Man and Nature 419 



frozen in transit, must be protected by moist material such 

 as sphagnum moss, which seems to have an antiseptic func- 

 tion, and to protect the plants from infection and decay ; and 

 packed in strong boxes to protect the young sprouts in case 

 of germination en route. Entire plants, or cuttings from 

 them, are covered with the sphagnum and then carefully 

 packed in bales or boxes for shipment. 



Arrived in Washington each package is carefully inspected 

 by an entomologist and plant pathologist to guard against the 

 importation of insect pests or plant diseases, and if any im- 

 migrants are found concerning whose health the inspectors 

 are in doubt, they are kept in quarantine in gardens near 



BUFFALO ON NATIONAL BISON KANGE, MONTANA 



One of the few remnants of the once mighty herds which formerly 

 roamed the West. 



Courtesy of the U. 8. Bureau of Biological Survey. 



Washington until all danger of infection is passed. Those 

 which pass inspection are entered in the records of the office 

 which include data giving the source of the plant, its uses, 

 inspection, consignee, etc., and are then forwarded to the 

 experimental gardens where they are to be propagated, or to 

 the special experimenters in various parts of the country for 

 whom they were obtained. 



But not alone in foreign lands is the economic biologist 

 seeking to increase the nation's wealth. Many are our nat- 

 ural resources unused as yet, while many another fast dis- 

 appearing can be restored in part at least to its former abun- 

 dance, not only by the negative measures of conservation, but 

 by the active ones of propagation as well. 



