HOUSE AND GARDEN 
422 
June, 1911 ’ 
And there is always the added zest given a walk 
and colonize some of the native flowers—as 
plant is photographed as it grows, before it is even touched by 
your hand. This is so small a task as sometimes to assume tre¬ 
mendous difficulties. The dogtooth violet is an example. Here a 
layer of beech leaves made a fairly dry carpet over the moist earth. 
Down on my knees I went, adjusted the camera on two flat stones, 
leveled it with a piece of bark, focused on the plant I wanted, 
literally standing on my head the while, let the dark, wavy bark 
of an old beech tree form the natural background, and waited 
on my knees until 
the air was perfect¬ 
ly still — for the 
least breath of wind 
will sway the slen¬ 
der flower stalk— 
then, when even 
Nature was ready, 
I pressed the bulb, 
and the picture 
was taken. 
After the plate is 
carefully packed 
away the notebook 
comes into use. 
Each page is ruled 
down its length 
several times, mak¬ 
ing colu m n s in 
which records of 
the flowers photo- 
graphed can be 
kept. My columns 
for data were as 
follows for a left- 
hand page: Date; 
Locality; Botanical 
Name ; Com mo n 
Name. On the page oppo¬ 
site, so that one could read 
right across, I made col¬ 
umns for the following: 
Plate Used; Lens Stop; 
Length of Exposure; Bot¬ 
anical Remarks (such as 
“lily family,” “perennial,” 
etc. 
W h e n this was done 
sketches of the parts of the 
flower were made, and it 
was carefully analyzed. If 
there is no time for that, 
and a microscope of size is 
needed, put a few of the 
flowers in a tin botany case 
to take home. 
Now the pleasantest part 
of the work begins. Sit 
down quietly close to the 
blossom and get acquainted. 
Waiting alone in the quiet 
woods, where even the ap¬ 
proach of an insect to the 
honey cup of a dogtooth 
violet is a noisy happening; 
one awakes to “a world 
full of wonde r.” This 
“wonderful secret of peace 
that abides in Nature’s 
breast” takes hold of you, and you learn a lesson then and there 
that can never be gotten from books, or towns, or people; it is 
better than botany. It is better than flowers even, for it is a 
glimpse into God’s world of reality. 
May is always a busy month in the woods. I had all the com¬ 
mon flowers to photograph. A walking trip up the Armenia 
mountain gave a day spent under the flowering branches of the 
purple azalea, which is not purple at all, but pink and white. It 
grows along the 
edge of the forest. 
Following an old 
wood road down 
the side of the 
mountain, we came 
to a shady, dell 
hung thick with the 
dainty baneberry 
blossoms. Right in 
the path grew a col¬ 
ony of showy or¬ 
chids in full bloom. 
Every day when a 
botanist finds an 
orchid is a red let¬ 
ter day, even if it is 
an old friend and 
not a new find. I 
put a coat behind 
two sprays of the 
blossoms as they 
grew, took their 
photograph, ad¬ 
mired their slender 
pink-purple flow¬ 
ers, and went on 
my way with heart 
in the wild by the knowledge that one may bring home 
this pitcher plant that now dwells in the home water-garden 
Photographing one of the lilies, for ex¬ 
ample, at close range, will show the won¬ 
derful detail of the pollen on its perianth 
Or you may secure with your camera an 
enduring record and reminder of the deli¬ 
cate beauty of the catalpa blossom 
