March, 1919 
WISCONSIN HORTICULTURE 
89 
just boost a little; do a little mis- 
sionary work by telling your 
neighbor about the Society. If 
you can’t conveniently do that 
send his name to the secretary, 
who will do his worst. 
Constitution and By Laws Re- 
vised 
One of the most important 
events of the annual convention 
was the revision of our constitu- 
tion and bv-laAvs to conform to 
state laws enacted since the last 
revision in 1909. 
The constitution with a brief 
historical sketch of the Society is 
being published in pamphlet 
form and a copy will be mailed to 
every member. 
We Will Keep Bees 
Our family is growing; soon we 
will have all the good people in 
Wisconsin under our family roof. 
Here come the bee-keepers as an 
auxiliary society about 000 strong 
and many more to follow. We 
need the bees to pollenize our 
floAvei-s, the bees need the flowers, 
together we ought to have a sweet 
time. 
Pruning - Fruit Trees 
Orchard trees may be pruned at 
any time when the wood is not ac- 
tually frozen, and at such times 
the primer is not apt to be on the 
job. So far this has been an un- 
usually mild winter and many 
growers have pruned their orch- 
ards. Amateurs will take notice 
that they may prune their fruit 
trees any time in March without 
fear of injury to the trees. 
Bud Selection 
The citrus growers of Califor- 
nia are conducting experiments to 
test the quality of buds from es- 
pecially productive and also less 
productive citrus fruits. There 
seems to be an impression that 
buds from trees which are good 
bearers will make good bearing 
trees. Perhaps this will apply to 
apples and plums. 
Domesticating Our Native Wild 
Flowers 
William Toole, Sr., Baraboo, AVis. 
Why should we plant our na- 
tive wild flowers in our gardens 
when they may be had for the 
gathering from our roadsides, our 
woodlands and marshes? We may 
wish to do so for reasons of senti- 
ment, and also because of their 
intrinsic beauty. 
These beauties of our wild lands 
are free to the finder but yearly 
tliey become more scarce. The 
green groves have passed away 
from many a hillside ; field crops 
now grow where we used to gath- 
er the wild phlox and the painted 
cup, and farther apart are the 
wild ladyslipper or moccasin 
floAver. Less frequently than 
formerly can Ave gather armsful of 
our Turk’s Cap Lily. 
I do not knoAV just AAdiere to go 
in Sauk county to find the side 
saddle flower of the Pitcher Plant, 
also several of the Orchid family 
as Pogonia, Calipogon and the 
ShoAvy Orchis. The Trailing Ar- 
butus plant is becoming so rare 
here one should keep secret the 
knoAvledge of the few plants that 
are left. 
Pleasant recollections of trips to 
Avoods and fields for nature study 
or for enjoyment of the surround- 
ings, bring to us longing for the 
beauties Ave have discovered in 
out of the Avay places. We asso- 
ciate in our minds certain species 
with special surroundings or con- 
ditions, and Ave at first thought 
that wild plants should succeed 
only under such circumstances to 
which it seemed as though they 
Avere Avonted. With closer obser- 
vation Ave note that many Avild 
plants succeed in their native Avay 
under Avidely varying conditions. 
For instance, here in Sauk county 
Ave expect to find the prairie phlox 
in open brush lands Avhere the soil 
is lighter than Avhat iA T e would call 
sandy loam. In my collection of 
this phlox the choicest varieties 
Avhich I have of the species Avere 
gathered in a marsh south of Mad- 
ison. We find the Avoods phlox 
here only in the rich soil of the 
timberlands yet in Indiana, last 
spring, I found the tAvo species in 
some instances growing together, 
although generally in separate lo- 
calities. 
Our spider lily, Tradescantia 
Virginiana usually colonizes in 
light soils, yet I have found it also 
thriving near marshy ground in a 
black peaty soil. 
The shoAvy lady slipper is de- 
scribed in the botany as groAving 
in marshy ground. I have often 
found it but never in Avet or 
marshy situations. AVhile it is 
Avell to study the preferences of 
various plants to some extent, the 
prime need of most of them is a 
chance to grow Avithout being 
croAvded out with grasses and 
other plants. When given good 
garden cultivation a number of 
kinds of our wild plants, AA-ill 
thrive better than Ave .find them 
doing in their native habitat. 
Even plants seemingly so retiring 
as the Hepatica and the Harebell 
if giA r en a chance in cultivation, 
will attain to a size of plant ex- 
