the Henry Barnard school children on Violet 

 Hill was taken one day when the slope was blue with Bird foot 

 Violets. It does no harm to pick this kind of Violet for the plants 

 themselves are not disturbed. They go on blooming all the 

 more freely just as their garden cousin, the pansy, blossom 

 better when the flowers are picked. Of course we must be very 

 thoughtful in our hobbies for we want to encourage beautiful 

 plants to make themselves at home in our state. A little study 

 of the habits of the plants will often settle the question as to 

 whether we may j. ick the flowers or merely carry away a picture 

 of them. A Botany Teacher of mine once wrote of "Memory 

 Pictures." They are a very good kind not dependent on all the 

 puzzling factors which we must consider when taking camera 

 pictures. 



"Memory Pictures" 

 While we may pick Bird-foot Violets if we wish some flowers 

 to carry home we would decide that pictures were best for the 

 Yellow Violet whose single flower is borne on a leafy stem, as in 

 the Canada Violet, so that if the flower is picked the entire plant 

 is destroyed. Pictures form the only way to bring home many 

 other flowers as well as Yellow Violets. Memory pictures 

 of the pink Lady's SHpper are particularly lovely because the 

 setting is usually so fine. The next time you find these orchids 

 close your eyes for a few moments, try to recall the shape and 

 color of the flowers and the dark, woodsy background. Open 

 your eyes and see if your picture was accurate, is it as clear as 

 you would like to have it? If you have taken a good picture you 

 will have something to carry home far more beautiful than the 

 drooping, unhappy-looking flowers which lose so much of their 

 charm when taken from their own beautiful setting. Mr. Albert 

 E. Lownes has used the camera very successfully in his study 

 of the Orchids as you will see by his picture of the Purple Fringed 

 Orchids. He describes his hobby as follows: 



