Mayflower Legislation. 
The following proposed act to prevent the extinction of the 
Mayflower in Massachusetts was placed before the Committee 
on Conservation at the Massachusetts State House early in 
February : 
Section 1. Whoever transports or buys or sells or offers for sale any 
plant or branch of the Mayflower Epigaea repens, shall be punished by 
imprisonment for not more than six months or by a fine of not more than 
five hundred dollars and if the offense is committed on the Lord's Day 
or in disguise or secretly in the night-time, the imprisonment shall not be 
less than five days nor the fine less than five dollars. 
Section IT. This Act shall not apply to the transportation of such 
plants or branches from one tract of land to another owned by the same 
person, nor to nursery-grown plants when each plant has attached to it 
a tag stating the location of such nursery and the owner thereof. 
Section III. This Act shall take effect upon July 1, 1922. 
Mr. Albert Burrage, President of the Massachusetts Horti- 
cultural Society, opened the arguments in favor of the passage 
of this bill, showing pictures of the Arbutus and a specimen of 
a cultivated Mayflower plant from his greenhouses. He declared 
that his arguments were supported by the following organiza- 
tions: Massachusetts Horticultural Society, Garden Club of 
America, New England Botanical Club, "Woman's National 
Farm and Garden Association, Arnold Arboretum, Harvard 
Botanical Garden, Chestnut Hill Garden Society, Garden Club 
of Richmond, Worcester County Horticultural Society, North 
Shore Garden Club, North Shore Horticultural Society, Lenox 
Garden Club, Society of American Florists, Gardeners and 
Florists Club of Boston, New England Nurserymen's Associa- 
tion, Society For The Protection of Native 'Plants and Harvard 
University Department of Botany. Great interest was shown in 
the presentation of this Bill, and many present expressed the 
hope that the Bill for the protection of the Mayflower would be 
the beginning of a wide-spread movement for the preservation 
of Wild Flowers. 
On March 7th the Beacon Hill Legislature referred Mr. 
Burrage 's Bill for the protection of the Trailing Arbutus to 
the next general court. This was done in spite of the fact that 
at the public hearing on the subject the committee room was 
crowded with advocates of the Bill from all parts of the State. 
Not one single opponent appeared. It is hard to understand the 
reason for this, but we are told that some people on Cape Cod 
objected to the Bill, thinking it would be detrimental to their 
business. It is not too late for the Legislature to reverse the 
hurtful action of the committee on conservation, and for the 
sake of the reputation of Massachusetts and her influence 
throughout the country we hope for better results. 
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