They penetrate the woods, and return with huge armfuls or basketfuls of the woodland's loveliest plants! They decorate their churches with the lilies of the field, their houses with ground pine and evergreens. Each spring these hordes descend upon the fields, the forest, and the meadow, tearing out that which they do not want, great 10 heaps of wilting plants soon to be cast by the roadside in withered masses. Wanton and indiscriminate, criminal and wicked in results, but actuated by kindly, aesthetic impulses; oddly, indeed, is their love of nature demonstrated by destroying her fairest products in such unlimited quantites. They do not know that the function of a flower is to produce seed so that 20 the plant may perpetuate its kind. They are astonished when told that their indiscriminate picking is robbing the plants of their right to live.

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What, then, is the remedy? There is but one answer, education. Fifty years ago a man could kill wild pigeons without fear of reproach from his fellows, but today birds are protected by both sentiment and law. 30 similar robust sentiment must be created for the wild plants, a sentiment which will make indiscriminate gathering unfashionable. To some the economic value of the disappearing plants will make the strongest appeal. Wild plants, especially the handsomer varieties, furnish nectar from which thousands of dollars' worth of honey is made annually by busy bees.

the natural enemies of insects, destroying them in large numbers. Again, the destruction of the handsome wild plants frequently is accompanied by the lowering of real estate values in 50 suburbs and resorts, since the beauty of the flora has much to do with the value of near-by building sites.

Some people are discouraged in their vandalistic tendencies by the dictates of laws. Thus in Maryland a law prohibits the picking of wild plants without the consent of the owners of the premises on which they grow. Several other states have enacted 60 legislation designed to protect the flora.

By far the greatest number will be influenced to protect the flora by the creation of a healthy sentiment in favor of the endangered plants. It must not be understood that the picking of wild flowers should be prohibited, but such gathering should be done in a spirit of thoughtfulness and consideration. The following 70 suggestions are offered which, if followed, will result in adequate protection to the wild flora.

1. Always allow a sufficient number of flowers to remain to mature seed and so perpetuate the species.

2. Allow the roots and other underground parts to remain undisturbed. To do this, cut the flowers with a pair of scissors or a knife.

3. Never tear out the creeping stems of plants such as ground pine and arbutus. The flowering stems of the arbutus may be picked with impunity if the creeping stem is left undisturbed.

4. Discourage the decorating of houses and churches with ferns, evergreens, etc.

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5. Pick an abundance of daisies, chicory, wild asters, buttercups, and other handsome but troublesome plants. Many 90 weeds produce beautiful flowers.

6. Start a wild-flower garden. Seeds should preferably be used for this purpose.

7. If you are a teacher, substitute cultivated plants for rare wild plants in school work whenever practicable.

8. If you own woodland property, set a few acres aside as a Wild Life Preserve.

9. Never pick more flowers than you really need; leave some for the next person in case there is an abundance. Remember that wild flowers look best in their natural 10 surroundings and rarely make good bouquets. Most wild flowers wilt in a few moments.

10. Do not burn woodland in order to be rid of dead leaves in the autumn. Allow these leaves to decay and furnish a natural fertilizer and winter protection for the flora.

11. Do not break off the stems of redbud (Judas tree), flowering dogwood, or other shrubs. To do so will expose the 20 plants to the attacks of fungi which may cause eventual death. If branches must be had, sever them with a sharp knife close to

the base.

12. Do not purchase rare wild flowers from florists nor bunches of wild flowers from children or street venders.

The establishment of preserves or plant sanctuaries suggests a partial solution of the problem. Such pre30 serves already exist in many states, some of which are under state supervision, as in New York State, and others are privately owned. The preserve of the Chicago Chapter of the Wild Flower Preservation Society of America may well be used as a model for all other enterprises of similar nature. The organization has leased a natural tract of land near the city, 40 which has been set aside as a perma

nent wild life reservation for the native plants of the southern Lake Michigan region. The tract has a threefold purpose: to safeguard the species naturally growing there; to bring in all those species that have been previously lost to the area; and to allow all persons to visit and enjoy

It is especially desirable that each state in the union set aside an area of land containing typical virgin growth to remain forever untouched and untrammeled by man. The oncoming generations should not be robbed of the opportunity of viewing the natural floral beauty of their state in all its original loveliness. The future value of such a tract from an educational, 60 aesthetic, and economic viewpoint may be very great indeed. Such a tract should present as varied a topography and as many different climatic conditions as it is practicable to obtain in order that a maximum number of species may be cared for.

Interesting as the international aspect may be, the most urgent present need is to protect our native species 70 from the depredations of the thoughtless, wanton, promiscuous collector. Wild plants should be collected in a sane and rational manner, with forethought and judgment in restraining the instinct for gathering huge, unusable quantities. Nature has been bountiful in her gifts, but they are gifts of which we are merely trustees; they are to be cherished and protected so as a sacred trust which should be passed on for the enjoyment and profit of future generations.

NOTES AND QUESTIONS
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Albert A. Hanson, Associate Botanist of the Purdue University Agricultural Experiment Station, was graduated from the Pennsylvania State College, to which school he returned as a member of the faculty. Later Mr. Hanson accepted a position in the United States Department of Agriculture in charge of weed investigation.

Resigning this position in 1921, he accepted his present position at Purdue University, where his work is mainly concerned with the economic side of botany, particularly with weeds, poisonous plants, and medicinal plants and seeds. Mr. Hanson is well prepared to write for us such an interesting and instructive article as "Our Vanishing Wild Flowers," taken from Outdoor America. You may find many other helpful contributions made by him in the leading agricultural and scientific magazines of this country.

QUESTIONS AND TOPICS

1. List some of the animals and birds mentioned in this selection that have been exterminated, or almost exterminated, by the white man. In what way have certain forms been saved from extinction?

2. Name some wild flowers that once grew in profusion in America, but that are now threatened with extinction. How many of these flowers do you know? Which ones grow in your neighborhood or state?

3. Read aloud what you consider the most important sentence in this article. Give reasons for your choice. Who is largely accountable for the destruction of wild flowers?

4. What remedy does the author suggest? Of what uses are flowers to man? Give in your own words some of the suggestions made by the author, which, if followed, will protect wild flowers. What attempts have already been made to preserve wild flowers?

5. What can you as an individual do toward protection of flowers in your neighborhood? Suggest a plan of organization for your school along the line of "education" mentioned by the author.

6. Abraham Lincoln said: "Die when I may, I want it said by those who knew me best that I always plucked a thistle, and planted a flower wherever I thought a flower would grow."

Suggested Problem. Make a collection of beautiful quotations about flowers for your notebook, illustrating them by appropriate pictures or pressed flowers.

You have, without doubt, discovered by this time that you read for a wide variety of purposes; for example, you read "A Famous Bird Club" by Baynes to gain information which would aid you in forming a similar club. You read "Our Vanishing Wild Flowers" by Hanson to learn how you may assist in the protection of nature and thus perform a civic duty. You read "A Night with Ruff Grouse" by Hawkes to discover what natural enemies the grouse has to overcome and to learn how you can be of personal service in the protection of these interesting game birds. Reading for these purposes we call work-type reading. It has to do with our work in discovering new facts and how we may apply these facts in our own lives. Thus most of your lessons in history, geography, civics, arithmetic, and science call for work-type reading. Almost all of the reading that you do in school for the definite increase of knowledge may be called work-type reading.

Recreational reading is simply reading for wholesome enjoyment. You probably would say that your reading of "The Blind Setter," by Derieux, was recreational because you read it for pleasure. In your leisure moments in school, at home, or in the library you choose a good book to read for recreation; for example, The Spirit of the Leader, by Heyliger, or Wild Animals I Have Known, by Seton, are books which were written for you to enjoy. You will recall that the authors of this book gave you groups of bird and flower poems to be read purely for enjoyment. Almost all poems should be read for pleasure. If you read them aloud, others also may learn to love them.

Throughout life you will find occasion to use both work-type and recreational reading frequently, since both types contribute to your work and to your play. Follow carefully the suggestions given in your text and by your teacher, in order to develop the proper skills in reading.

How many of us think of trees almost as we do of the rocks and stones about us as all but inanimate objects, standing in the same relation to our earth as does the furry covering of an animal to its owner. The forests protect the continents from drought and flood, even as the coat of fur protects its owner from extremes of heat 10 and cold.

When we come to consider the tree as a living individual, and to realize that it has its birth and death, its struggles for life and its periods of peace and abundance, we will soon feel for it a keener sympathy and interest, and withal a and withal a veneration greater than it has ever aroused in us before.

Of all living things on earth, a tree binds us most closely to the past. Some of the giant tortoises of the Galapagos Islands are thought to be four hundred years old and are probably the oldest animals on the earth. There is, however, nothing to compare with the majesty and grandeur of the Sequoias-the giant

23. Galapagos Islands (gä-lä'pä-gos), a group of islands, west of Ecuador, noted for tortoises and strange forms of plant life.

redwoods of California, the largest of which, still living, reach upward more 30 than one hundred yards above the ground, and show, by the number of their rings, that their life began from three to five thousand years ago. Our deepest feelings of reverence are aroused when we look at a tree which was "one thousand years old when Homer wrote the Iliad; fifteen hundred years of age when Aristotle was writing his history of animals; two 40 thousand years of age when Christ walked upon earth." Considered not only individually, but taken as a group, the Sequoias are among the oldest of the old. Geologically speaking, most of the forms of life now in existence are of recent origin, but a full ten million of years ago these giant trees were developed almost as highly as they are today.

If suddenly the earth should be bereft of all trees, there would indeed be despair among many classes of animals. Although in the sea there are thousands of creatures, which, by their manner of life, are prohibited

38. Homer, a famous Greek poet, supposed to have lived many centuries B. c. 39. Aristotle (ăr'Is-totl), the most famous of the Greek philosophers (384-322 B. C.).

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from ever passing the boundary line between land and water, yet many sea-worms are especially fashioned for living in and perhaps feeding on wood, in the shape of stray floating trees and branches, the bottoms of ships, and piles of wharves. Of course the two latter are supplied by man, but even before his time, floating trees at sea 10 must have been plentiful enough to supply homes for the whole tribe of these creatures, unless they made their burrows in coral or shells.

Many of the birds which find their food at sea, or in the waters of stream and lake, repair to the trees for the purpose of building their nests among the branches. Such birds are the pelicans, herons, ibises, and ospreys; 20 while the wood ducks lay their eggs high above the ground in the hollows of trees. Parrots, kingfishers, swifts, and humming birds are almost helpless on the ground, their feet being adapted for climbing about the branches, perching on twigs, or clinging to the hollows of trees. Taken as a whole, birds would suffer more than any other class of creatures in a deforested 30 world. The woodpeckers would be without home, food, and resting-place; except, possibly, the flicker, or highhole, who could live well enough upon ground ants. But as to his nest-he would have to sharpen his wits still more to solve successfully the question of the woodpecker motto, "What is home without a hollow tree?"

Great gaps would be made in the 40 ranks of the furry creatures-the mammals. Opossums and raccoons would find themselves in an embarrassing position, and as for the sloths, which never descend to earth, depending for protection on their resemblance

to leaves and mossy bark, they would be wiped out with one fell swoop. The tree squirrels might learn to burrow, as so many of their near relations have done, but their muscles would 50 become cramped from inactivity and their eyes would often strain upward for a glimpse of the beloved branches. The bats might take to caves and dark crevices in the rocks, but most of the monkeys and apes would soon become extinct.

Leaving the relations which trees hold to the animals about them, let us consider some of the more 60 humble trees about us. Not, however, from the standpoint of the botanist or the forester, but from the sympathetic point of view of a living fellow form, sharing the same planet, both owing their lives to the same great source of all light and heat, and subject to the same extremes of heat and cold, storm and drought. How wonderful, when we come to think of 70 it, is a tree, to be able to withstand its enemies, year after year, decade after decade, although fast-rooted to one patch of earth. An animal flees to shelter at the approach of gale or cyclone, or travels far in search of food. The tree blindly trusts to nature to minister to its needs, filling its leaves with the light-given greenness, and feeling for nutritious salts 80 with the sensitive tips of its innumerable rootlets.

A relentless struggle for existence is ever going on around us, and although this is most evident to our eyes in a terrible death battle between two great beasts of prey, yet it is no less real and intense in the case of the bird pouring forth a beautiful song, or the delicate violet shedding abroad 90