44 
tion by legislative enactment and an awakened public sentiment is 
an accomplished fact. It is but reasonable to suppose that the 
same may in time be accomplished for our vanishing plants. 
It seems to me that all legitimate effort that can be made for 
the conservation of the native flora is naturally divisible into two 
fields—first the broader, higher plane of enlightened public senti- 
ment regarding the protection of plants in general, and second 
the immediate steps that must be taken to save certain of the 
more showy or interesting forms now threatened with extermina- 
tion. The first is something we may reasonably hope for, even 
if it comes slowly ; the second is a practical question that must 
be solved quickly or it will be too late. 
It has been pretty conclusively shown above that as the plants 
most in need of the safeguarding are without a definite money 
value, it can only or largely be accomplished by an appeal to 
sentiment. As forests possess this economic value, their con- 
servation may safely be left in the hands of interested parties. 
Under the guidance of this growing ban d of expert foresters the - 
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must be led to see that it is only selfishness which prowl the 
indiscriminate plucking of every bright-colored flower or shapely 
fern that attracts their eye. A walk afield, enlivened by the 
presence of flowers and birds, leaves behind a memory that may 
be cherished for years. The ruthless breaking up of this rounded 
symmetry of nature, simply for the gratification of the moment, 
leaves a void impossible to fill. 
As a means of awakening this more or less dormant public 
sentiment, I would make the following suggestions : 
In large measure it can be accomplished by the aid of the pub- 
lic press. As perhaps the best means of reaching this field, I 
would advocate the formation of what may be called a press 
bureau. That is, an individual or a set of individuals should be 
charged with the duty of preparing, from time to time, short, crisp, 
readable accounts of this movement. These should be printed 
on slips in the form of “copy” and distributed as widely as pos- 
