UPROOTING OF PLANTS 17 



a bag of reasonable size, will scarcely fail to find 

 something or other that he will be glad to transfer 

 from its country surroundings to their counterfeit 

 presentment, and, once there, if he be successful in 

 its cultivation, it remains a pleasant record. 



It may be here brought against us that this 

 filching from the general store that Nature provides 

 for the delectation of all, for the gratification of one, 

 is unjustifiable, and we have heard people gravely 

 protest against such a state of things as children 

 being allowed to gather a bunch of wild flowers. 

 It is in such matters well to clear our minds of cant. 

 We venture to claim that we stand behind no one in 

 our desire to see our flora and fauna preserved, but 

 there is a medium in all things, and while the up- 

 rooting of rare plants is an evil to be vigorously 

 protested against, we feel absolutely no sense of 

 wrong-doing to our neighbour when, to take a con- 

 crete case, we bear away from some desolate salt- 

 marsh one plant of thrift from the hundreds that 

 surround it, or one root of red valerian from the 

 hundreds that spring forth in profusion from the 

 cliff-crannies. Nature has great power of recupera- 

 tion, and even such a loss as one per cent, not on 

 the total output of the country but in one small 

 area, leaves no permanent void, no lasting scar. 



The term rock-garden is a very comprehensive 

 one, and covers everything from the lordly 

 pleasaunce planted with choice Alpines and the 



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