New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-07-07
WILDFLOWER FARMS.
Miss anderson Suggests Them as an
OccuDation for College Girls.

Occu DGtlOB IOt tOttt 60
rr,.eovrer farms for college girls. It is pretty
.sss snd one that Miss Mary Perle Anderson con
$50 .nttrely feasible. and capable OF E!e4o4Is
modest but steady profits.
.s,ss Anderson is now the Instructor IN botany AZ
49,, FJolvol,e Last year she had charge OF the
,.+,ra study work in the Columbia summer
school ard formerly she held similar posi'ioh IL
-, nubIlc schools OF Chicago In common WIN
-, other botaniss and flower lovers, Miss And
.-son IS alarmed at the threatened destruction oI
mary species Of wild flowers The aroutus ana
laurel especially. two flowers Of unusual beauty
.o,,s nowhere IN the world outside OF America
s,a in danger Of speedy determination Inc car
nal flower can live only in lonely hauh's. lis
nr,s OF scarlet fame is irresistible The hepauca-
ne ladys slipper. the bog orchid the JACK III the
Fr,iuit are going more slowly
rtA two great sources OF danger are the gather
a., n 7r!ldfowers for sale. and the supplying OK
,ast Quantities Of them to city schools for nature
s+rsv" The latter is new danger ana one that
a. slower lovers themselves do not wish TO see
h.r5onad only regulated. They wish to have the
o,-r children see and know the flowers. In this
o,,ereencv Miss Anderson suggests flower farms
for college girls.
She cites the well known precedent OF the Christ
,oos +ree farms" Of Maine. Some years ago vast
s-sas OF land covered with the balsam fir in Maine
- worthless They actually not taxed.
ta.spse the III yielded income. To-day the
nd under the manipulation Of the thrifty Maine
.rr.rs Yields from So 10 $50 an acre a year,
through the Christmas tree trade The farmers
carefully choose the trees preserving. thinning.
pruning and preventing denudation.
N.rv college graduates says Miss Anderson. Nv
,nr IN country towns would be glad TO reside at
home after graduation. could they see any way 10
mako a little money there The transplanting and
cultivation Of the plants N their own habitat, she
declares could be mace TO yield a steady income
through the season and. in addition. would pre-
serve species instead Of eXterminating them, and
THE sand barren, the peat bog and. even the
staenant pool" she says. might be made 10 yield
a wealth Of flowers. with an economic and eduoa-
tional and aesthetic value.
WORK OF PRESERVATION
This Is the tire Of the year when the Wild Flow
e. Preservation Society Of America, which has its
headquarters at the Botanical Garden. in Bronx
Park is most active in its propaganda OF educa-
ton. By country road and village lane, wherever
people Of intelligence and culture gather for their
summer outing. friends Of the society in
FsreIIy is mis- pushed in the regions adjacent 10
the great cities. where the few remaining wild
flowers may give the greatest pleasure to the
greatest number and where they are most IN dan
ger Of determination.
In Montclair Orange Caldwell and many other
suburban towns the village Improvement societies
have made this part OF their work. In Cold
Spring Harbor there Is a specially active village
Improvement society, which. IN addition 10 TEACHING
money prize to the child who brings IN the great
est number OF acVeTtiseInents detached from trees
IN the neigh5orhood- The seal Harbor Village In
ErOVeTnent Society has printed lsafie- for dis
E!ruuon N me nelSHDorhood, warning the people
nat flowers q the region are in danger AZ ex-
termination. and giving directions how 70 gather
them IN moderation and without injury 10 the
plant
selves hard task. At the outset they confront
conflicting sentiments. Thes innocent delight Of
ne w1ld dowe4s. 40 child is satisfied win a few
blossoms The little vandal gathers every IN
sight. only throw the Wilted bunch away before
Jected BY law as they are in some European coun-
2 Judge would !TnDOse
a penalty on a child for picking wild flowers, even
the last remaining specimen Of a species were
destroyed. the last root Of arbutGs was up
rooted from Bronx Park within a year or two.
And then the pitiableness Of conditions in New
York, where in one East Side school not q single
child could be found who knew the four most COM
dandelion and violet. appeals to child lovers and
flower lovers both.
SPECIES NOT EASILY DESTROYED
Yet both may be satisfied If compassion be tenn
rered by intelligence. The thronging child life OF
the East SIDE could be turned into the daisy field
without the slightest danger. All the children in
America cannot destroy the daisies, buttercups and
danceAons until the city is actually built over the
roots. Godenrod Will flourish as long as there Is
September fields until cellars are dug there Even
me violet by ,he messy stone. shy and modest as
j IS IS one OF the most persistent OF flowers be-
eause me Fly little witch has TWO kinds Of bios
eouIS' nose which are gathered and another al
There are other flowers which may Do picked In
aEy EEeasonable moderation. Spring Beauty still
and fills bare muddy hanks of the TsronT f ey}r ~
with its dainty pink bells IT has sonetfne, ~ tts
by Charles Dudley Warner in the story OF his
garden. Wild pinks. also, bloom on rocky hiIisides
Y Bronx Park in spring. but only from Monday to
friday. On Saturday and Sunday they dIsapDear
70 I'VE from year 70 year hut thew cannot raeg
because every blossom IS gathered, and the pretty
soiony is gradually dying out The lily holds
1ls own even in those suburban towns where chill
~. one II Tor sale at the stations, because Of
iI1,e $50 Fqotstocks Only the draining and pol
cItv s o. fhe ponds ngsparable from advancing
800 aaa me Wild rose will take OF itself
Will Lne'-tone mason comes.
"h"-YS%K LAGS BEHIND OTHER STATES.
bot thcue are other flowers no more beautiful
no more attractive 10 children, which are becom-
IS ISpo4y extinct The most prominent is the
GsOut0s' sold on the city streets The plant is a
80" eIo"er' very difficult practically impossible.
~ cultivate II IS the most national OF wild flow
20 picking its habitat with dainty fastidousness
HU refusing 70 grow elsewhere. Its slow growing
-IneFs are pulled up bodily. and the flowers after
Once abuadan9 on an anG To, shPRsd IN vast quantities
g.. HeIe comes from New-England and Nev-Jer-
vsry especla4ly from lakewood where IL win be
ss .y soon extinct. Any flower which has ever been
sd,e.. y! verse and legend is doomed. 1t has been
Ee been written about the arbutus it is so inter
II has b w. the stories OF the earliest colonsts that
In ne cone TO death In the house Of its friends.
TIE ne near future the mayAower. which welcomed
,ecucGt has take measures for its preserya-
Nh u has law providing $50 fine for any one
ofh
NO. person without permission. Connecticut also
foT5 IS thFee rare and famous ferns. the Hart
80. me walking fern and the naidenhair by a
=, Se or Imprisonment for six months Massa-
re- mas Ir1ec 10 get the legislation, but
~ s taus Tar failed The New-Yorl society has
sfo ySt attempted any legislation but IL is prob
~ tlat u must come to that II the arbutus is 10
psSsea IRON determination in this State
49, osecIlon or flowers is thing across the
So IN England they preserved like game
Nos S l-Sh and rigorous penalties meted out TO
VIC steal wild plants from private grounds
s"ltIeflarc, alarmed al the danger threatened 10
e,5y4ge OF ITS tourist income. has protected the
Sor-rr.Mtlass. rhododendron and some other Alpine
~ 80 Dy stringent laws. in France one must pay
o.. certain preserves where the scarlet anem-
S--7s srOW. and then gather only sneciHad