Walter Dean, the pr^ident of the 

 N'eW Englajad Botanical telub, says. In 

 I Recent lecture before 'the members 



I of the Society for the Protection of 

 Our Native Plants, held In Boston: 

 |„."What we must do is to appeal to the 

 j good sense of the community to per- 

 suade them that it is for their and the 

 general advantage to use moderation. 

 We are all filled to a greater or less 

 degree with a love for the beautiful 

 world of flowers about us. ■ A swamp 

 filled with rhodora Is a joy to behold 

 and the desire to have a;few sprigs 

 'to take home Is a most nktural one. 

 Two or three plants of the exquisite 

 fringed gentian displayed Ih a vase is 

 a far more inspiring sight than a pail 

 packed full of the same &,nd standing 

 on a corner of the piazza away from 

 the sun, the flowers closed and all the 

 beauty gone." I can only quote a few 

 sentences from the leaflet No. 19 

 which the society sends gratuitously 

 to those who are Interested In the 

 subject and may wish to become mem- 

 bers of the society. ^ 



I 



The Spoliation of 

 Country Roadsides 



There is an admir- 

 able society in Bos- 

 ton called the "Soci- 

 ety for the Protection of Native Plants." 

 A recent leaflet of this society, written 

 by Walter Deane, makes a strong appeal 

 to spare our roadside scenery. Mr. 

 ijeane pleads against the present-day 

 tendency to "clear up" the roadsides by 

 cutting down the very plants that beau- 

 tify them, and which our modern land- 

 scape gardeners are striving to repro- 

 duce in private grounds and public 

 parks. He says : 



"The amount of information that the coun- 

 try roadside can impart to him who seeks it 

 is unlimited. One day I took a short walk 

 along a country road in New Hampshire, 

 where the roadside tangle was left untouched. 

 It did not harm the road, and it did not en- 

 croach upon the field beyond. Out of curi- 

 osity I began to note the plants along the 

 way. In ten minutes, of trees, shrubs and 

 smaller plants I had written down sixty-five 

 species. It is this feast for the eye and the 

 mind that makes country roads so attractive." 

 It will be well for road commissioners 

 and the owners of roadside property to 

 think on these things and conserve our 

 greatest rural beauty. 



