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we should not pick the rare kinds at all; and the true spirit of 

 wild flower protection will often lead one, in the effort to in- 

 fluence others by force of example, to live up to the rules of con- 

 servation somewhat more strictly than circumstances might 

 otherwise demand. There would have been no harm, for example, 

 if each of the four children pictured in the accompanying pho- 

 tograph had picked a single lady's slipper to carry back to camp. 

 And yet, to have done so might very likely have paved the way 

 for others to pick them by the armful, by way of demonstrating 

 their greater appreciation of Nature's beauty. 



After all, one does not have to pick one's favorite wild flowers 

 in order to enjoy them. I know a fine bed of trailing arbutus, 

 for example, almost within the New Haven city limits. No one 

 else seems to have discovered it. Nearly every year I go out 

 and rake off the dead leaves; but I would not think of picking the 

 blossoms. There is a certain pride in its "possession," a sort of 

 proprietary feeling which any one can enjoy who knows the 

 location of some woodland rarity, even if, as in this case, the land 

 it grows on happens to belong to somebody else. Again, many 

 of the native wild flowers readily adapt themselves to cultivation 

 in the garden; although it should also be emphasized that many 

 do not, especially various of the rarer woodland varieties which 

 speedily succumb except under very special treatment. In the 

 Marsh Botanical Garden, at Yale, we have made a start in the cul- 

 tivation of native American herbaceous perennials under ordinary 

 garden conditions, the collection now, at the beginning of the 

 third season, comprising upwards of 250 different kinds. Finally, 

 there is the camera, with the aid of which one can gradually 

 build up a year-round collection of all his favorite wild flowers; 

 a collection which can be supplemented, if desired, by the 

 purchase of various other "photo-flowers," obtainable in the 

 market for a comparatively trifling sum. 



To select fifty showy Connecticut wild flowers which do not 

 need to be protected is not at all a difficult matter, since the 

 number of kinds which may indisputably be included in this 

 category is many times greater. Among the native golden-rods 

 and asters, for example, there are nearly forty rather common 

 species, all of which are more or less attractive and many de- 

 cidedly showy. To select fifty kinds which are among those most 

 suitable for decorative purposes, while at the same time among 



