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tion of the soft coal, used on the engines. Near Philadelphia, if 

 one ascends an elevation in Fairmount Park, he can trace the 

 location of the railroad lines by the palls of smoke which hang 

 over them and are blown about with the change in the direction of 

 the wind. There are some places in the park where the hands 

 are blackened by taking hold of the leaves and branches of the 

 nearby trees. The herbaceous vegetation suffers also, though 

 in a lesser degree. With the increase in the number of industrial 

 plants on the lower Schyulkill River, the grass and flowers 

 planted for decorative effect in Bartram's Garden have been 

 injured by the acids which have been washed down by the rain 

 from the atmosphere to the plants beneath. 



The construction of fire-Ianes along the right of way of the 

 railroads, as in New Jersey, under laws of the state, has occa- 

 sionally caused the extermination of rare plants. I have in mind 

 two small cedar swamps in which grew the grassy fern, Schiazea 

 pusilla, and which have been cleared of undergrowth and of the 

 trees to widen the fire protecting area running parallel to the 

 tracks of the railroad. 



The clearing of land for industrial purposes often leads to the 

 extermination of plants worthy of preservation. In New 

 Jersey, not far from Camden, there was a field that was blue with 

 the fringed gentian, Gentiana crinita. The drainage of the field 

 and its use for building purposes has destroyed completely a 

 plant locality worthy of careful preserv-ation. 



It seems ver>^ difficult, notwithstanding the fact that an edu- 

 cational propaganda has been carried on for many years, to get 

 our people to realize the necessity for the preservation of our wild 

 flowers. Recently an interesting case has come to my attention. 

 A florist in Philadelphia displayed this spring, tvvo large bunches 

 of the flowers of the "bog asphodel," Helonias bullata, which 

 were bought from a vender, who had gathered them in the marsh- 

 land of New Jersey. A remonstrance was made to the florist 

 with the request that he refuse hereafter to buy such wild flowers. 

 At the same time he was asked to discountenance further practices 

 of this sort. How much good this plea will do, it will be hard to 

 estimate. Another case of thoughtlessness came to my attention 



