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botany. To secure this badge a scout must collect, mount and 

 label fifty specimens of flowering plants, without the roots. In 

 addition, five each of ferns, mosses, liverworts, lichens, fungi and 

 algae must be prepared and, if possible, labeled. One of the 

 other requirements is an essay of at least two hundred words on 

 the conservation of wild flowers. Both the stont handbook and 

 the merit badge pamphlet on botany emphasize the necessity of 

 protecting plants and caution scouts not to gather rare flowers. 

 Parts of two essays recently submitted to the editor by applicants 

 for the Botany Merit Badge are given here as showing the under- 

 standing scouts have of the importance of wild flower conserva- 

 tion. 



" Leave the flow^ers alone. Let them grow. By doing this you 

 can help to increase the beauty of the country. Among the 

 flowers that are being exterminated are the Jack-in-the-Pulpit, 

 Spring Beauty, Mountain Laurel, Flowering Dogwood and Wild 

 Pink. It will be noticed that all of these are now seldom seen 

 near the cities and some of them seldom in the woodlands. A 

 good rule to follow is ' Never collect one flower unless there are 

 three seen, nor collect two unless six are seen, and never collect 

 a root unless there are more than ten plants in the colony.' 



" One of the most important works of Botanists should be the 

 conservation of wild flowers. This is especially important in the 

 parks and other places about cities. If people are allowed to 

 gather as many flowers as they wish some of the rarer flowers 

 will soon be extinct in the unprotected places. Among those 

 flowers which are in danger of extinction is the Pink Lady's 

 Slipper. This flower may be found in deep woods along with 

 the mountain laurel. It is very attractive and likely to attract the 

 attention of any passer by. The Mountain Laurel also is in dan- 

 ger of being wiped out, for it is gathered in great bunches by 

 people who picnic in the mountain woods. Although it is abun- 

 dant now it is being rapidly diminished." 



The Editor. 



