Photograph by Charles Martin 

 ONCE DRIED, THE VEGETABLES CAN BE STORED IN PAPER BAGS OR CARTONS 



. One form of these cartons made of paraffin paper is closed by means of a special instru- 

 ment, which is heated and spreads the cap into place, thus hermetically sealing the carton. 



OUR STATE FLOWERS 



The Floral Emblems Chosen by the Commonwealths 



By the Editor 



The National Geographic Mag- 

 azine in this number prints as its 

 annual tribute to the "children of 

 summer" pictures of the blossoms which 

 have been chosen as the floral favorites 

 of the various States. 



Realizing that an emblem of natural 

 beauty is as significant and essential as a 

 State seal, motto, or flag, twenty-six 

 States, more than one-half of the nation's 

 commonwealths, have formally, by legis- 

 lative action and gubernatorial approval, 

 selected State flowers. 



Six other States have accepted the ver- 

 dict of the school children as the voice 

 of the people, while six others have 

 adopted floral emblems by common con- 

 sent, mainly under the leadership of the 



club women of the respective common- 

 wealths. The ten remaining States and 

 the District of Columbia have either 

 taken no action at all or else action pos- 

 sessing so little weight of authority that 

 the several Secretaries of State do not 

 recognize it (see index, page 486). 



Although thirty-eight of the States 

 have in one way or another expressed 

 their preferences and chosen their flower 

 queens, this is the first attempt that has 

 been made to assemble in a single publi- 

 cation color paintings and descriptions of 

 all the State flowers. 



These pictures, like those of previous 

 flower series appearing in the Geo- 

 graphic, are very costly reproductions of 

 the exauisitelv beautiful paintings from 



481 



