ORNITHOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 



trees near a brook. How often, as the years 

 come and go, do I wonder ^low those trees de- 

 veloped. One of those boys has entered that 

 land, where the Tree of Life yields leaves for 

 the nations' woes; the other, in manhood's 

 prime, still loves the trees. 



* * * * * 



And now, friendly readers, allow kind wishes 

 for the year of our Lord, 1891. May we wel- 

 come just such discipline as our Father in hea- 

 ven sends ta us. Remembering such prepara- 

 tion is needed, to fit us for that land where 

 flowers are fadeless and leaves never wither. 



OUR NATIONAL FLOWER. 



BY JESSIE C. lOKEW, THOMPSONVILLE, CONN. 



What shall it be? England has the rose, 

 Scotland the thi=ti d the shamrock, and 



France the lily. Of the many flowers propos- 

 ed for America, the golden-rod is the most 

 popular. But, do we want our nation repre- 

 sented by a weed ? 



We want the United States to live on forever. 

 Why take for its emblem a flower that lives for 

 a season only. 



Let us choose instead the American 1; \rel, 

 {A'almia latifoUa.) Its bright green leaves and 

 rose colored flowers are very beautiful in the 

 summer ; in the winter its glossy leaves show 

 that although many flowers are vanquished by 

 Jack Frost, the laurel does not yield. This 

 i(-.-u^ grows from four to twenty feet high and 

 i, nd all over the United States. 



Ins distinctly American, and that is what we 

 want our national flower to be. The rose may 

 be the queen of flowers but the laurel is the 

 king. Holding its own proudly in sunshine or 

 storm, it looks down with scorn on the frail 

 flowers at it's feet. The golden-rod isr egard- 

 ed with contempt by the farmers, but not so 

 with the laurel. 



I have in mind a trout stream bordered with 

 laurel. With the rippling brook, the moss-grown 

 rocks, the pink and green of the laurel, and the 

 "speckled beauties" leaping in the pools, it is 

 truly the fisherman's paradise. 



When you think of the American laurel, of 

 it's hardihood, strength and beauty, I hope you 



will all unite with me in voting the laurel our 

 national flower. 



TO AMATEUR PAPERS. 



This Magazine will be mailed free fo. one year 

 to the publisher of any amateur paper who will 

 insert the following in his paper and send us a 

 marked copy. 



Everybody who loves flowers and birds should 

 have a copy of the Ornithologist and Bot- 

 anist, a bright, eight-page Monthly devoted to 

 these subjects. Each issue is full of interesting 

 articles by the best writers. Send for free sam- 

 ple copies to Joseph E. Blain, 8 Edward Street, 

 Binghamton, N. Y. 



WANTED ! 



A copy of " Birds and Seasons of New Eng- 

 land," by Wilson Flagg, is wanted at this office. 

 The book must be clean and in good condition. 

 Anv iving a copy for sale will find a pur- 



ch- , writing to us stating ]o jrice for 



cash. 



THE VALUE OF BOTANY. 



Those who have not tried for themselves can . 

 hardly imagine how much science adds to the 

 interest and variety of life. It is altogether a 

 mistake to regard it as dry, difficult or prosaic — 

 much of It is as easy as it is interesting. * * * 

 Botany, for instance, is by many regarded as a 

 dry science. Yet without it one may admire 

 flowers and trees as one may admire a great man 

 or a beautiful woman whom one meets in a 

 crowd, but it is as a stranger. The botanist on 

 the contrary — nay, I will not say, the botanist, 

 but anyone with even a slight knowledge of that 

 delightful science — when he goes to the woods 

 or into one of those fairy forests which we call 

 the fields, finds himself surrounded by a glad 

 company of friends, everyone with something 

 interesting to tell. — Lubbock. 



The season is always a little behind the sun 

 in our climate, just as the tide is always a little 

 behind the moon. — Burkoughs. 



