The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-03-17
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC j. HAsKIN, Director.
Washington. ID. @.
TREAT MoTHER NATURE eENTIY

trouble with the great army of nature
lovers, who will invade the outdoors as
soon as spring is fairly under way. in
greater numbers than ever, is that
they want to pull nature UP by the
roots and take her home. They love
nature not wisely, but too strenuously.
The American amateur naturalist car
ries into his pastime that same zest
for bringing home the bacon which
characterizes him in business. He
does not merely contemplate natural
beauty; he gathers it, taxes it home,
and decorates the parlor with. it. He
presents it to his girl and his mother.
And the result is that many forms Of
natural beauty are in danger of ex-
Termination
This is the lament of local scien-
tific men and women, who are so ex-
ercised about this increasing desecra-
ton of nature by her numerous low
ers that they have taken steps for her
protection. They have followed the
standard American method of doing
this. They have formed national
organ IMITATION with chapters all over the
country, which will issue propaganda.
This organization is known as the Wild
Flower Preservation Society of Amer
lea. 1t sets forth with great empha-
sis the fact that the hordes of people
who invade the woods and fields from
April to September are rapidly de-
stroying many of the most beautiful
Towering plants. and leaving only the
homely and noxious weeds.
The scientists assert that what
threatens is nothing less than calam-
ity. In Europe, they say. hundreds
of the most beautiful varities of wild
flowers have already been completely
exterminated, and the same process is
going forward rapidly in this country.
1t requires some historical perspec-
4, oh h a Q
changed the face of nature by sheer
ruthlessness and waste. The America
that Columbus discovered was nothing
like the one that we know. 1t was
a land teeming with wild life. 1t was
a land of great forests, hundreds of
feet high. Above all, it was a verf-
table garden of wild flowers. Now
much of the wild life has been de-
stroyed and many of the forests have
been cut, but much has been done in
the way of legislation and propaganda
to save the wild creatures and the
trees. The condition of both is stead
lily improving. But because they have
little economic value, the wild flowers
have received scant attention AS
result, all of the more beautiful va
rieties are threatened with extinction.
Fame Destroys Flowers.
Fame has been the undoing of many
wild flowers, as of men. Years ago
the fringed gentian was one of the
commonest flowers of the North At
lantic region. Then William Cullen
Bryant wrote his poem about the
fringed gentian. 1t was a literary SEN
sation of the days when Bryant was
at the height of his popularity and
power, ard most of us have read it in
school. The Immediate result was
that it became fashionable to gather
the gentian, with the result that it is
ND oAvrCi n q
find by naturalists. To see the gem
tian in its natural profusion you must
go to the Rocky mountains, where a
related variety is still abundant in
wild places
The trailing arbutus Is another
beautiful Wild flower that everyone
has heard about, and which has been
celebrated as the sweetest flower that
grows" No nature essay Is complete
without at least one reference to the
trailing arbutus. The result is that
this flower is now much more COM
mon in literature than it is in nature.
In fact, it is extinct all thru New Eng
land except in a few remote spots.
Much of this destruction is wholly in
excusable, the scientists say, because,
| ;f-merely the flowers were cut Off
with a knife, the plant would not be
! injured; but it is usual to take up the
whole thing by the roots. AS the
arbutus propagates itself only by run
/ ners, not by seed, this rapidly exterrni-
mates it.
The moccasin flower or ladies' Slip
per, native orchid of great beauty.
lis another American wild flower that
is practically extinct, the scientists
say. They request that if you should
| find a specimen of this plant you con-
| tent yourself with admiring it on the
stem. But you are not apt to flnd
one.
other wild flowers urgently In need
of your clemency are the cardinal
| flower, partridge berry, jack-in-the-
pulpit, columbine, may-apple, 1upine.
| Christmas fern, spring beauty and
pond lilies. Special pleas are also
made for the dogwood bushes. which
are torn to pieces by the mixers every
spring. and the holly which they hunt
so zealously every winter. Magnona.
laurel and azalea should also be
spared. If you must take some flow
| eSs from dogwood or magnolia trees
or other shrubs, cut off few of the
twigs clearly with pen knife. Dc
not tear the tree. and do not take large
branches. In the case of smaller flow
ers do not gather all in sight, but take
| a few. leaving some for seed. If you
want great masses of flowers for deco
ration purposes, take those that grow
in obvious profusion, and are weed
pests, such as field daisies, black-eyed
susans, and golden-rod. Blue vielets
are also abundant and hard to ex-
| terminate.
Varieties of Nature-loyers.
| The subject derives g. special i'm
portance from the fact that the NUM-
| Der of persons who go into the fields
and woods for. recreation seems to be
steadily on the increase. There are
many varieties of these back-to-naturs
enthusiasts. There are the amateur
ornitholoSists who carry field glasse;
ard scrIEinize the birds. There are
| amateur botanistS who carry field
manuals and long tin cans strapped
over their shoulders. There are senti
mental nature lovers who take along
mandolins and books of poems, and
| indulge in music and verse under the
| greenwood tree. There is an increas
| ing number of loving couples who
have found that springtime and out
doors are more romantic as a setting
for love than a stuffy reception room
The great majority of those who &C