The laurel is very susceptible to
winter weather, and flowers some
what irregularly, about one year in
three being what is known as a laurel
>ear when the blossoms in June
seem to cover all the bushes, increas
ing in the richness of their pink tones
wherever the plant receives the most
sunlight. In these laurel years, every
motor on the country roads appears
to be taking home its burden of the
royal clusters. But this is not the de
struction that is threatening the plant
most immediately. It may lead to
the extermination of the best plants
along the principal highways- but if
motorists were thoughtful enough to
pick in moderation and as for back'*
from the roads as practicable, all this |
l icking extensive as it is, might not
no a lasting harm.
The great danger tc the laurel is the
picking for decoration. Quantitatively,
this has become a far greater source
-)1 destruction than the picking of the
flowers in the spring, and it occurs
principally at a season when the dam
age resulting is more serious. At the
Christmas season every window and
every church testifies to the thous
ands of bushes bereft of their ever
green leaves, and without thos-. leaves
the plants are helpless to manufacture
food for another year’s growth.
The commercial uses of the laurel
ate many. Besides being sold for dec
orations everywhere, it is the favorite
of local woods for making rustic furn
iture and garden arbors, and it is
used for purposes as curious as the
making of home-made tools and to pro
vide a substitute for briar pipes.
