INTRODUCTION 15 



touch it and always be on the lookout for it. It 

 has three leaflets to each leaf while the common 

 woodbine or Virginia Creeper, which is not a 

 poisonous plant, has five leaflets. 



And one more point all should bear in mind. 

 Many of these w r ild flowers are much scarcer 

 now than they used to be, because people have 

 pulled them up so ruthlessly, forgetting that others 

 who were to some later would care to see them 

 and love them. So let us all be careful to pick 

 but few of them, learning to enjoy their beauty 

 as they grow and leaving them to develop seed 

 for the next year's plants. 



You w r ill want to illustrate your wild flower 

 booklets by careful drawings of the flowers. In 

 general these drawings may be made by means 

 of a well-sharpened lead pencil, interpreting 

 through the pencil point the delicate lines of 

 growth shown in stem, leaf, and flower. See 

 how carefully you can make these drawings and 

 try to get the proportions of the various parts as 

 nearly like those of the plants as possible. In- 

 stead of the black lead pencil, colored crayons 

 may often be used to advantage, and if you have 

 sets of water colors you can get very attractive 

 illustrations by making careful outline drawings 

 with a lead pencil and then filling in with water 

 colors. Good drawings may also be made by 

 means of pen and ink. 



