Little and 

 Leave a 



The Chorus of the Forest 



freedom and out-door sports, and seldom go to 

 the woods. 



I once knew an Irisliman who, in reference to 

 being greedy about anytliing, said it was always 

 liis way to "take a little and leave a little." I wish "Take a 

 I could impress this splendid doctrine upon all 

 flo^\ er hunters, especially city folk Avho go pleas- Little 

 ure-driving through the country. Frequently 

 Avhile at my Avork in the fields and woods 1 meet 

 them, and they never leave anything, not even the 

 roots, unless it be wild rose, goldenrod, or some- 

 thing so profuse they can not possibly take all. 

 That is not the Morst. They are not prepared to 

 gather flowers. They see a lovelj' red, blue, or 

 yellow bloom, and jump from their carriages long 

 enough to drag up tlie plant by the roots. If the 

 flower is a hardy annual, this means death. If a 

 seedling, it is death also, for no seed remains to 

 ripen. I hope that I may li^-e to see the day when 

 our wild flowers will be protected by law, the same 

 as our birds. 



If the flowers had been created to furnish 

 sweets for honey-gatherers and feeders only, all of 

 them might as well have been green or have con- 

 sisted merely of stamen and pistil. I never will 

 believe that the gorgeously colored petals are only 

 a signal to attract bees and butterflies. The the- 

 ory is confounded in the beginning by the differ- 

 ing colors and the fact that many brilliant flow- 



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