182 
surface of the earth and it does not matter much whether we pick 
it or not as there are so many others in the world.”’” But most 
probably they are so accustomed to pick a flower when they find 
it growing wild, that they do not think at all. 
The only way we have of fighting the indiscriminate picking 
of wild flowers is by educating the public. Nearly every person 
in this country reads some newspaper or periodical, and if we 
could get the owners and editors of these interested in the subject, 
we would have taken a great step towards the end in view. 
But our greatest hope lies in the schools, where we of the 
present are moulding the future. As things now are in the 
schools the outlook for the future of the wild flowers is ex- 
tremely dark. There is at present too little nature study in 
the curriculums of our schools, and that more of a mechanical 
nature thanit should be. Itis very well for the child to know the 
functions of the different parts of the plant, and the like, but, 
before we teach him this we should teach him the true beauty of 
the wild flowers, and the importance of not picking too many 
of the flowers he finds growing wild. At present the child is 
taught nothing of the kind. During my many years at school 
I never heard a teacher say a word about the necessity of pre- 
serving the wild flowers. It is not because they are not aware 
of the disappearance of the flowers—as I have often heard 
them speak about that. The general trend of their thoughts 
seems to be that because the more beautiful wild flowers 
are disappearing, we should pick them whenever we find them 
before they have altogether disappeared, if we want to get our 
.’ They, like many others, while aware of the dis- 
appearance of the flowers, and conscious that every specimen 
they pick helps to hasten their disappearance, have given up 
the hope of saving them and have resolved that, while they do 
last, they are going to ‘‘get their share’’ of them. They seem 
to think, ‘‘If all the flowers are going to be picked anyway, then 
why should I not pick them?” If these people should see that 
a concerted effort is being made to save the fast disappearing 
flowers, they would, doubtless, join in it. And if we thus 
interest the teachers in the subject, we have secured the schools, 
