The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1904-04-23
THE WILD FLOWERS
THEY SHOULD BE SAVED FROM
wANToN DESTRUCTION.
II Is Selfishness That Prompts the
P~lucking of Them-Should Be
Left to Live Out Their
Lives.

There are tens of thousands of peo-
ole who love wild flowers well enough
to pick them; there seem to be few in
deed who love them so well that
they can leave them on their stalks.
Yet those few are the real lovers of
flowers; they do not demand the
death of the objects of their love, but
.et the flowers live out their sunny
lives. They seek to share their pleas
are, not only with their fellows of to-
day, but with millions yet unborn,
whose only flowers must be the direct
descendants of those which have been
left upon their stalks. The love which
prompts some people to gather arm
fuls of wild flowers is often of a
selfish nature; at best it is a thought
less love, having no regard for the
future.
OF course, the destruction Of u wild
flowers is due to many causes, anG some
Of these the building Of towns and the
cultivation of farms, for example, are
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sive numbering operations, may be con-
trolled in time, but there are many
causes which may be checked almost at
once, and they must be If We would
save from determination some of our
most highly-valued plants. And this
is the very time to lay plans for checking
hem, for some of the early spring flow
ers are amongst those most badly in need
of protection. The Mayflower, or Trail
ing Arbutus, for example, lOvable not
only for its beauty and f~rangrance, but
for its associations, has already disap-
peared from many localities in which
at one time it was common, and is rapid
ly growing scarce in many other places.
This decrease is due largely to the gath
ering of enormous quantities for sale.
The gathering of rare or uncommon wild
flowers should be stopped by law. Ithas
been stopped in some of the European
countries, but some Of them waited
until 1t was almost too late. Until
such a law can be framed and put in
force, property owner could do much
good by posting notices forbidding
trespassing-trespassing FOR the pur-
pose of gathering rare wild flowers, at
least.
Another serious menace to the eX.
istence of the wild flowers is the ex.
cessive picking by school children
Not for worlds would l suggest that
children should not be allowed to
pick wild flowers; it is in the hope that
children may forever have the de-
light of picking them, that this article
is written. But they should be
taught that each wild flowers is a liv-
ing. precious thing, and that to de-
stroy it thoughtlessly is a great mis-
take. The teachers throughout the
country could make themselves a
power for good in this matter, as they
do in so many others, by teaching
the children moderation in the pluck
ing of flowers. Instead of allowing them
to go into the woods and bring back
wilted sheaves of miscellaneous bios
SONS in their hot hands, why not send
them to definite places for limited num-
bers of particular flowers which are
known to grow there, giving them sim
pie instructions for keeping the flowers
fresh until they return? The flowers
would then be in a good condition for
study. and when they finally died. there
would be a feeling that they had done
some good. How many millions of flow
ers. ! wonder. are every year thrown
away at the roadside before the children
-a~aA hoDoo nr cnhnnJ nr Qro 90 CT on tho
ash heap as rubbish" with never a
word to suggest to the children that
It would have been far better to have
left them in the woods. The rarer the
flower, of course, the more danger there
is that it will disappear. The children
may pluck thousands of the commoner
flowers without doing much apparent
harm, but one little band may unthink-
ingly exterminate the only colony OF
Ladies' Slippers or Fringed Gentians
there may be in a locality. Above all.
they should be instructed to be careful
of the roots of the plants; the latter may
survive the picking of the blossoms. but
when the roots are torn up. there is an
end. of course. Perhaps the worst
root destroyers are those who collect
the roots for medicinal purposes. They
gather such plants as Bloodroot and Sol
omon's Seal, and many others, andthey
should be prevented from doing this, be-
u these plants may be easily Guilt
waited on a commercial scale, as similar
plants are grown for this purpose in Eu-
rope.
In many places there have been or
ganized societies for the protection
of native plants. and these are doing
for the wild flowers pretty much what
the Audubon societies are doing for
the birds. All such societies are more
or less beneficial, as they at least
call peoples attention to what it is
desirable to do, and most people
want to do what is desirable II their
attention is called to it and if it is not
too much trouble.
ERNEST HAROLD BAYNES.