The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-03-15

Tho trouble with the great army Of /
nature lovers, who will invade the
outdoors as soon as spring IL fairly !!
under way, in greater numbers than |
ever, is that they want to. pull ma
ture up by the roots and take her
home. They love nature not wisely. |
but too strenuously. The American
anateur naturalist carries into his
pastime that same zest for bringing
in the bacon which characterizes ,
him in business. He does not merely
contemplate natural beauty; he
gathers it, takes 1t home, and deco
rates the parlor with it, He pre-
sents It to his girl and his mother.
And the result 10 that many forms
Of natural beauty are in danger Of
determination.
This is the lament OF local scien-
tific men and women, who are so
exercised about this increasing
desecration Of nature by her num-
erous lovers that they have taken
steps for her protection. They have
followed the standard American
method Of doing this. They have
formed a national organization
with chapters all over the country,
which will issue propaganda. This
organization is known as the Wild
Flower Preservation society Of
America. It sets forth with en-
phasis the fact that the hordes Of
people who invade the woods and
fields from April to September are
rapidly destroying many Of the most
beautiful Towering plants. and leav-
ing only the homely and noxious
weeds.
The scientists assert that what
threatens is nothing less than a
calamity. In Europe, they say, hum
dreds OF the most beautiful va
rieties Of wild flowers have already
been completely exterminated, and
the same process is going forward
rapidly in this country. 1t re-
quires some historical perspective
to realize how much man has
changed the face of nature by sheer
ruthlessness and waste. The Amer
lea that Columbus discovered was
nothing like the one that We know.
1t was land teeming with wild life.
It was a land of great forests, hun
dreds Of feet high. Above all, it was
a veritable garden of wild flowers.
Now much of the wild life has been
destroyed and many of the forests
have been cut, but much has been
done in the way Of legislation and
propaganda to save the wild crea-
lures and the trees. The condi-
ton of both is steadily improving.
But because they have little eco
nomic value, the wild flowers have
received scant attention. As a re-
suit. all Of the more beautiful va
rieties are threatened with extinc-
ton.
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 Atlantic region. Then Will
liam Cullen Bryant wrote his poem
about the frinsed gentian. 1t was a
literary sensation of the days when
Bryant was at the height of his
popularity and power, and most Of
US have read it school. The immed-
late result was that it became fash
ionable to gather the geptian, with
the result that it Is now a rare
flower and considered a find by
naturalists. To see the gentian in
its natural profusion you must 60
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 es-
say is complete without at least one
reference to the trailing arbutus.
The result Is that this flower is now
much more common in literature
than it is In nature. In fact, it is
extinct all through New England
except in few remote spots. Much
Of this destruction is wholly mex
cusable, the scientists say, be-