546 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



in the flora of the United States are 

 still entirely unknown to botanists; 

 and by all means the best way to 

 study them, after their discovery, is 

 pointed out by Neltje Blanchan in 

 her "Nature's Garden," of the nature 

 volumes here mentioned. From 

 Jacksonville, Florida, to Browns- 

 ville, Texas, there are over 1,700 

 miles of coast-line, not including the 

 shores of bays and minor inlets. 

 Thousands of land forms occur all 

 along the line, of which our knowl- 

 edge is extremely meagre; while as 

 to the marine forms that inhabit the 

 waters of that long shore-line of 

 the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of 

 Mexico we have, upon the whole, 

 but very slender descriptions indeed. 

 Of many of the minute species we 

 possess no knowledge whatever, and 

 science is still ignorant of the ex- 

 istence of others. 



Do we hear an American forester 

 ask, "Of what possible use or value 

 can such knowledge as is here re- 

 ferred to be to me ?" To which interogatory this prompt 

 reply may be given: "Of all the use in the world. And 

 the more you command of it, and the better you compre- 

 hend how to use it, the more efficient you will be as a 

 forester in the forests of this country. United States 

 needs every intelligent forester it can muster ; or the time 

 will come, however distant it may appear to many at pres- 

 ent, when their services may be dispensed with altogether ! 



In many sections our small birds are now being ex- 

 terminated with marked rapidity ; and yet Philip Henry 



A FAMILIAR SHELL FROM THE FLORIDA 

 REEFS 



Figure 19. Hundreds of different species of 

 shells may be collected on the Florida reefs, and 

 the one here sho.vn is among the most familiar. 

 Its dark back, thickly sprinkled with round, 

 white spots, is responsible for both its English 

 and its scientific name the Measled Cowry 

 {Cypraea exanthema). (Seen from below.) 



Gorse, in that delightful volume of 

 his "The Romance of Natural His- 

 tory," says "doubtless many of our 

 most richly wooded landscapes owe 

 much of their timber to the agency 

 of quadrupeds and birds. Linnets, 

 goldfinches, thrushes, goldcrests, 

 etc., feed on the seeds of elms, firs, 

 and ashes, and carry them away to 

 hedgerows, where, fostered and pro- 

 tected by bush and bramble, they 

 spring up and become luxuriant 

 trees." Nuthatches and squirrels 

 plant acorns that often come to be 

 the noble oaks of later generations. 

 On the other hand, this author points 

 out that "a number of tall, prostrate 

 trees were lying about, upon which 

 large columns of ants of all kinds 

 moved busily to and fro. In pene- 

 trating into the depths of the pri- 

 meval forests, one sees evidence at 

 every step that these minute crea- 

 tures are the destroyers of the colos- 

 sal trees, whose strength braves all 

 the attacks of storm and wind." 

 In several places in his work entitled "North American 

 Forests and Forestry," Ernest Bruncken undertakes to 

 demonstrate the connection between the forest and "the 

 great forms of earth-life," and points out the value to 

 the forester of a knowledge, as far as he is able to com- 

 mand it, of all things from insects to fire, from meteoro- 

 logical phenomena to earthquakes, that may directly or 

 indirectly affect forests of all descriptions. This author, 

 however, is not always happy in his synonymic compari- 

 sons, and thus exposes his lack of knowledge of certain 



TWO BEAUTIFUL SHELLS 



Figure 18. Our Florida shells compare very favorably with those from foreign countries in the matters of form and coloration. At the 

 left a Top Shell (Livonia pica), which has been found in Charlotte Harbor, West Florida, and most abundantly to the southward. It is of 

 value both as food and commercially. The smaller specimen is a Harp Shell from the Phillippines. 



