SPORT AND SCIENCE ON THE 
to the general reader, at the same time serving 
as a help to the future botanists of this country, 
in directing them to the districts, where they may 
most readily find fruitful fields for their labours. 
T have arranged the subject under four headings, 
Trees, Fruits, Flowers and Cryptogams, discussing 
under the first, wood-producing, arborial forms ; 
under the second, plants bearing edible fruit; 
under the third; conspicuous flowering plants, 
and under the fourth, the flowerless plants such 
as ferns, mosses and fungi. 
i. TREES 
North China is on the whole very poorly supplied 
with good wood-producing trees. The Chinese 
have no forestry laws, and though they know 
good wood when they see it, they do very little 
in the way of tree culture. Along the main roads 
saplings are planted from time to time, but the 
first passer-by, who feels in a destructive mood, 
or is in need of a stout pole, or even a bit of fire- 
wood, cuts down the young tree with impunity. 
Still many remain and develop into fine trees, 
but even these are cut down for their wood long 
before they should be. 
The owners of woods round temples in the foot- 
hills are very jealous of their preservation, and 
woe betide the wood stealer who gets caught. 
This desire to preserve the woods, however, does 
not prevent the owners from selling every foot of 
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