PASSING OF THE WILD WOOD. 131 



from the wayside and fence-row by the hoe of 

 the thrifty farmer, till but few spots remain in 

 which she holds undisputed summer revel. 



The obliteration of natural plant life radi- 

 ates from the cities to a greater extent every 

 year. The neat farm houses spring up within 

 short distances of each other, the fence-rows 

 disappear, and orderly cultivation takes the 

 place of nature's wild luxuriance. What once 

 the zigzag fence partially protected, the wire 

 exposes to the hoe and plow. Instead of the 

 wild hyacinth, clematis, cardinal flower, or pink, 

 which decked the tangled, picturesque lines, the 

 carrot, white-top, yarrow, or other pest of the 

 farmer is monopolizing the beauty-forsaken 

 wayside. 



This spoliation is partly owing to the city 

 loiterer, greedy of beauty and nature's treas- 

 ures, but more from the owner of the soil who 

 has little difificulty in eradicating everything 

 but those persistent plant-squatters, which 

 stand a living contradiction to the law of -'sur- 

 vival of the fittest." 



About two miles from the county seat, to the 

 west, there is a strip of woodland which is 

 being gradually cleared away, until now there 

 is left less than ten acres. It is rich in the pro- 

 duction of wild vines, trees, and flowers. 



The wild grape, ampelopsis, tecoma, cle- 



