PROCEEDINGS OF TWENTY-SIXTH FRUIT-GROWERS' CONVENTION. 83 



OALIFOENIA WILD FLOWERS. 



By MRS. LUCY E. WEISTER, of San Francisco. 



There is an important feature in our favored State which is often over- 

 looked in the anxiety to make this the most famous locality for fruits 

 and grain and big trees. We are vain over our acreage of cereals, and 

 swell with pride at the statistics of our orange crops and the product of 

 our orchards and vineyards, while we are prone to ignore the beauty of 

 nature spread broadcast on every hand. We worship at the feet of our 

 great acreage, and forget the generous flora that has enriched our Coast 

 with one of its greatest attractions, whose gifts are free offerings and 

 embellish our land in a way to inspire poets and elicit praise from all, 

 while her sister goddesses must be coaxed and flattered and importuned. 



But I will leave it to the fruit-grower and farmer to discuss soil and 

 climate, planting and pruning, battling with pests, and relative methods 

 of thinning and gathering, curing and marketing, and will just give 

 a little plea for the fair but frail- creatures which give our landscapes 

 their greatest charm— the wild flowers. 



This is a subject worthy of attention, not only on account of the 

 beauty of many of the species, but because there is danger of their 

 becoming extinct. Our valleys and hills, and even the canons, are being 

 encroached upon to the dire destruction of Flora's beautiful children, who 

 turn up helpless faces to the unfeeling plowman as his horses trample 

 them and the sharp steel severs them from their roots, leaving them to 

 wither and die. It is always painful to witness such a scene, and I have 

 longed for some great-hearted, generous spirit to come forward and 

 propose a plan whereby at least some of the finer varieties might be per- 

 petuated. I believe, however, it belongs to the many and not to the few 

 to accomplish this. If all who take jaunts in the spring-time or trips 

 to the country during the summer would make it a point to secure all 

 the specimens they could, carefully getting the roots or bulbs and trans- 

 planting them, they could by degrees make a choice addition to their 

 gardens and conservatories. 



From our indifference the years go by and the voiceless appeal is going 

 up from hillside and valley, and our beloved wild flowers are perishing. 



The hills surrounding our city afford a greater opportunity than is 

 generally appreciated for procuring a large number of varieties. I have 

 gone out in the morning and returned before luncheon with more than 

 twenty well worth perpetuating. 



San Rafael, Sausalito, Belvedere, Haywards, Berkeley, and many 

 other places available for a day's outing possess great possibilities in 

 regard to wild flowers of varied excellence. Quite a number of these are 

 comparatively easy to procure, and grow very readily when removed 

 from their native soil to the garden. The tops may shortly die, but if 



