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ARBOR DAY.

“Yon sturdy oak, whose branches wide
Boldly the storms and wind defy,

Not long ago an acorn, small,
Lay dormant 'neath the summer sky.”’

“We but gather the thoughts of others,
only the threads that unite are ours.’’

LIBRAR
FACULTY OF FORESTRY
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

EDITED AND COMPILED BY

ROBERT W. FURNAS.

LINCOLN, NEB.:
STATE JOURNAL COMPANY, PRINTERS,
1888,

Respectfully dedicated to
Hon. ¥. STERLING MORTON,

Author of Arbor Day.

ah ood

~

PREFACE.

Perhaps no observance ever sprung so suddenly and
almost universally into use in the higher ranks of life
as that of Arbor Day. The name itself attracts, and
at once secures fast hold on refined, intelligent people.
The thought originated with one who worships at the
shrine of home and its endearing relations. The pre-
sentation of its simple origin, history, progress, and
evidence of appreciation, has induced the publication of
this volume.

ARBOR DAY.

ITS ORIGIN.

HAT is now known almost throughout the
civilized world as “Arbor Day,” originated
in Nebraska, At an annual meeting of the

: Nebraska State Board of Agriculture, held in
the city of Lincoln, Jan. 4, 1872, the Hon. J. Sterling

Morton, of Nebraska City, introduced the following

resolution, which» was unanimously adopted, after some

little debate as to the name, some present contending
for the term “Sylvan” instead of “Arbor”:

“ Resolved, That Wednesday, the 10th day of April,
1872, be and the same is hereby especially set apart and
consecrated for tree planting in the state of Nebraska, and
the State Board of Agriculture hereby name it Arbor
Day; and, to urge upon the people of the state the vital
importance of tree planting, hereby offer a special premium
of one hundred dollars to the agricultural society of that
county in Nebraska which shall, upon that day, plant
properly the largest number of trees ; and a farm library
of twenty-five dollars’ worth of books to that person who,

8 ARBOR DAY.

on that day, shall plant properly in Nebraska the great-
est number of trees.”

Mr. J. T. Allan offered the following resolution, which
was also adopted unanimously :

“ Resolved, That the newspapers of the state be re-
quested by the State Board of Agriculture to keep the
resolution in regard to the anniversary day for tree plant-
ing standing in their columns until April 10th next, and
to call especial attention of the people to the importance
of the matter from time to time.”

The newspapers of the State were generous, and kept
Arbor Day well before the people. The result was that
over a million trees were planted in Nebraska on the
first Arbor Day, April 10th, 1872. The day was again
observed in 1873 with increased interest and results.

March 31st, 1874, the first Arbor Day proclamation
was issued by the governor :

ARBOR DAY.

A PROCLAMATION BY THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF NEBRASKA.

WHEREAS, The Nebraska State Board of Agriculture,
at its January meeting, 1874, adopted the following
resolutions :

Resolved, That the second Wednesday of April of each
year be and the same is hereby designated, dedicated, and
set apart as “ Arbor Day ” for the state of Nebraska, and

ARBOR DAY. 9

that the agriculturists of Nebraska be requested to peti-
tion the legislature to make said Arbor Day a legal
holiday. That until so made a holiday the governor be
requested to call attention to said “ Arbor Day,” by
proclamation, and request the whole people of the state
to observe it, by planting forest, fruit, or ornamental
trees.

And, WHEREAS, I have been officially notified by the
_ president of said board, and by him requested to comply
therewith,

Now, THEREFORE, I, Robert W. Furnas, governor of
the state of Nebraska, do hereby publicly proclaim the
aforesaid transactions of the State Board of Agriculture,
and both respectfully and urgently recommend that the
day designated, viz., the 8th day of April, 1874, be ob-
served by the people of this state, as desired and expressed
in the resolution herein referred to.

IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have here-
unto set my hand and caused the
'[sEAL or srarx.] great seal of the state of Nebraska
to be affixed on the 31st day of
March, A.D. 1874.
Rost. W. Furnas.
By the Governor:

JOHN J. GOSPER,
Secretary of State.

10 ARBOR DAY.

It was generally observed in all parts of the state, and
millions of trees were planted on that day. Annually
thereafter, other governors followed this example, until at
the session of the legislature in the winter of 1885, the
following act was passed, designating the 22d of April in
each year as Arbor Day, and making it one of the legal
holidays :

Sec. 8. [Days to be observed as holidays.] — That
the following days, to-wit, the first day of January,
February twenty-second, and the twenty-second of April,
which shall be known as‘ Arbor Day,’ the twenty-fifth
day of December, the thirtieth day of May, and July
fourth, and any day appointed or recommended by the
governor of this state, or the president of the United
States, as a day of fast or thanksgiving, and when any
one of these days shall occur on Sunday, then the Monday
following shall, for all purposes whatsoever as regards the
presenting for payment or acceptance, and the protesting
and giving notice of the dishonor of bills of exchange,
bank checks, or promissory notes, made after the passage -
of this act, be deemed public holidays, and be treated
and considered as is the first day of the week, commonly
called Suriday. Provided, That when any one of these
days shall occur on Monday, any bill of exchange, bank
check, or promissory note, made after the passage of this
act, which but for this act would fall due and be payable

ARBOR DAY. ll

on such Monday, shall become due and be payable on the
day thereafter.

STATUTORY ENACTMENTS.

Since the inauguration of Arbor Day, liberal (both con-
stitutional and statutory) provisions have been made in
Nebraska. A clause in the existing constitution provides,
“That the increased value of lands by reason of live
fences, fruit and forest trees grown and cultivated thereon,
shall not be taken into account in the assessment thereof.”

The following statutory enactments are now in exist-
ence (Chapter 2, Agriculture) :

Src. 3. That the corporate authorities of the cities and
villages of the state of Nebraska shall cause shade trees to
be planted along the streets thereof.

Src. 4. For the above purpose a tax of not less than
one dollar, nor more than five dollars, in addition to all
other taxes, shall be levied upon each lot adjacent to
which the trees are to be planted as aforesaid and collected
as other taxes.

Src. 5. Trees shall be annually planted, when prac-
ticable, on each side of one-fourth of the streets in each
city and village in the state of Nebraska, until all shall
have shade trees along them not more than twenty feet
apart.

12 ARBOR DAY.

Src. 6. The corporate authorities aforesaid shall pro-
vide by ordinance the distance from the side of the street
that trees shall be planted, and the size thereof.

Src. 7. Provided, the owner of any lot or lots may
plant trees adjacent thereto where ordered as above, in the
manner and of the size prescribed, and on making proof
thereof by affidavit to the collector, said affidavit shall
exempt said owner from the payment of the aforesaid tax.

Src. 8. Any person who shall materially injure or
shall destroy the shade tree or trees of another, or permit
his animals to injure or destroy them, shall be liable to a
fine of not less than five dollars, nor more than fifty dol-
lars, for each tree thus injured or destroyed, which fine
shall be collected on complaint of any person or persons
before any court of proper jurisdiction. One-half of all —
fines thus collected shall be paid to the owner of the trees
injured or destroyed ; the other half shall be paid into the
school fund.

Sec. 9. That this act shall not apply to any person
that is occupant of any business lot without his consent.

Src. 10. That when any person shall plant and prop-
erly cultivate for the term of five years, six rows of trees,
eight feet apart, and the trees four feet apart in the row,
along either the north section or the half section line,
running east and west, said rows to be not nearer to the
said north section or half section line than four feet. or to

ARBOR DAY. 13

the south line of any road which may be laid out on said
north section or half section line; or when any person shall
fill out to the standard above prescribed, and keep the
same in a proper state of cultivation for the time above
stated, any rows of trees that may have previously been
planted along said north section or said half section line,
it shall be the duty of the county commissioners to pay
to such person, by warrant on the county treasurer, a
sum of money, amounting to three dollars and thirty-
three cents per acre, for each acre so planted and cultivated
annually, so long as the same is planted and kept growing
and in a proper state of cultivation, for a period not to
exceed the space of five years, and to an extent not to
exceed three acres of land.

Src. 11. It shall be the duty of the assessor of each
precinct to make proper examination, and report to the
county commissioners at the time of his annual report, the
condition of all timber so planted and cultivated under the
provisions of this act.

Premiums.—The State Board of Agriculture gives
premiums annually as follows:

For the greatest number of trees planted on Arbor
Day, to include fruit, forest, evergreen, and all

FN elas van uhancophe wee ceneee $50
ER I Re Or reer ce Pre r err et ro. 25
Greatest number hard wood...............seeeeeeeeeeeeeees 25

14 ARBOR DAY.

A large proportion of the schools in the state annually
observe “Arbor Day” by planting trees, shrubs, vines,
and flowers. Much of it is “ memorial” planting, accom-
panied with interesting literary exercises.

Statistics show there have been planted in Nebraska
since Arbor Day was instituted 355,229,919 forest trees,
fruit and shade trees, and grape vines in cities and
villages.

To show the probable extent of tree planting in
Nebraska the spring of 1888, mention is made of the
business of three firms in the state—and there are a
large number of smaller operators. These three firms
had orders for over 10,000,000 forest tree seedlings.
One of the firms had contracts for planting 3,500,000
of forest trees. There are nine U. S. land districts in
Nebraska. In one land district there were known to
be 11,000 tree claims, requiring 27,000 trees planted to
the claim. Say then, there were 99,000 tree claims in
the nine districts, multiplied by 27,000, and we have
2,673,000,000. This gives a rough approximation of
tree planting in the “Great American Desert,” west
of the Missouri River—the “New West.”

ARBOR DAY. 15

ARBOR DAY ISSUE OF THE “PRAIRIE
FARMER.”

_ April 7, 1888, the Prairie Farmer, Chicago, IIl., then
under the management of the veteran agricultural editor,
ORANGE JUDD, issued the number of that date devoted
exclusively to “Arbor Day.” From it the following
excerpts are made. The editor introduced the subject
by saying:

“Our readers are to be congratulated on having in this
week’s issue so vast an amount of highly useful, practical,
and timely information, which has been gathered with
much labor and correspondence, and will be found through
the entire paper. This information, furnished by many
able contributors, is not only of special value in this tree
planting season, but will be useful at all seasons. Indeed,
in comprehensiveness and completeness, this number is
equivalent to a volume on the subject. It is designed
more especially for the states in the broad Mississippi
valley, from Ohio and Michigan to the Rocky mountains
—regions where treeless prairies and plains abounded
when the country was but recently settled, but which are
already beginning to be dotted over with useful and beau-
tiful trees, whose cooling shade is so grateful to man and
beast in the sunshine months, and whose protection is so
important when zero winds and blizzards come rushing

16 ARBOR DAY.

down from the Frost King’s realms. A happy thought
it was, an inspiration indeed, which suggested Arbor Day,
a day designed to awaken the attention of, and prompt to
action, all the young as well as the old. Uncounted mil-
lions of glorious trees will, in this and coming years,
spring up and grow into stately proportions, serving so
many useful purposes and affording so much delight—
trees that would not have existed but for Arbor Day. We
need not enlarge upon the thought, which is well discussed
in the entire following pages. Arbor Day, while designed
for all, is especially valuable to the young. The child
that plants and names a tree and cares for it, will have
something to love, something to divert his mind from
ignoble thoughts; and as it grows heavenward, from year
to year, it will lift up his own aspirations. Let every
child have his or her own tree, on the home ground,
and a personal interest in one on the school ground.

“TWELVE TREE-PLANTING POINTERS.

“Planting a tree is doing work for each of many after
years, usually for decades, or for generations—frequently
for centuries. Many a tree planted this spring will give
pleasure to the eye and shade to the head, all through the
planter’s own life, through that of children and children’s
children. Indeed, some of the trees planted out this
month and the next will be in stately vigor, and give

ARBOR DAY. 17

pleasure to many, a hundred years after the planter, young
or old, lies beneath the sod. Ten minutes of extra time
and care, or a hundred of them, devoted to the best plant-
ing and care of one tree, will tell upon its life and upon
its value in each of all these many after years. One or a
few trees well selected, well planted, and well cared for
during the first year or two, will usually be more valuable
than a far greater number hastily set out, and then neg-
lected. In the numerous practical suggestions, from men
wise by long experience and observation, which the read-
ers will find scattered all along through the columns of
this number, there are a dozen points upon which all
agree, and which every reader should promptly and care-
fully go through with and study at this seasonable period.
We briefly summarize those of most importance: After
due care in selecting the best specimens, which are the
cheapest in the end: (I.) In taking trees from nursery or
forest, preserve all the roots and fine rootlets possible.
Avoid breaking them in shaking off surplus earth, and dig
them out instead of pulling them up. For this reason,
trees from nurseries located on light or friable soil are
preferable to those on clayey ones. (II.) Trees from
nurseries where they have been subject to one or more
transplantings in their early growth, are usually better
supplied with a mass. of -ftheous.zo0is near the base of
the stock than: thowe ose fifont. the fgneste “Fncidental to this,

AAnF —————

a> e ~ —~—
3 Lohr “ on - — ts
Leif Ae. ae

18 ARBOR DAY.

especially for all trees over one year old, and particularly
for those having a deep tap-root, naturally it is better to
sever this tap-root within a foot of the surface with a spud
(a broad chisel fitted to a handle) or with a narrow spade,
early in the spring prior to transplanting in autumn or the
following spring. This promotes the growth of a very
desirable root mass. (III.) Most carefully guard the
- roots from any exposure, even of a few minutes to sun or
wind. Dipping them in a “mud porridge” as soon as
lifted helps much, if this coating be not allowed to get dry.
Keep them moist in moving, and if there is to be a day or
an hour’s delay after arriving and unpacking, heel them in;
that is, set them in a trench or opened ground, and cover
all the roots with soil until the last moment before plant-
ing. (LV.) Give the roots a deep and broad bed of good
soil to start and grow in—a thing easily attained in nat- —
urally poor, or clayey or sandy soil, by digging out a hole
of considerable dimensions, and filling in with soil from
elsewhere. A little care in this may manifold the future
growth and value of a tree. (V.) Spread out the roots
well and naturally, and set only a trifle deeper than they
grew before removal. There are only a few exceptions to
this rule. (VI.) Fill fine soil well in wnder and arownd
the roots, and firm it by pressure. (VII.) Unless the
soil is quite moist and the weather damp and cloudy, and
likely to be, before filling in the top earth pour in water

ARBOR DAY. 19

enough to pack the soil around the roots and to soak down
one or two feet, so that there will be no lack of moisture
until the new roots are well established, with abundant
new feeding rootlets. (VIII.) In after watering, if
‘needed, avoid the ‘little and often’ method. Instead of
sprinkling the surface, and thus producing a crusty layer
impervious to air and sun, better dig a hole near the base
and pour in water enough to soak far down. Moisture
will evaporate ten times faster from the top inch layer than
from one a foot deep. (IX.) Unless there is a continuous
wet season, a mulching of coarse manure, or cut grass, or
straw, or leaves, from two to four inches thick and extend-
ing out two to five feet each way from the trunk, accord-
ing to its size and the extent of roots, is a very great pro-
tection and starter, and usually saves the necessity of much
watering even in a dry season. (X.) Unless the trunk
and branches are very small, or the soil unusually firm,
weighting it temporarily with a few stones, or with extra
heaping on of heavy earth, to be early removed, will pre-
vent swaying and rending the tender, newly-started root-
lets. It is in effect like the present method of enclosing a
broken human limb in a casing of solid plaster of Paris
to prevent any possible disturbance of the nascent muscles,
nerves, tendons, and blood-vessels. Where winds prevail
from any direction, as they usually do, lean the tree a little
in that direction when setting out. (XI.) Except with

20 ARBOR DAY.

evergreens and ornamental specimens, already shaped to a
desirable form, trim and reduce the top fully as much as
there has been a decrease of roots and rootlets in the tak-
ing up. (XII.) ‘Just as the twig is bent the tree’s in-
clined ; and a mar or scar on the infant tree is liable to
ever after, visibly or invisibly, affect its beauty or its vigor
and its value. So take good care to direct and shape its
stem and branches, and protect it from careless or violent
hands. If exposed to danger from the careless man or
beast, set warning or guarding stakes on either side, and if
necessary add protecting cross slats, or wires, or wire net-
tings. If not ‘inclined’ naturally to an upright and
comely form, a stake and cords will compel it to follow
your wishes and will. Take care to guard against chafing
or constriction from the cords.”

ARBOR DAY IN THE UNITED STATES.

By N. H. EGLEston, Forestry Division, U. 8S. DEPARTMENT
AGRICULTURE, WASHINGTON.

Arbor Day, which originated in Nebraska, is already
established in at least twenty-seven of our states and three
of our territories. In most of them it is established by
law, either by act of the legislature or the proclamation of
the governor, or both combined. The latter is more com-
monly the case, the legislature establishing Arbor Day and

ARBOR DAY. 21

authorizing the governor to designate from year to year
the particular day to be observed as such. In several of
the states the law also makes Arbor Day a legal holiday.
In a few states the day has not yet received a legal
sanction, but is observed under the direction of the State
Agricultural or Horticultural Societies or school super-
intendents. In West Virginia and Alabama, though not
established by law, the day is quite generally observed
by public schools, under the direction of the state
superintendents.

It is legally established in the following: California,
Colorado, Connecticut, Dakota, Florida, Georgia, Idaho,
Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Mas-
sachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska,
Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York,
Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont,
Wisconsin.

A NATIONAL ARBOR DAY.

By B. E. FeRNow, CHIEF oF ForEstry Division, U. 8S. DEPART-
MENT OF AGRICULTURE, WASHINGTON.

In reply to your request for my views on Arbor Day,
I gladly take occasion to express my growing conviction
that the idea of Arbor Day, which, so far as I know was
an original American one, is fraught with promises of great
results for the future forestry interests of the nation,

22 ARBOR DAY.

although such pigmy work as the actual tree planting on
Arbor Day cannot be considered for a moment as in any
way repairing the enormous yearly inroads into our nat-
ural forest supplies, by which nearly twice as much wood
is removed every year as can possibly grow annually on
our forest area of half a billion acres.

For one who, like myself, has been accustomed to see a
forest worked as methodically as a farm, the crop being
replaced as it is utilized—there is in little Germany
expended yearly a round $2,500,000 for replanting say
500,000 acres—it is difficult to persuade himself that we
must even begin with such humble means as a popular
festival to bring about the great economical reform which
we need, in the utilization of our forest resources and their
recuperation. Yet, with the true resignation of a forester, —
who plants the trees which his children may cut, I recog-
nize the truth of the adage “ De minimis maxima,” which —
Everett has translated so neatly :

“ Large streams from little fountains flow ;
Tall oaks from little acorns grow.”

The minds of the first settlers of the wooded shores of
this continent were educated by dire necessity to the need
of destroying the forests, that the fields might bloom; the
minds of their descendants must be educated to the need
of conserving, in proper proportion, the forests, that the
fields may not cease to bloom. Weare fortunate that this

ARBOR DAY. 23

education comes before dire necessity has established her-
self as teacher; that it comes in the shape of a pleasant
“ Arbor Day festival,” which teaches young and old to re-
flect on the value of a forest tree, and which inspires the
first scintilla of interest in the life and enthusiasm in the
planting of a forest tree, which foreshadows the work of
the forester in the coming generation. It is, therefore,
especially the young, in school and out of school, who
should be impressed with the significance of the day so set
aside; who should be taught the meaning of their planted
tree with regard to the development of the nation; who
should understand that they inaugurate with this celebra-
tion a new era of American life—the era of forest planters,
arising out of the era of forest destroyers.
As you will see from the statement prepared by Mr.
Egleston, there are enough of the states awakened to the
significance and educational value of Arbor Day to make
the inauguration of a national Arbor Day not a chimerical
idea. Such an institution would be desirable, for many
reasons, and would give the impetus of united enthusiasm
to the work of forestry reform. The only practical objec-
tion to such a national Arbor Day, that tree-planting can-
not be properly performed in all parts of the country on
the same day, becomes invalid if the planting is done on
‘the days best suited, which are not the sunniest, and the
celebration is deferred to the common holiday; for while

24 ARBOR DAY.

in the prairie states the trees actually planted may form
quite an important item, it is mainly the spirit which arises
from a communion of ideas that is to be fostered by the
Arbor Day, the spirit of improvement.

While thus we still believe in the shortcomings of our
own generation, instead of bewailing the loss of the good
old times we look forward to a better coming time, and
are thus actively preparing the way for it.

ARBOR DAY IN NEBRASKA.

By Dr. C. E. BEssEy, DEAN OF THE STATE AGRICULTURAL
COLLEGE, LINCOLN, NEB.

Nebraska has the honor of having originated Arbor
Day. Hon. J. Sterling Morton suggested the name and
the day to the State Board of Agriculture, and it was at
once adopted. Soon after, it was set apart by law as a day
for the annual planting of trees, the 22d of April being
designated. The day is very generally observed; banks
are closed and much of public business is suspended. The -
schools have a holiday, and the pupils, under the guidance
of their teachers, attend to the planting of trees on the
school grounds or elsewhere. In many cases special pro-
grammes are provided, the pupils reciting poems, decla-
mations, engaging in singing, etc., etc., in order to more
perfectly celebrate the day. In the higher institutions of |

ARBOR DAY. 25

learning, as the Normal School and State University,
addresses are delivered by eminent men and listened to
by the students and faculty. On the campus the various
classes engage in planting commemorative trees, make
speeches, and recite original poems.

WHAT TO PLANT IN NEBRASKA.

By PETER YOUNGER, JR., GENEVA, NEB.

Arbor Day is duly observed in Nebraska; thousands
of trees are planted by school children, and in some local-
ities there is quite a strife to see who can plant the greatest
number. As many are inexperienced in tree planting, the
question naturally arises, ‘“‘ What shall we plant, and how?”
The first question can be answered by finding out what
kind of trees are native to your locality. Nature is a safe
guide, and by planting trees suited to the locality many
failures will be avoided; yet we have trees, not native,
doing apparently as well as those which are.

“ How To Puant” is a rather difficult question to
answer, as nearly every planter has a different mode. Our
method of planting forest tree seedlings, for groves, wind-
breaks, and timber claims, the trees ranging from five to
thirty inches in height, is as follows: The ground is first
plowed as deeply as possible, then thoroughly harrowed

4

26 ARBOR DAY.

and leveled with a plank. This gives a smooth surface,
making the ground much easier to walk over and better to
cultivate the small trees. The surface is marked off three
feet eight inches each way. We consider this distance
much better than four feet, as the corn plow will cut the
entire space clean, while in planting four feet apart, a
narrow strip is left untouched by the plow, allowing a
growth of weeds, which will cause more work another
season.

The trees are then carefully assorted, the large ones being
planted separately from the small ones. The planting
is done by two men, one using the spade, the other carry-
ing the trees (we use a large pail partly filled with water
to carry trees in). The former sinks the spade into the
check marks, and presses it forward, thus making room
for the tree. The other man places a tree behind the spade,
and the spade-man presses the earth firmly about the roots
with his foot. In this way two active men can plant 4,000
trees per day. Our men often average an acre per day _
each, when the soil is in good condition.

CULTIVATION.—The most important thing, after plant-
ing, is cultivation. If trees were as carefully cultivated
as a field of corn, there would not be many failures. We
commence to cultivate about two weeks after planting ;
then aim to cultivate every ten days until the first of
August. The first season is the most critical for trans-

ARBOR DAY. 27

planted trees, hence the necessity of high cultivation. It
pays to give special care the first season.

GrowTtH Ficures.—Trees planted and cultivated as
above have made the following growth the past two years.
The trees were seedlings when planted in the spring of
1886. We have not selected the largest, but rather give
an average after measuring several trees in different parts
of the row. In the table we give elm credit for 5 feet 9
inches growth in two seasons, while the largest elm
in the row made a growth of 7 feet 11 inches; soft
maple 5 feet 5 inches, largest trees, 7 feet; Russian mul-
berry, 5 feet 6 inches, the largest trees 6 feet 10} inches.

PLANTED IN 1886. nae
MMR SemaT GRR: Vales K8eauasi=4 socks sks «on ones dédewadcaaadteoeh aceeaecvactelescacges 4} ft
NUON ig cnn ae occa bddteiuasacysaustsslgatewaadetios se snabacsoddestaaes 4} ft.
III Siig crv en's ox Z0UERR ss aS bide Koo sannbaseopecanasecnsasteremmasoup 5 ft
RU MPNMMRTIAN GE so set ans sccakvans ash oncadavans one Bocctsceuptscns dvusseeateeatee 24 ft.
No. Saenc nla zuuvs owtivaahsbbaseyandsvscescscks iaiucéddnoubageave 64 ft
IER seo ose ov cnod tages cadde¥seadsaces coast keddesséteabpasananes pan 5 ft.
TT dnt CSc citin Jeune dh dovssdcvecsoadhvcd seectevaiusss cinvanpadedsapndt 5} ft.
MINI do coche occ-.an <x, (acces saisaseagene Vera rassexabimuakosas cea tee 5 ft.
ESTER Gs G3 <5 50's Ves dc adnas oo ytco svedsdscupepeauiuacveana¥s Ssttaacd tbeSts 3 ft.
NII S20) a 55400 aivtvicans dos socdbersiabigdowsdoveti<nesesqpebavesbpiimans 54} ft
IE MRE onc ss an'scaeschexouconloss co sandsianrasvupuveannaele 5h ft.
SEIT yo ai occ envoys dacs ube cc Sacenbetsenbanetadnaxeieqee tanbbnauneveleeen 4} ft

We have presented above a list of two years’ growth.
We will now give figures from five to ten years’ growth,

28 ARBOR DAY.

which show that some varieties, slow to start, often make
a large growth when well established :

Number Diameter now
KIND OF TREE. of Years Present one foot
planted. Height. from ground.
UD eacaehe bs ode 36s enccudbnasasiadgutabarts voouh dave 5 113 ft. 2 in.
PRTISGEIOM PANG. is. 050-005 -0s5ioderpsb hes actne nce 5 8 ft. 4 in.
BIONCY TACUBGG «50505 0cscscosescnenseypeassnsecacts 5 12 ft, 4 in.
ARMM cide cack oo ase auevercsnecsoctiesssnovsdexaies 6 13 ft. 5 in.
OMB casas cece ody estas sqctel et veade dtc saNsecsmsecete 8 19 ft. 4} in.
SOORRON PMG oh sist ic adenckavaecscunsestebecs sce 8 8 ft. 3 in
PUMUGRL MAA AN 2.Us ses escesupetgeatdvesvs dhesoseae 9 13 ft. 7 in.
PES PAR Raden ip cine sentssne was pecoassatenaces 9 24 ft. 5} in.
BSMEEY PY AAI Gea hste cs cavaccchtescaccessabisevcusess 10 20 ft 5 in.
ROMS OUEL « dacadp vk ckiseahedse rain iecqsetoe=tuesd 10 35

ft. 13 in.

Our experience has taught us that the catalpa, honey
locust, Russian mulberry, and ash withstand the extremes _
of drought much better than other varieties, and we find
all are durable (except ash) for posts.

N. E. NEBRASKA TREES.

By ORVILLE B. HAZEN, NORFOLK, NEB.

What trees shall we plant? My experience is limited
to the last four years in Madison county. Of evergreens
I have great faith in cedar, red and white, Norway
spruce, Scotch and white pine. Of deciduous trees I
would take European larch, white ash, wild black cherry,

ARBOR DAY. 29

American and canoe birch, silver and Norway soft maple,
white and red elm, catalpa speciosa, trom the seed grown
in Northern Illinois, gray and white willow, black and
white walnut, and black locust, all of which do well.
‘Success of course depends on general management mainly.
My soil is dark loam with some light clay and sand in
places, upland prairie, hilly or rolling. Give the best of
cultivation for the first five years. Keep fires out by
plowing the grass under twice on borders.

ARBOR DAY IN NORTHERN ILLINOIS.
By ARTHUR BRYANT, PRINCETON, ILL.

What varieties to plant, and what are best adapted to
this section of the country, depends very much on cir-
cumstances, and on how good care and cultivation can be
given.

Srreert Trees.—In planting street trees the usual
method is to set them out in the hard soil of the roadside,
digging a hole barely large enough to admit the roots, and
with a very sparing “God bless you” in the way of a
mulch, leave the trees to take care of themselves the rest
of the season. Soft-wooded trees like the soft maple, elm,
cottonwood, and willow, take hold much quicker when
transplanted than the hard-wooded varieties, frequently
making as much growth the first year as the others

30 ARBOR DAY.

do by the third season ; therefore, these being less likely
to meet with adverse seasons before they are established,
are more popular with many.

I consider the white elm the best street tree for this
. section of the country. It is of remarkably quick growth,
soon gets established in its new quarters, and when old is
graceful and grand in its proportions. Soft maples are
easily handled, and when properly trained and not allowed
to fork, will resist most storms. The American linden
is a fine avenue tree. The silver and scarlet maples,
catalpa, chestnut, English alder, mountain ash, tulip tree,
magnolia, Wier’s cut-leaved maple, and different varieties
of the birch and larch are all hardy and desirable. Of
the hard-wooded trees, the sugar maple is the most popu-
lar, and one of the finest avenue trees known. ‘The ash, ~
walnut, butternut, Norway maple, burr and white oaks
are all fine for general planting.

CEMETERIES, ETC.—There should be but few, if any,
large trees planted on individual lots in cemeteries. For
this purpose low growing trees, flowering shrubs, and _
dwarf evergreens should be procured, which will occupy
but little space when matured, leaving the large trees to be
planted on the avenues and grounds devoted to that
gd amt

NeEcEssaARY Pornts 1n PLantine.—In all plantings
on uncultivated grounds, great care should be taken to

ARBOR DAY, 31

prevent injury liable to occur from drouth. Many of the
failures in planting trees of this class are due to lack
of care in this particular. Large trees are procured, with
long, naked stems and but little foliage; these are planted
in hard, dry soil, and but little earth is stirred ; when they
are set the ground is not mulched. Now how can any one
expect success from such planting, especially in an adverse
season? A few necessary points in planting street trees
are: Dig your holes large enough so as not to cramp
the roots of the trees; loosen and mellow the ground for
several feet around the holes; mulch heavily and widely ;
protect the bare body from the sun by wrapping; fre-
quently a board placed on the south side of a tree is
sufficient. A little attention to these matters will often
make the difference between success and failure.
AsKED To SELEcT TREEs.—The families of Lincoln,
Logan, Grant, Douglas, and Cullom have each been asked
to select a tree to be planted in the state house grounds at’
Springfield, Illinois, on the coming Arbor Day.

ARBOR DAY HINTS FOR CENTRAL ILLINOIS.

By C. A. HAMMOND, SECRETARY ILLINOIS STATE HORTICULTURAL
SocrETy, WARSAW, ILL.

Less than a score of years ago, one of the enterprising
spirits of the “Great American Desert” conceived the

32 ARBOR DAY.

idea of setting apart each spring a certain day for tree
planting. The first proclamation for the observance of
such a day was made by the governor of Nebraska, at his
suggestion ; and the next year “ Arbor Day” was legally
established by act of legislature. It at once struck a
popular chord and wonderfully stimulated tree planting.
Kansas followed in the wake of her younger sister, and
for a decade has kept even pace, and perhaps outstripped
her in the good work. Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, and
several of the New England and some of the extreme
southern states soon fell into line; and now in the year of
grace, 1888, Illinois will, by proclamation of the gover-
nor, do what she should have done many years ago—
Sbserve her first official Arbor Day.

EXTENSION oF ARBOR Day.—The first thought of the -
originators of this work was its economic importance, but
the subject grew on their hands, and planting about the
house, in school and church yards and cemeteries, and
along the roadsides soon followed, and in our state this
branch of the work promises to be the most popular on
the approaching Arbor Day. Every town and village of
any pretensions in the state should have a public park in
which should be planted one or more specimens of all our
native trees, both deciduous and evergreen. While it is a
pleasure to know that many of our enterprising towns
have such parks, which are exceedingly creditable to their

ARBOR DAY. 33

public spirit and taste, it is hoped and expected that they
will greatly improve and beautify them, and that those
who have not done so will embrace this occasion to
inaugurate the enterprise.

Lawn planting may properly be considered of the first
importance, and the first question to decide is, what to
plant. The State Horticultural Society has recommended
an excellent list of trees for various purposes [given else-
where], but I will name a small select list which many
years of experience and observation have convinced me
are the most valuable. For beauty there is nothing equal
to the magnolia acuminata or cucumber tree. It is per-
fectly hardy, a good grower, always clean and handsome,
and attracts much attention. The only objection is that it
is somewhat difficult to transplant. A rival to this is the
tulip tree, just as hardy, a more vigorous grower, and
nearly as handsome, with the advantage of being more
easily transplanted. Catalpa speciosa is an indispensable
lawn tree; is hardy, a rapid grower, with large fan-like
leaves and abundant flowers, which makes it admired by
all. The cut-leaved weeping-birch is a charming tree,
and should be better known and more generally planted.
The sugar maple is too familiar to need any recommenda-
tion. Norway spruce, white and Scotch pine are the
most desirable evergreens.

For Srreet AnD RoapsivE planting, nothing is equal

5

34 ARBOR DAY.

to elm, sugar maple, and catalpa, Some of my corres-
pondents object to planting by the side of country roads,
on the ground that the shade will prevent the rapid drying
up of mud after rains; but in these days of tiled and
_ machine-made road-beds, this objection is not worthy of
consideration. We would urge upon every land owner the
duty of planting, as a means of enhancing the value of
his property, as well as adding to the beauty of the coun-
try. The mistake is often made of planting too close;
sixty feet is the minimum distance which these large
growing trees should be set, and possibly eighty or one
hundred would be better still.

Next our Pusiic Scooot Grounps demand attention,
and what shall we say of them? Almost universally too
small, without a tree or shrub to interrupt the fierce rays |
of the summer sun, with gates off the hinges, and the
fence standing at an angle of forty-five degrees, covered
with rubbish and overgrown with weeds, and the house a
fit companion piece for the grounds—this is a picture of a
great majority of them. They are a shame and reproach —
to the directors and patrons of the schools, and a disgrace
to the noble state and the civilization of which we boast.
This is an unfortunate state of things, but the case is by
no means hopeless. Let the directors, and as many pa-
trons as can be interested, devote a portion of Arbor Day
to cleaning up the school yard and planting trees, and

ARBOR DAY. 35

others will soon become interested. Get the work well
started and it will become so fascinating to the children
that it will be comparatively easy to continue it hereafter.
“ Arbor Day” in schools was observed last year in about
twenty-five states, and it is expected that it will be ob-
served in at least ten more this season. Strong growers
should be selected for school yard planting. Elm, catalpa,
and sugar maple are, all things considered, the most desir-
able. The latter grows slowly while young, but after a
few years quite rapidly, and for symmetry of form and
beauty of foliage is unsurpassed. If a greater variety is
wanted add tulip tree and linden or basswood. If ever-
greens are desired, select Norway spruce, white pine, and
Seotch pine.

CHURCHYARDS.—No state can boast of more or better
country churches than Illinois. They are as a rule com-
modious, comfortable, and tasty, and speak well for the
moral and religious condition of our people. But stand-
ing, as so many of them do, without a tree or shrub about
them, “white, glaring, and ghastly,” it does not speak so
well for the esthetic taste of their attendants. Let every
rural church in the state observe the approaching Arbor
Day by ornamenting its grounds with trees, and remember-
ing that

‘* The groves were God’s first temples,’’

and that it is a duty we owe to Him, to ourselves, and to

36 ARBOR DAY.

our fellow men to make the surroundings of His house as
pleasant and attractive as possible, The recommendations
for school ground trees, etc., apply here.

“‘Gop’s AcrE.”—No one who has noticed the neglected
condition of so many of our rural cemeteries will question
the necessity of improving them. Enclosed with a rotten,
tumble-down fence, overgrown with weeds and brush, a
portion of the graves surrounded with a rail pen, and here
and there a mound of clay left from a new-made grave, is
a description applicable to very many of them. They are
a relic of barbarism we should speedily rid ourselves of,
and, like our neglected school grounds, are a disgrace to
the civilization of the last years of the nineteenth century,
and a constant reproach to those whose loved ones are
sleeping there. Make bright and beautiful “‘God’s Acre;” .
cover it with a velvet sward; plant weeping trees, to ex-
press our grief for the loved ones gone before, but plant
evergreens, bright emblems of the better life beyond.
Arbor vite—tree of life—and white pine, always point-
ing upward, are very appropriate here.

AxBouT THE TREES.—Many who desire to plant trees
will ask, “Where and how can I best procure them?”
As a rule, nursery-grown trees are much superior to those
taken from the forest. We would therefore advise those
who expect to plant to order from their home nurseryman,
and if he cannot supply them from his own stock, he will,

ARBOR DAY. 37

if ordered in time, get them from some one else. But if
you fail to get what you want, go to the woods, seek out a
grove of second growth, and dig elm, maple, linden,
hackberry, walnut, etc., and plant and care for them
properly, and you and your posterity will be more than
satisfied with the result. |

A Goop Hicuway Law.—Tree planting in this great
prairie state should be vigorously pushed to the front.
The legislature of Michigan has recently passed an act to
encourage highway planting, which provides, under certain
restrictions, that every man planting along the road bor-
dering his own property shall be credited twenty-five
cents on his highway tax for every tree so planted. Let
us urge upon the next legislature the importance of such a
law, to remain in force until every country road shall
become an avenue of living green, adding beauty to the
landscape, value to the adjacent farms, and causing the
weary traveler to bless the far-seeing men who planned
and built these living monuments. Also the importance
of providing for the improvement and ornamentation of
our public school-houses and grounds. With such laws
on our statute books, and Arbor Day properly observed,
in a few years our noble state, for which nature has
done so much and man so little, will be one of the most
beautiful spots of earth.

Some Don’rs.—In response to a number of correspond-

38 - ARBOR DAY.

ents, I submit the following words of warning: Don’t
plant fruit or nut bearing trees in the school yard! Don’t
plant too many strong growers, or too large a proportion
of evergreens in the cemetery! Don’t plant too near the
house! Don’t plant too closely by the roadside! Don’t
plant the soft maple if better trees can be procured !

ARBOR DAY IN SOUTHERN ILLINOIS.

By JABEZ WEBSTER, CENTRALIA, ILL.

I am proud of the fact that we, too, in Illinois are to
have an Arbor Day. Besides the sentimental phase of the
question—the singing of birds in the lofty tree-tops, the
grateful shelter and protection to man and beast in winter,
and the refreshing shade in summer—there is a grander —
and more widely-reaching principle in the planting and the
caring for trees. I well remember the exquisite pleasure
afforded me after a twenty years’ absence from my native
home, by seeing a tree planted in my boyhood nearly forty
years before. J asked an American traveler on an ocean
steamship returning from a trip to Europe, what feature
of the older countries made the most pleasant and lasting
impression on him. He replied: “The love of the people,
rich and poor, for the beautiful in nature. The love for
beautiful trees and flowers, both in public and private, as
exhibited by the humble cottager and around the village

ARBOR DAY. 39

railroad stations in England, France, and Germany, is
universal. ‘The neatness and good taste displayed with
climbing vines, trees, and plants around public and pri-
vate establishments, the grandeur of their boulevards and
parks, is certainly worthy of our emulation as a people.”

I thoroughly agreed with him. In our great country,
in the scramble for the almighty dollar we have almost
lost sight of the beautiful in nature. The disparagement
of country life is one of the worst tendencies of the times ;
the hankering for city diversions and excitements, and so-
called more genteel employment, has brought ruin to many
worthy families. Every influence around the young
should combine to foster home attachments, for there is
national protection, as well as education, in the love of
home. To love the beautiful in nature is to elevate the
race, and to inculcate this should be a part of our national
system of education. Men of means should take the lead ;
when once started it becomes contagious, but not danger-
ous ; its influence is soon felt in society, and also in the
price of real estate. The love for the beautiful in nature
sharpens the finer senses, and quickens the intellectual fac-
ulties—makes better boys, better men. Our railroad sta-
tions and public school grounds are generally uninviting
and often repulsive; but with the founding of Arbor Day
we have made one step in the right direction, and in a few
decades we may reasonably expect to see beneficent results.

40 ARBOR DAY.

Wuat To PLant.—But the question will be asked,
“What trees shall we plant, and how many?” I would
answer, let every prairie farmer set out one or more trees
on this first Arbor Day. Let every school teacher make
preparation to have one or more trees planted well, as an
object lesson for the pupils. Let every head of the family
devote half an hour to planting one or more trees on Arbor
Day, so each member of the family will become inter-
ested in caring for and studying its wants and require-
ments. For Southern Illinois the following trees will be
found suitable, and can easily be obtained from established
nurseries at reasonable prices throughout the state: red,
white, and slippery elm, white ash, beech, tulip tree,
linden, white birch, blue ash, soft and sugar maple,
bird cherry, box-elder, hackberry, sycamore, black wal-
nut, sweet chestnut, European larch, golden willow. The
beech and tulip are not advised for general planting,
except in the extreme southern counties of the state in
timber and hilly country. The linden and sugar maple .
are adapted to prairie planting where there isa good depth
of soil, but on poor washed-out places they will not suc-
ceed. The same may be said of black walnut. The age
of trees for transplanting varies somewhat, but I recom-
mend a thrifty nursery-grown tree from three to six years
old, once or more transplanted from seed bed. The soft
maple, white elm, white ash, box-elder, and bird cherry

ARBOR DAY. 41

make good and desirable trees at three to four years, I
would recommend the following evergreens for Southern
Illinois: white, Scotch, and red pine, Norway and white
spruce, Irish juniper and red cedar.

THE TREES AND PLANTING.—A fter being well planted,
trees in our climate should have the earth around them
stirred quite often in the early summer months, and occa-
sionally through the entire summer. They should also be
mulched with green weeds, half rotten straw, or any sub-
stance which will retain moisture. A worthy friend of
ours having purchased a variety of trees for a park, asked
for instructions in regard to their planting and after-care.
We replied by telling him: 1st, Do not expose the roots
of any tree to a warm or cold drying wind ; let them stay
packed with damp straw in your wagon, taking them out
as wanted, and planting one at a time. 2d, Do not crowd
your trees into small, deep holes, but provide for each one
a hole large enough to take in the roots in their natural
position, and with some room tospare. 3d, If the soil is
thin and poor, plow or dig out at least ten inches of the
clay sub-soil and fill up with good, black surface soil from
under a tough sod ; or take sod and all and chop up with
a spade in the bottom of the hole, thus making a rich bed
of good, black dirt to set the tree on, and so to work in
and cover the roots. 4th, Bear in mind that if the place

where you want to plant your tree is not favorable to
‘4

42 ARBOR DAY.

~ growth, that now is the time to make it so—not after two
or three fruitless attempts and failures. 5th, Remem-
ber that a tree will be sure to starve and die without plant
food and moisture, and that this cannot be found in or con-
tained by a hard, tough, clayey subsoil. 6th, Keep in
mind the fact that most trees do not require to be planted
on prairie soil deeper than three to four inches, but a
mound of good soil corresponding to the size of tree and
hole should be built up three or four inches higher than
the surrounding surface. 7th, Cultivate often with horse
power where it is possible, leaving the ground smooth and
even to assist in retaining moisture. After July 1st mulch
freely with green weeds or half rotten straw, or cover
with a flat rock, or any substance which will retain mois-
ture in a dry season. Water thoroughly once a week ~
through August, or until rain comes to your relief. You
will find in tree planting, as in nearly everything else,
that work thoroughly done is the most satisfactory and
profitable. Never use a spade to dig holes for planting -
trees where a plow can be employed.

TREE LISTS FOR ILLINOIS.
ILLINoIs STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.
The following lists of trees have been recommended by
the most intelligent and successful planters in the state, as.

ARBOR DAY. — 43

suitable for the purposes named. They are too numerous
for individual planting, but selections can be made to suit
all conditions and tastes.

Parks: Sugar maple, elm, sycamore, burr oak, black
walnut, catalpa speciosa, magnolia acuminata, Norway
maple, hackberry, linden, ash, mulberry, tulip tree, box-
elder, Norway spruce, white pine, Scotch pine, chestnut.

Lawns: Elm, sugar maple, tulip tree, magnolia acu-
minata, linden, cut-leaved birch, catalpa speciosa, Norway
maple, ash, chestnut, Norway spruce, white pine, arbor
vite. |
Streets: Elm, hackberry, sugar maple, ash, linden,
tulip tree, sycamore, catalpa speciosa.

Country Roaps: Elm, sugar maple, catalpa speciosa,
black walnut, linden, hackberry, mulberry, wild cherry.

ScHoot Grounps: Elm, sugar maple, tulip tree, catalpa
speciosa, linden, ash, Norway spruce, Scotch pine.

CEMETERIES: Weeping birch, cypress, white pine, arbor
vite.

By C. N. Dennis, HAMILTON, ILL.

West CentTrAL.—Would recommend for this locality
for outside planting: Elm, soft and hard maple, black
walnut, catalpa speciosa, linden, ash, hackberry, sycamore.
For parks and lawns, would add chestnut, magnolia acu-
minata, mulberry, Norway spruce, white pine, arbor vite,

44 ARBOR DAY.

and red cedar. For cemeteries, weeping birch, and wil-
low, arbor vite, Irish juniper, ete. Pecan, horse chestnut,
and hickory can be grown best from seed planted where
they are to stand; paw-paw and persimmon may be
grown where they can be well cared for.

By W. A. Watson & Son, NORMAL, ILL.

NortH Centrau.—In ceniral Illinois for large parks,
and other places of broad extent, the following would be
very suitable: American white elm, black walnut, oaks in
variety, white and yellow willows, American linden, white
ash, cucumber, magnolia, and sugar maple. For smaller
places, add to the four last named, tulip tree, box elder,
white birch, and catalpa. For street planting we prefer
the smaller round-headed trees such as sugar maple, box .
elder, white ash, etc. For door-yards and small lawns,
give us more shrubs and less trees, more sunshine and
less shadow, more beautiful green grass, and brightening
flowers. For shrubs, the following are all beautiful and
appropriate, generally hardy and free bloomers: Altheas,
cornelian cherry, dwarf almond, deutzia, dogwood, euony-
mus, flowering currants, honeysuckles, hydrangea, Japan
quince, and roses of the different kinds in variety.

ARBOR DAY. 45

ARBOR DAY CAUTIONS.

By MILO BARNARD, PRESIDENT OF THE ILLINOIS STATE
HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.

To the horticulturists of Illinois who have long labored
for the establishment of a holiday devoted to tree planting
and rural adornment, its accomplishment is a source of
gratification, and congratulations are now in order. But
we must remember that its success or failure is yet to be
tested. A general observance of the day, and a cheerful
performance of the duties enjoined, will make it a grand
success, while carelessness or negligence on our part will
make it a failure. The day selected may not be the best,
but time and practice will determine this. And it may,
upon trial, prove impracticable to devote the same day to
this purpose in all parts of the state, but this will be readily
adjusted in the future to suit circumstances and the wishes
of the people.

Tuis Day 1s DesieNnep for the benefit of all classes of
people—the high, the low, the rich, the poor, old and
young, male and female—but it is especially designed for
schools, cemetery and other associations, public improve-
ment committees, and kindred organizations. No better
mode of teaching by object lessons could be devised, than
for teachers to assemble their flock on Arbor Day, conduct
them into the forest, and while digging trees and plants
for home or school yard, teach them lessons in botany,

46 ARBOR DAY.

ornithology, and entomology. And there, in Nature’s gar-
den, the warm, soft air of glad, joyous spring-time, melodi-
ous with the notes of happy song birds, and all Nature
bursting into new growth, these young minds will receive
lasting impressions of that great mystery called life.
This will be the proper time and opportunity to dress up
cemeteries and get them in shape for Decoration Day.

But with liberal planting of trees, shrubs, vines, plants,
cuttings, and seeds, Arbor Day may be a failure, unless
followed by good care after the planting; and here is
another opportunity to teach the little ones habits of
industry, perseverance, neatness, and promptitude. All
seeds, cuttings, and small plants should be planted where
they can receive good cultivation; and trees planted where
it is not practicable to cultivate the ground, should be.
heavily mulched, to retain moisture and prevent the
growth of weeds.

MISTAKES IN PLANTING.
By L. R. BRYANT, PRINCETON, ILL.

I think it advisable to call attention to some mistakes
which tree planters are liable to make, not with the inten-
tion of at all discouraging the extensive planting of trees
on the coming Arbor Day, but to have them so direct their
efforts as to produce best results.

ARBOR DAY. 47

ORCHARDS AND WINDBREAKS.—Perhaps one of the
greatest mistakes is the imperfect preparation of the soil
and careless manner of planting. In planting an orchard
or windbreak, the ground should be plowed deeply and
brought to the best possible condition before setting the
trees; it can be done then much better and more easily
than afterwards. Where trees are planted singly, dig large
holes and loosen the ground deeply in the bottom, but set
the tree only a trifle deeper than it stood before; spread
out the roots in their natural position and work in the fine
earth among them. A couple of pails of water thrown in,
when the hole is two-thirds full, will be an advantage.
When this has settled away, fill up the hole, tramping the
earth firmly. Where trees have long bodies or trunks,
it is advisable, when digging, to mark the south side of
the tree and set in the same position as before, or in case
this is not practicable, to protect the south and south-west
sides slightly from the direct rays of the sun for a year or
two. After planting is attended to, good cultivation or

Proper Mutcuine 1s Necessary.—If mulching is
done, it should extend for some distance around the tree.
A great mistake is often made in this respect. I have seen
mulching put around trees just the size of the hole, and the
consequence was that in a dry time there would be a crack
all around the circumference of the hole, and the mulching
was worse than useless in hiding the mischief. Coarse,

48 ARBOR DAY.

rank manure should never be put in the holes or around
a newly planted tree. As a matter of course, extreme
care should be taken not to expose the roots of trees
unnecessarily to sun and wind.

SmaLL YARDS AND CEMETERIES.—A mistake often
made in small yards is too close planting. How often we
see a city lot with a row of elms or silver maples outside
the sidewalk, another row just inside the fence, and be-
tween this and the house several Norway spruce, pines, or
other rank-growing evergreens, and no room for the proper
development of any of them. It all looks well when the
trees are small, and if thinning out at the proper time is
unsparingly done it may not be objectionable, but few have
the heart to do this when it should be done. A single row
of street trees, with a few small shrubs, evergreens, or de-
ciduous trees, are all that are permissible. In cemeteries
it is common to see lots surrounded by an evergreen hedge,
rusty and dying at the base, and the interior filled up with
coarse-growing evergreens. This is all right enough in the -
proper place; the only trouble is that the owners have
tried to do on a spot of ground only a few feet square
what was only appropriate on an acre. Large trees are,
as a rule, allowable only in the general planting of ceme-
teries, or if set out in private lots, should be deciduous
trees, and of such varieties as will bear trimming up.
high.

ARBOR DAY. 49

Roapsipes anp Scuoon Yarps.—A mistake in road-
side planting is the digging up of large trees in the woods,
with short, coarse roots, and trimming the tops to bare
poles. While these often eventually make fine trees, much
time is lost. Nursery-grown trees are preferable; or where
forest trees are taken they should be dug around the spring
previous to moving and the large roots cut off. This will
insure plenty of fibrous roots, and the increased growth
will well pay for the extra work and delay in planting.
Perhaps the greatest mistake in planting school yards,
especially in the country, is neglect. In planting school
grounds where no janitor is employed, it'is best to select
fair-sized, strong-growing trees which can easily be pro-
tected at the start, as it must be remembered that “ boys
will be boys,” and may often thoughtlessly destroy choice
trees. Fruit trees, or large nut-bearing trees, like chest-
“nuts or walnuts, are, for this reason, objectionable in a
school yard. ;

Farm Prantines.—In general planting on a prairie
farm, plant first windbreaks, screens, and roadside trees of
the most approved and hardiest varieties, thus giving pro-
tection first. Afterwards set out the choicer kinds more
especially for ornament, as means and fancy may dictate.
Do not make the mistake of planting trees and shrubs,
which need the shade and protection of larger trees, in
locations exposed to the hot suns of summer and winds

7

50 ARBOR DAY.

of winter. As to varieties, the list recommended by the
officers of the Illinois State Horticultural Society [given
elsewhere] is a good one, but I would add for lawns and
parks, the white or canoe birch and the American and
European larch. For windbreaks plant Norway spruce in
single rows six to ten feet apart, or for grove and wind-
break together nothing is better than white pine. Do not
make the mistake of undertaking more than can be done
well. Make plans and preparations beforehand, and all
the increased care, expense, and labor taken in planting
and cultivation will be richly repaid in comfort and sat-
isfaction during all of the after years.

ARBOR DAY IN IOWA.

By Pror. J. L. BuDD, AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, AMES, IowA.

While Nebraska is justly entitled to the credit of origi-
nating Arbor Day, with its associated lessons and pleasant
observances, Iowa soon followed, and added, as early as .
1874, a list of premiums aggregating $200, to be awarded
as follows: For the largest number of trees set in per-
manent plantation, for the greatest number of larch or
evergreen trees, for the greatest number of ash, for the
greatest number of oaks, for the greatest number of any
valuable tree planted by one person, for the greatest num-
ber planted by a boy or girl under sixteen years old, ete.

ARBOR DAY. 51

Twenty-one separate and distinct premiums were offered,
ranging from $5.00 to $35.00, and the list of premiums
was published in most of the newspapers of the state.
Hundreds of persons indicated their intention of compet-
ing for the premiums, but the 20th of April turned out to
be peculiarly stormy in the eastern part of the state, with
low temperature and snow in the western portions, with
the result that few were able, even if willing, to meet
the requirements of the list.

With this experience the Arbor Day plan was gradually
changed into that of extended distribution of pamphlets
of instruction to tree planters, and the offer of premiums
to successful planters, irrespective of the day, week, or
month when the trees or seeds were planted. Since 1872
the writer has sent out many thousand circulars and
Forestry annuals, and the society has paid a number of
premiums on extended and systematic planting of trees on
the prairies. The idea of planting on any specific day has
been lost by the society for a number of years, but last
year the superintendent of public schools—Mr. Akers—
set apart May 4th to be observed as Arbor Day in the
public schools of the state. In quite a large proportion of
the schools interesting and instructive programmes were
carried out in connection with the planting of trees in the
school yards. As Prof. Northrop has said, “The eco-
nomic and zsthetic here go hand in hand. This enlisting

52 ARBOR DAY.

of schools has proved a most effective way of calling pub-
lic attention to the subject of forestry.” It seems to be an
initial move in the introduction of some of the elementary
lessons in horticulture now common to the public schools
of Austria and Prussia. :

This spring, Superintendent Sabin has chosen Gen.
Grant’s birthday—April 27—for the observance of Arbor
Day in-Iowa, and has sent out to the schools of the state
an interesting circular letter with appropriate greeting, sen-
timents, and suggestions in regard to programme. The
motto of the Arbor Day annual should be the subject for
thought and discussion in every school of the land: “The
tree of the field is man’s life.” If the students, parents,
and managers in every school in the state can be interested
in the observances and sentiments of Arbor Day, we can -
hopefully look forward to the time when the school grounds
of our country will have attached gardens as in Germany,
and the students given elementary lessons on the planting,
mission, and uses of trees and flowers. Speaking of this
feature of the public schools of Europe, the writer gave
the following incident in the summer of 1882: .

_ “While walking from the little village of Proskau, in
Silesia, to the grounds of the horticultural school, some-
thing over a mile distant, with my friend Gibb, scanning
the trees and shrubs on each side of the arboretum road,
active stepping young and middle aged men continually

ARBOR DAY. 53

passed us to the number of fifty or more. We began to
wonder if they were students. The only argument against
the belief was the appearance of maturity and age of the
passers. On reaching the grounds we met the professor
of horticulture, and about the first inquiry was: Are the
men who have been passing us in such numbers students?
“Yes, they are students, but of a special character. They
are teachers of our public schools taking lectures and
practice here with a view to fitting themselves for the
better fulfillment of their duties as teachers in the public
schools.’ Perhaps we cannot reach this condition of
things at once, but a commencement should be made

now.”

TREES FOR BEAUTY AND SERVICE.

By JoHN WraAGG, WAUKEE, IowA.

I notice with great satisfaction the growing popularity
of Arbor Day, a day legally set apart by our legislative
Solons for planting trees to protect and adorn our homes,
cemeteries, public school grounds, and all places which we
would render attractive—a day which shall be a bright
break in the hurry and push of our busy American life,
and be to our people what “ May Day” was to the youth
of “Merrie England” in the days of “Queen Bess,” but
with-a deeper significance; for on future Arbor Days those

54 ARBOR DAY.

who come after us will point with pride to some beautiful
and stately tree or grove and say, our fathers and our
- mothers planted and carefully tended it, and we rejoice in
its beauty and protection. In central Europe, the streets
are lined for miles with productive fruit trees, planted by
the authorities, and they are a source of profit, as well as a
beautiful feature of the landscape. From them at ripen-
ing time the thirsty traveler may satisfy his needs, but is
not allowed to waste or carry any away. We are afraid
this plan would hardly do in the Northwest, even if the
trees grew and yielded fruit as they do in Germany, as, to
Young America, the law of “ meuwm et tuum” is in most
cases a dead letter. But trees may be planted which will
afford grateful shade and protection in summer, and in
winter be landmarks, and break the force of our blizzards ©
and storms.

SoctaL PHAsE or ARBorR Day.—Those of our people
who live in country homes, more or less isolated, have too
few opportunities of meeting each other in a social way.
We often fail to recognize the worth of those who may
live quite near us, because we do not know them. But on
Arbor Day we can, by a little previous arrangement, meet
together on a common plane, to help each other, to advise,
and to be taught. Friendships will be formed which will
be as enduring as the trees we plant—which will grow
with their growth, and strengthen with their strength.

ARBOR DAY. 55

These rural gatherings will not be, or should not—like
many are, for a stated purpose—grim and ceremonious ;
but young and old and middle-aged will gather; our
mothers, wives, and daughters will help us plan, yes, and
help us plant, too; and what our children help plant they
will thus learn to love; and it will be another tie to bind
them to their youthful homes.

Dectpuous TREEs TO PLANT.—Two of our best na-
tive trees are the white elm and rock or sugar maple.
Both are found growing in most parts of every one
of our northern states, and for stately roadside trees
combine more desirable features than any others. The
hackberry is a most desirable and beautiful tree, is easily
transplanted, and should be better known. The linden or
basswood is a native which should be more planted.
Some of our most beautiful and graceful trees are ignored
by many planters because they are native—“ too common.”
The walnuts, and in fact all nut-bearing trees, are hard to
transplant, but it may be done with care, especially if the
tap-root is cut off the spring previous to removal. This
can be done by digging carefully under one side of the tree
until the tap or center root is found. Kentucky coffee
nut is, when in full foliage, a grand tree; it has very
long, double pinnate leaves, two or three feet in length ;
it is found growing wild in most parts of the West and
is quite easily transplanted. The plane, or sycamore, is

56 ARBOR DAY.

another of our common trees, with a beauty of color and
outline peculiar to itself, and is always an object of inter-
est. Of those not so well known as these is the magnolia
acuminata or cucumber tree. This is found as a forest
tree in the middle states, but is hardy enough to stand
any climate up to the north line of Iowa. It is beautiful,
its large leaves giving it a semi-tropical appearance.
The tulip tree or yellow poplar and the catalpa are both
hardy in this latitude, and both have a habit of branch-
ing out quite low, so it is necessary to keep the lower
branches trimmed off until the desired height is obtained.
EVERGREENS TO PLant.—Of the evergreens I prefer
white pine where a large tree is desired, and where they
can be planted far enough apart to grow to perfection.
It is a native, and will grow on most any kind of soil not.
too wet.. The white spruce is more compact in growth,
has a beautiful silvery appearance, and is the best of the
common spruces. It does not, however, grow so fast as
the Norway, which is too common to need description. _
Though not an evergreen, the larch is generally classed
with them, or at least with the conifers, which include all
evergreens. Nothing is finer than an avenue of larch in
summer, perfect in outline, always growing with straight,
smooth trunks, the branches just pendulous enough to be
graceful, and the foliage of the softest green; it surely
should have a place in every collection of trees. The

ARBOR DAY, 57

European is preferable to the black or American larch,
but either is desirable.

In the foregoing I have only named a few of the most
desirable sorts which are easily obtained in most localities,
It is a beautiful custom to plant a tree in the name of
some dear friend, either present or absent. Let us, then,
plant stately, grand, and beautiful trees for our friends,
our children, and for those who may come after us, and
who will love and care for them when we are gone. May
many trees be planted this coming Arbor Day dedicated
to the Prairie Farmer, and may they and it grow and
flourish and be a blessing to all. And may it still be
sung:

‘* Who sows a field, or trains a flower,
Or plants a tree, is more than all.

‘*For he who blesses most is blest;
And God and man shall own his worth,
Who toils to leave, as his bequest,
An added beauty to the earth.”’

FROM A LONG EXPERIENCE.
By E. F. Brockway, AINSWoRTH, Iow4.

Tree planting thas been a hobby of mine for over forty
years, and I expect to plant as long as I live. I often
hear men of middle age saying: “It will not pay me to

8 :

58 ARBOR DAY.

plant trees, I will never get any good of them.” No
doubt such men have been eating the fruits of other men’s
labors all their lives. As a lawn or shade tree, I think
the cork or white elm the very best. For profit in this
state, I would plant black walnut and white pine. Thirty-
one years ago this spring I set out 1,000 white pine in
Muscatine Co., near Cone. To-day they are sixty feet high
and twenty-eight inches in diameter. I lost very few by
planting, though taken from the forest, and not one has
died since in all these years. They are there yet, strong, —
vigorous, valuable, beautiful; a monument of which I
am proud. Twenty-six years ago I planted 1,000 black
walnuts; many of them are now fully sixteen inches in
diameter, and forty acres of them would be a fortune.
How to observe Arbor Day? Our state requires a certain
number of trees on each school-house lot. Where it has
not been done, it would be well to do it this Arbor Day,
in the presence of the pupils, the teacher or director
showing the best way to plant, and what to plant. In the >
spring of 1872 I invited my neighbors to help me set
out trees on our school-house lot. I furnished 100 white
pine. We planted them all the same day, and every tree
lived. To-day there is not such another school lot in the
county. They were three feet high when I planted; they
are now fully thirty feet, making a perfect protection
from blizzards in winter, and they are pleasant and

ARBOR DAY. 59

healthful the year round. I have given hundreds of
trees to schools and churches, but many have not cared
for them, and lost them. My own home is sheltered
by 3,000 evergreens, from thirty to forty feet high, and
I am confident they have paid for themselves this winter,
and have done the same for many winters past.

ARBOR WEEK VS. ARBOR DAY.

By G. B. BRACKETT, DENMARK, Iowa.

Iowa was one of the foremost states in the Union for
setting apart a day for general tree planting. In the act
of our general assembly appropriating $1,000 to the State
Horticultural Society it was made incumbent on them
to award annually the sum of $200 in premiums for the
encouragement of forest tree planting. After carefully
considering the subject with a view to encouraging as many
as many as possible to compete for the premiums, it was
decided to appoint a special day for planting throughout
the state, designated as Arbor Day. Accordingly the
society fixed the 20th day of April, 1874, as such day.
But very unfortunately, our initial Arbor Day proved to
be the most unpropitious day of the season, consequently
tree planting on this day was nearly a failure, and since
then Arbor Day has not been very strictly observed, every

60 ARBOR DAY.

one preferring to take the most favorable time to plant,
rather than take the chances on a special day.

ArBorR WEEK.—Now, when we take into consideration
the uncertainty of the weather, the condition of the soil,
and the extent of territory, covering, in some cases, as in
the state of Illinois, a range from north to south of 360
miles, thus making quite a variation in climate, is it a
practical thing to do, to fix upon just one day in the year
for tree planting? Would it not be better to extend the
time to one week, and call it Arbor Week? Then those
in the lower latitude can plant in the beginning of the
week, while those residing farther north can plant later.

THe Extm.—As you will probably not have space for
extended lists of trees recommended for planting, I will
limit myself to one tree, the elm, which is undoubtedly the
best one tree for all purposes. It is good for the street,
for the country road, for the school grounds, for the town,
for the park, and for cemeteries. It will grow anywhere
and everywhere; its habitat has a wider range than any _
other tree; it is found all over Europe, in Asia, Africa,
and as far east as Japan, and in this country its range is
from as far south as Florida to Oregon in the north.
It will grow on all kinds of soil, and what tree can be
more beautiful than the elm, with its widely diffused,
pendulous branches floating gracefully in the air. Plant
it for ornament, for shade, for shelter; plant it by the

ARBOR DAY. 61

cottage and by the mansion, by the roadside, and on the
school grounds; plant it in the park, and on the lawn.

PLANTING TREES—EVERGREENS.

By E. B. PortER, DELHI, Iowa.

The law of Iowa requires that a certain number of trees
be planted in each school yard. This has been’ poorly
complied with. A valuable lesson might be taught the
children by having them assist in setting the trees with
appropriate ceremonies on Arbor Day. Concerning the
best kinds to set, I think it would be best for the inexpe-
rienced to commence with those which can be easily trans-
planted, such as catalpa, maple, and elm. They should
not be less than six or eight feet high; smaller ones re-
quire too much protection. Catalpa should not be planted
north of the Illinois Central Railroad in Iowa. Some
succeed north of this while others fail south of it, but it
marks the general line between success and failure.

In Sertine Ovt, dig the holes twelve to eighteen inches
deep, so the tree may stand somewhat deeper when set than
before. Be sure to dig the hole large enough so all the
roots may be straightened out naturally. Some think even
considerably larger holes are beneficial ; at least they do
no harm. Place the tree in position and shovel some sur-
face soil around the roots. Throw ona half of a pailful

62 ARBOR DAY.

of water and shovel in some more earth. Pack as firmly
as possible and then throw on a little loose soil to finish,
so the surface will not bake about the tree. If the tree
is large it should be supported by stakes, but old rags
should be placed around it to prevent bruising. In any
case it is advisable to stake it in for protection against
stock, etc.

Wiru EvEeRGREENS the same course should be followed
except that much more care should be taken to keep the
roots from becoming the least bit dry. This is especially
fatal to them. The best evergreens for such purposes are
white and Scotch pine, Norway spruce, and balsam fir ;
these should be at least two feet high for transplanting.

ArtTeR CarE.—When the trees are set they should be
well mulched with straw, chip-dirt, or some light material. —
Care must be taken to place the mulch so as not to carry
off the water. I once saw several large trees killed by
laying boards on the straw to keep chickens away. Trees
set as above indicated will not need watering except in
case of long continued dry weather. Do not use less
than two pailfuls to the tree, if any. A small amount
will merely moisten the surface enough to bake without
benefiting the roots.

ARBOR DAY. 63

PLANT GRAPES ON ARBOR DAY.

By Hon. SILAS WILSON, ATLANTIC, IowA.

I desire to offer a few suggestions to the readers of the
Prairie Farmer, while Arbor Day is attracting more or
less attention. It seems to me to be a good time to
urge the planting of vineyards. Every family in the
country not already supplied should plant this vineyard
on Arbor Day. A family vineyard should contain from
100 to 200 vines, according to the number to be supplied.
Very early and late varieties should be planted in order to
make the grape season last as long as possible. Such a
vineyard should supply grapes enough of suitable kinds
for at least two months. I would recommend planting for
early: Moore’s Early, Worden, Telegraph, Cottage, Lady,
and Janesville. For late: Pocklington, Elvira, and Con-
cord. For good keeping varieties: Agawam, Rogers’ No.
15, and Delaware. Plant all vines deep, fifteen to twenty
inches, and give clean culture. Cut back the first year
to eight or ten inches, the second year to twenty or thirty
inches, the third year to three or four feet, ete. Always
prune in the fall after leaves drop; and lay down and
give them winter protection, by covering with earth four
or five inches deep. Let them remain covered until all
danger of freezing is past in spring, then tie the vines up
to wire or stakes, as suits your convenience. If this plan

64 ARBOR DAY.

is followed out, no family need be without a full supply
of this health-giving fruit.

IOWA TREE LISTS AND NOTES.

By F. H. BRUNING, KENT, IowA.

SourH CrnTRAL.—For ornamental trees the blue
spruce heads the list for this locality, followed by silver
fir, Colorado spruce, and Norway spruce. Of pines, the
white leads, followed by the Colorado. The Scotch pine
is the poorest we have. For a windbreak nothing equals
the red. cedar, and next to it comes Norway spruce.
There is one thing greatly overlooked in the digging of
evergreens, and that is pulling them up: they should be
dug up and the soil shaken off very carefully in order to
preserve the fine roots, which in red cedar are very fine
indeed, and easily broken off. The central root is no use
without them; but if the fine roots are preserved and
trees properly planted, they start at once and need no
shade.

By M. VINCENT, LEMARS.

NortTH-weEst.—A very good way to observe Arbor
Day would be for the teacher to have each scholar set out

a tree or shrub and then take care of it during the season.
Let this custom be followed each year, and let there be

ARBOR DAY. 65

an interest awakened on the subject. I would have all
trees furnished at public expense and made the teacher’s
business to see that they were not destroyed after being
planted. In this way the school ground would ere long
become a place of beauty instead of, as is too often the
case, a plat of ground overgrown with weeds, except
where worn ‘smooth with feet in play. I think much
good might result from such planting. I would also
have a day set apart for general planting, and encourage
it by offering premiums for the best grove of trees, such
as walnut, ash, elm, locust of the thornless varieties, and
such as are likely to be more valuable in the future than
cottonwood, box-elder, etc., which may be very good to
start with, but which do not make a good permanent
grove. ‘Then there are the evergreen, such as the Scotch,
Austrian, white, and red pines, Norway and white spruce,
white and red cedar. These trees are becoming so low
priced as to be within the reach of all, and there is
nothing more beautiful or valuable on any place than an
evergreen windbreak in the winter time.

By J. B. MITCHELL, CRESCO.

NortH Crentrau.—For this locality I would advise
the planting of more hard maple, white ash, black walnut,
and butternut. Soft maple, willow, and cottonwood have
been extensively planted, and make a quick growth for

9 |

66 ARBOR DAY.

shelter, but have not the value or the beauty of the trees
first named. For a street shade tree, nothing is equal to
the noble hard maple. Many evergreens do well; the best
are balsam fir, white pine, Norway and white spruce.
Those planting evergreens for shelter as well as beauty
cannot afford to dispense with those named. For orna-
mental hedges or single specimens, when sheared, nothing
equals American arbor vite. Among fruit trees 1 know
of no cherries or pears I can recommend; the De Soto
plum is a success and should be more extensively planted.
The Russian apples are well adapted to this climate, and
the Duchess is already recognized by most nurseries, many
of which charge a special price for it.

TREES FOR MISSOURI PLANTING.

By CHARLES PATTERSON, KIRKSVILLE, Mo.

As to desirable varieties for planting in school-house
grounds, door-yards, or on roadsides, I can hardly go
amiss among native forest trees, and have little induce-
ment to seek further. The different varieties of ash,
sugar and Norway maples, cannot be excelled in compact-
ness, beauty, and resistance to winds and sleet, while the
more straggling growth of soft maple, elm, and box-elder,
could easily be made nearly equally resistant by timely
cutting back. Linden and birch of all kinds would be

ARBOR DAY. 67

desirable for variety. Hickory, walnut, oaks, and chest-
nut are more difficult to transplant of desirable sizes.
Among evergreens individual taste can safely be grati-
fied, and one can accept any offered, excepting junipers
and the Chinese section of the arbor vite.

I have transplanted trees eight to ten feet high, by
carefully digging long roots and using the utmost caution
to prevent exposure to drying wind or even light. Good
roots are very important, and for that reason nursery-
"grown trees are preferable, and generally as cheap as
if hunted, dug, and transported from the forest. A
very important requisite in planting is to pound in the
soil quite solid, after covering the roots well; then fill up
the hollow with loose soil. As to reasons for planting I
will only say that if children are allowed or induced to
take part in planting, and certain trees assigned to each,
their memories will, in after life, revert to them as one
of the dearest spots on earth.

IN MISSOURI SCHOOL GROUNDS.

By W. E. Co_tMAN, STATE Supt. oF PUBLIC SCHOOLS, JEFFERSON
City, Mo.

In appointing April 6th as Arbor Day in his state Mr.

Colman says: “If this subject is properly represented to
the residents of the district by those interested in the edu-

68 ARBOR DAY.

cation of their children, every child will readily take part
in the enterprise. Let the children plant and name their
trees, and they will protect, guard, and cultivate them in
the future. It may be argued that it will simply be labor
wasted, as the teachers employed will not interest them-
selves in this matter sufficiently to protect the grounds
from injury. Such teachers should not be employed, for
they are not competent to instruct, govern, and train
children; nothing more plainly portrays the qualifications
and taste of a teacher than the condition of the fencing,
out-houses, trees, and shrubbery on the school grounds.
The teacher who has no taste in this direction is unfit
to be placed in charge of children.” He also gives some
excellent advice as to the manner of observing the day
in schools:

1. Select and dig the trees several days in advance,
being sure to keep their roots moist by binding wet straw
carefully around them and burying temporarily in the
ground,

2. Select trees, straight and smooth, from one to two
inches in diameter, cut top off at seven feet, and all limbs
cut back to eight or ten inches. |

3. The best trees are in order: Linn, ash, box-elder,
elm, hard maple, sycamore, pecan, walnut, soft maple,
and evergreens.

4, Carefully trim the growing trees of all broken and

ARBOR DAY. 69

straggling branches, and keep symmetrical. It is as neces-
sary to take care of them afterwards, as it is to plant new
ones.

5. Call the meeting to order promptly at 1:30 p.m.,
and devote one hour at least to orations, essays, poems,
including historical sketches of noted trees mentioned in
connection with our nation’s history.

6. If there is no fence around the ground, make an
effort to get a levy for that purpose, and at all events see
that the trees are properly protected against injury, and
mulched.

7. Have teacher or clerk report to the county com-
missioner or superintendent what was done, and what
trees were planted out.

MISSOURI TREE NOTES AND LISTS.

By SECRETARY GOODMAN.

SraTe HorticuLtturau Society’s List.—The failure
last year, on account of the drouth, should not discourage
us. We will never have trees unless we plant again.
The best native forest trees: The elm, then the maple,
then the ash and box-elder. If you can get them, and can
afford it, get the sugar maple, tulip tree, or linn tree also.
In cities, use the sycamore, it stands the coal smoke best.
The best evergreens: Red cedar, Norway spruce, and

70 ARBOR DAY.

white pine. Plant in clumps of five or seven, and not
in straight lines so much. Any reliable nurseryman will
help you select well if you ask him.

By RoBerT BRITTAIN, HALF Rock, Mo.

NortH CENTRAL.—The best tested tree for Arbor
Day here is the soft maple. It does best to plant the
seed, and cultivate while young the same as corn, though
they do well transplanted. The hardiest and best ever-
green is the Scotch pine; we prefer those two to three
feet high, which have been transplanted two or three
times in the nursery, as it makes them safer to plant.
They should be well cultivated after being reset.

By CHARLEs C. BELL, BOONVILLE, Mo.

CENTRAL.—Arbor Day is, in my opinion, a work in
the right direction, and your paper deserves much credit
for taking “holt” of this work. I hope the time is not
far distant when every state in this Union will observe _
tree planting and ornamentation on Arbor Day. The
good resulting from tree culture, especially in the west-
ern states, is very great, and it may soon supply what
is most needed (wood for all purposes), as well as affect
the rainfall and protect us from the disagreeable winds.
It will transform our western plains into habitable
oases.

ARBOR DAY. 71

By RoMMEL & SopBE, Morrison, Mo.

East CenTRAL.— Your object is a very good one, which
we should be very happy to see shortly introduced. Our
suggestion would be, that every teacher be instructed to
take his class and drill them, and with the idea once given
to the youth, it would soon be a permanent fixture. Soft
maple, box elder, or catalpa would be the most desirable
here, being hardy and of quick growth.

ARBOR DAY IN MISSOURI.
By L. R. Tart, Missouri AGR. COLLEGE, CoLuMBIA, Mo,

The original purpose of Arbor Day was to encourage
the planting of trees valuable for fuel and timber, on the
bare plains of Nebraska and Kansas, hoping also that
they would ameliorate the climate. As now understood,
it is a day set apart by state legislatures for planting trees
and shrubs in the public squares, streets, and especially in
the school yards in the cities and towns, and throughout
the country. The prime movers in the good work in
Missouri, as well as in other states, were the members of
the state and county horticultural societies, During the
past two years they have been very active in this state,
and through their exertions several normal schools and
many public schools have changed the cheerless aspect
of their yards by laying out pleasant walks and plant-

72 ARBOR DAY.

ing beautiful shade trees, evergreens, and shrubs. Arbor
Day was first celebrated in Missouri April 15, 1886.
But little was done, and work did not really commence
until the spring of 1887. In March of that year the
state superintendent of public instruction sent out a circu-
lar requesting the codperation of the teachers and pupils,
with their parents, in planting trees and decorating the
school grounds. A list of the most desirable trees with
directions for planting them was given, and the suggestion
made that appropriate literary exercises form part of the
programme of the day.

ORGANIZATION NEEDED.—The public must be aroused
and interested in the work before Arbor Day can be made
a success. The first step should be to call a meeting and
appoint a committee to stir up those who did not attend.
Posters should be invested in liberally and the aid of the
press invoked, while effective personal work should not
be neglected. The laying out of grounds and planting
should be placed in charge of the committee, or better _
still, put in the hands of some competent and experienced
person.

THe Lawn anp WALKs.—The grounds should first
be graded and put in proper shape, and the graded por-
tion covered with good surface soil. When the size of
the yard will admit a well-kept lawn will add much to
the appearance of the grounds. For seeding, blue grass,

ARBOR DAY. 73

with a small quantity of red top or R. I. bent grass, and
perhaps a little clover, will be the best and least expensive
mixture to use. No rule can be given for the laying out
of the walks, as they will depend in great measure upon
the position of the buildings, entrance gates, and the
configuration of the ground. In general, if the gate is
directly in front of the building, the walk should be
straight and broad, but if at the corners, a gentle and
natural curve may be made. If the site is newly graded
the borders,of the walk should be marked with grass sod
well pounded down. The material for the walks may be
asphalt, brick, plank, cinders, or gravel.

TREES TO PLANT.—No list can be given which will
answer for all parts of a large state like Missouri, with
its varied soil and climate, and it will be safest to select
those which thrive best in the locality where they are to be
planted. The following, however, are species which can
be generally recommended: The American white and red
elms, and several of the European elms, make excellent
shade trees for large grounds, and where the size of the
yard admits should certainly be planted. Box-elder is
better for small grounds and is one of our best shade
trees, Some of the native ash will be found valuable in
all parts of the state. Of the maples the sugar easily takes
first place. It is rather a slow grower at first, but in time
becomes one of our handsomest trees. The soft or silver

10

74 ARBOR DAY.

maple is a rapid grower, and on this account is largely
planted. For the first five years after being set out it
makes a handsome tree, but the head soon becomes thin
and open and the branches are easily broken by the wind.
To keep it in good shape the tree should be cut back
every four or five years. The Norway maple seems to
combine the good qualities of the other maples without
their faults, and is worthy of more general planting.
In some localities the sycamore maple does well. The
American and European lindens, or basswoods, are valu-
able, especially on streets. Their regular and symmet-
rical forms and their fragrant flowers place them well
at the head of the list.

On bluffs and upland soils, the white, red, and other
oaks thrive and deserve a prominent place in the collec-.
tions, but are difficult to transplant. The sycamore is
valuable for cities where the gas and coal smoke injure
the more valuable kinds. Deciduous cypress, and if the
grounds are large, nut trees, as the walnut, pecan, and
hickory, and a few fruit trees, as the apple and plum, may |
be planted. Of evergreens, the Austrian, white and Scotch
pines are valuable in the order named. To keep them in
shape the leading shoot on each of the branches should be
removed each year after the tree has reached a height of
four or five feet. Among the arbor vite the Chinese best
withstands our hot, dry summers, after which come the

ARBOR DAY. 75

Siberian and American. The Norway, white, and blue
spruce are handsome while young, but the branches begin
to die out and few of the trees reach their full age. Red
cedar is easily obtained and answers better than none at
all. A few shrubs such as forsythia, flowering almond,
Japan quince, spirea, lilac, honeysuckle, syringa, hy-
drangea, and althea can often be made use of to good
advantage.

TREES—WHERE AND WHat TO ProcuRE.—Many
trees can be dug in the woods, but nursery grown stock
will be more likely to live, and can often be bought of
a nurseryman at mere nominal prices; or if he does not
have them he will secure them elsewhere at low rates.
Trees should not be too small for planting in school yards.
Care should be taken in digging the trees to leave as many
roots as possible and not permit them to become dry.
Most trees should be topped at a height of eight or ten
feet, and the branches cut back to about a foot in length,
to make a well-shaped head.

ARRANGEMENT, GrouPpING.—In locating the position
of trees and shrubs, opportunity is given for the display of
considerable skill and judgment. Only general rules can
be given: 1. For a wide street they may be planted six
or eight feet from the fence, outside; for a narrow street
four to six feet, inside. 2. Except when planted in rela-
tion to straight lines of boundaries, walks or drives, no

76 ARBOR DAY.

three trees should be in line. 3. To leave as much of the
lawn unbroken as possible, the trees should be grouped
together in clumps, and not close enough to overshadow
buildings when grown. 4, Evergreens and shrubs should
also be grouped, and can fill up the angles or curves in
walks.

PLANTING.—For permanence, small growing trees
should be planted twenty feet apart, large growing trees
like the elm, thirty-five or forty feet. The holes in which
to plant the trees should be large enough to admit the
roots, and if the soil is stiff and clayey, should be made
still larger and deeper and filled up with fine surface soil.
The tree should be set in the hole and the soil carefully
worked round the roots and firmly pressed down with the
feet. A thick layer of straw or other mulch should be_
placed around the tree for a space of at least five feet to
prevent drying out of the soil. If properly mulched,
watering will not often be necessary. The “little and
often” plan is a poor one. When water must be applied
give enough to saturate the roots and it will answer until —
the surface soil is dry again.

Prorection.—In very dry summers the tall bare stems
of the trees are dried out, causing what is known as “sun
scald.” To prevent this it is sometimes necessary to fasten
a V shaped trough on a six-inch board against the south- .
west side of the tree for shade during the heat of the day.

ARBOR DAY. 77

The school ground should be fenced, but if not, the trees
should be protected in some manner from stock. The
groups can be surrounded by a single barbed wire paling,
while solitary shade trees can be protected by four stout
stakes and barbed wire. A neater method is to box trees,
using two strips of boards six inches wide, with open slats
for the other two sides.

MAKE PREPARATIONS IN ADVANCE.—When there is
much grading and seeding to be done, let it be performed
in advance. Then, with the lawn made, walks laid out,
holes dug, and the trees ready on the ground, Arbor Day
can be devoted to literary exercises, and the simple plant-
ing of the trees. If but little preparation is required, it
can be done in the forenoon, and the afternoon then given
over wholly to suitable exercises.

While the directions given are for the ornamentation of
school sites, they apply, in a general way, to the beautify-
ing of public and private grounds. The subject of street
planting has, perhaps, not received sufficient attention.
Streets set with shade trees not only promote the pleasure
and comfort of the citizens, but are attractive to visitors.

ARBOR DAY IN MONTANA.

Governor Leslie has appointed April 17th as Arbor
Day, and the people will undoubtedly observe it in a

78 ARBOR DAY.

creditable manner. In many localities it will be useless
to plant trees, unless they can be irrigated. Young pines
will not grow in what are termed “alkali lands.” The
Montana Live Stock Journal gives the following list of
native trees and shrubs, many of which grow with little
moisture, and will not need to be irrigated, except under
very unfavorable conditions: Yellow pine, bird’s eye
pine—a slender, straight, and tall tree, with white, rather
hard wood, and finely marked with bird’s eye curls—
mountain white pine, Douglas fir, Engleman’s spruce,
white spruce, subalpine fir, red cedar, balsam poplar, balm
of Gilead, Columbia poplar, cottonwood, American aspen,
black willow, shining willow, mountain willow, diamond
willow, western birch, box-elder, mountain maple, moun-
tain alder, smooth alder, wild red cherry, choke cherry, —
wild service, mountain mahogany, buffalo berry, and a
large number of shrubs and vines, and several varieties of
currant, gooseberry, raspberry, and other wild fruit-bear-
ing bushes.

ARBOR DAY IN MINNESOTA.

By C. L. SmMirH, SECRETARY OF THE MINNESOTA STATE FORESTRY
ASSOCIATION, MINNEAPOLIS.

Arbor Day has been observed in Minnesota for twelve
years, and though not fixed by law, a day is appointed
each year by proclamation of the governor. Its observ-

tat

when trees can be planted“ In many of the prairie dis-
tricts the farmers have observed the day and planted thou-
sands of trees. The most pleasing feature of the work
has been in connection with the public schools in country

districts. In a few instances country towns have taken
hold of the matter and made it an interesting holiday,
planting trees along the streets, in parks, school yards,
and private grounds. In 1886, our state superintendent
of public instruction, Kiehle, sent out a circular to county
superintendents and high school principals, calling atten-
tion to Arbor Day, and urging them to give the matter
due attention, suggesting readings and recitations on the
subject of trees, plants, and flowers. I secured 1,250
copies of this circular, and enclosing them with our “ For-
est Tree Planter’s Manual” (a book of over 100 pages
treating of the planting and care of trees), sent them to
the teachers of 1,250 district schools, in the prairie dis-
tricts, with a letter calling their attention to the governor’s
proclamation recommending the observance of Arbor Day.
They were asked to devote one reading lesson each day
for a week to the subject of trees, their climatic influence,
fuel and timber value, methods of planting, and how
to propagate them. They were requested to give an ac-
count of what was done, if anything. Many replies were

80 ARBOR DAY.

received of an encouraging nature. One county reported
over 180,000 trees planted, and one 800, and letters from
school districts showed trees planted on the school
grounds.

All the reports agree in that the children take a lively
interest in the matter—making collections of woods,
leaves, seeds, etc., and learning the names of trees, plants,
and flowers. We have abundant evidence that the influ-
ence of the start in district schools has been carried to
the homes and greatly stimulated interest in tree plant-
ing. Last year, for the first time, I succeeded in having
Arbor Day observed by the public schools of Minneapolis.
Reading and talks on the subject for several days had
awakened an interest among the children ; many committed
to memory short selections or recitations. The park com-
mittee furnished trees for planting at the various schools,
and they were set out with appropriate exercises, songs,
and short speeches. That the children were interested is
shown by the fact that they are already inquiring whether -
we are to have an Arbor Day celebration this year. Un-
fortunately our association is without money, and therefore
unable to do very much in the matter. The governor has
set Saturday, April 28th, for Arbor Day, and although
short of funds we shall endeavor to make its observance

more general than ever.

ARBOR DAY. 81

DigGING AND PLANTING EVERGREENS.—Mr. Smith
also sends the following directions on this subject: Have
a sharp spade. Prepare a puddle of mortar made with
clay and water about the consistency of thick whitewash.
In digging save all the roots you can. Dig a tree and
then puddle the roots in the mortar and put the tree out
of reach of wind or sun. The sap in the root of all ever-
greens is easily coagulated by either sun or wind; once
coagulated it can never be restored. Never dig an ever-
green and leave it for one minute exposed. In trans-
planting keep cool and moist. In setting, straighten the
roots smoothly, and carefully work the fine soil firmly
about the roots. Be very particular to pack it firmly
against the under side, close up to the center; this should
be done with the fingers. When the roots are all covered,
the balance of the soil necessary to fill the hole may be
firmed down with the foot. Mulch freely with hay or
straw for about three feet around the tree. The mulching
should always be deep enough to keep down weeds and
grass and keep the ground moist. This mulching should
be renewed from year to year, and then the trees will
always look green and healthy, grow rapidly, and abun-
dantly repay care and attention. Neglect of one single
item of care may ruin all.

11

82 ARBOR DAY.

OHIO TREE NOTES.
By M. CRAWFORD, CUYAHOGA FALLS.

Nortu-East.—The favorite shade trees in this locality
are the hard maple, soft maple, and elm. The principal
objection is that they send their roots so far in search of
food and moisture that they rob the crops growing near
them. The street trees damage many of the town gardens
in this way. This does not seem to be the case with the
black walnut, and in consequence many of them are being
planted. A large elm will send its roots over 300 feet,
and when they find a rich flower bed they quickly utilize
it. In many cases it will pay to cut the roots just inside
the fence and make them to get their living in the street.
As in good soil they sometimes grow ten feet in a single
season, they will thus have to be root-pruned annually.

By J. F. BowMAN, CLARK CoUNTY.

THe Norway Mapie.—The Norway maple, Acer
platanoides, is perhaps the most valuable and attractive
deciduous tree for street or ornamental planting. It will
endure a temperature of 30 or 40 degrees below zero and
is perfectly hardy. It grows slowly the first two or three
years after being transplanted from the nursery. The tree
forms a very handsome “head;” the leaves are large,
glossy, and a beautiful green, varying from light to dark
in different individuals, thus making a beautiful contrast.

ARBOR DAY. 83

“It is little known in this country, and has not received
the attention it deserves. One reason is, that it is difficult
to produce trees large enough for street planting in less
than four or five years. Nurserymen prefer trees of more
rapid growth. As its value becomes better known and
the demand for it increases, nurserymen will give more
attention to its propagation. Other maples are sometimes
supplied to those who are unacquainted with the Norway
maple. We bought a lot a few years ago claimed to be
Norway maple, but on comparing them found them very
different from our European importations, freezing down
to the snow line every cold winter.

IDAHO ARBOR DAY.

“The recent legislature enacted by statute: “That the
last Monday in April in each year is set apart for and
declared to be a legal holiday in Idaho territory, to be
known as Arbor Day, so declared for the purpose of en-
couraging the planting and setting out of trees in said
territory.” Steps are being taken by the schools for its
proper observance, and the children will be encouraged to
take part in the exercises. The rapid, and too often wan-
ton destruction of large tracts of timber in former years
has already produced disastrous results-in the valleys of
Idaho, and the snow melting from the mountains goes off

84 ARBOR DAY.

in a flood with the first warm weather, instead of by
degrees, supplying the mountain streams all through the
summer. The time is coming when every drop of water
in the streams of Idaho will be utilized for irrigation,
and therefore the sources from which water is supplied
should be guarded and preserved. Monday, April 30th,
will be generally observed in the schools.

ARBOR DAY IN NEW YORK.

The destruction of the magnificent forests of the Adi-
rondack mountains is already affecting the Hudson river
quite seriously, and steps are now being taken to preserve
what remains. At the present session of the New York
legislature a bill was passed providing that “the children -
of the public schools shall be assembled on the first day
of May, and be instructed by their teachers in planting,
care, and preservation of trees.”

‘

By W. & T. SmitTH, RocHEsTER, N. Y.

Arbor Day should have been made May Ist [It is in
New York state.—Ep.], and at the same time in all the
states. Most of the nursery stock to-day is sold through
agents; in fact all of it. It is impossible for nurserymen
to ship agents’ orders before April 15th to 20th; it then
takes seven to ten days to reach destination. Should it be

ARBOR DAY. 85

universally made May Ist, all could celebrate the day, and
trees and shrubs arriving before that time could be heeled
in to be planted on the appointed day.

WISCONSIN ARBOR DAY.
By G. P. PEFFER, PEWAUKEE, WIS.

Although talked about in the state and county horti-
cultural societies for a dozen years, no day has been fixed
in this state for Arbor Day. Our spring is so variable it
would be difficult to decide beforehand onaday. In 1878
our legislature passed laws in relation to tree belts and
naming trees to plant, exempting land so planted from
taxes and allowing a bounty each year after the trees had
attained a certain size. Though this law has been in force
ever since its passage, I have not heard of a single tree
belt being planted under its provisions. The appointing
of Arbor Day by the governor would be a good thing.
It would give the children of our public schools opportu-
nity, especially in the country, to plant trees and shrubs,
and receive instructions from their teachers how to take
care of them, the trees to be called their own. They
would never forget it as long as they live, and thereafter
when mention should be made in the papers about trees,
their uses and benefits, effects on climate, ete., they would
be interested. The following trees are recommended by

86 ARBOR DAY.

the state for shelter belts and forest tree planting: Arbor
vite, ash, balsam fir, basswood, beech, birch, butternut,
cedar, black cherry, chestnut, coffee tree, cucumber tree,
elm, hackberry, hemlock, hickory, larch, locust, maple, oak,
pine, spruce, tulip, catalpa speciosa, and walnut. The best
varieties of fruit, adapted to our state, for hardiness, pro-
ductiveness, and quality are: Apples, best seven varieties,
Duchess of Oldenburg, Wealthy, Fameuse, Talman’s Sweet,
Wolf River, McMahon’s White, Yellow Transparent. In
addition, for special locations: Fall Orange, Utter, St.
Lawrence, Alexander, Westfield, Seek-no-further, Fall
Spitzenburg, Tetofski, Red Astrachan, Golden Russet,
Pewaukee, Clark’s Orange, Walbridge, Longfield, Haas,
and Willow Twig. Crab apples for general cultivation:
Whitney’s No. 20, Gibb, Thompson, Hyslop, Transcend-_
ant. Pears: Flemish Beauty, Peffer’s No. 3, Winter
Nellis, Besimianka, Early Russian Bergamot. Plums: .
De Soto, Forest Garden, Early August. Cherries: Early
Richmond, Kentish, Morello. Currants: White Grape,
Red Dutch, Hay’s Prolific. Gooseberries: American,
Downing, Houghton, and Mountain. Grapes: Moore’s
Early, Worden, Concord, Brighton, Delaware. Of berry
bushes there are many sorts now cultivated, and almost
every locality has its favorites. The one which gives
the most satisfactory returns should be selected in every
case,

ARBOR DAY. 87

Harpy ORNAMENTAL SHRUBS.—Snowball, syringa,
white, purple, and Persian lilac, upright honeysuckle,
fringe or smoke tree, barberry. Hardy climbers: Ameri-
can ivy, bitter sweet, virgin’s bower, fragrant and scarlet
honeysuckle. Roses: (with protection) Queen of the
Prairie, Gem of the Prairie, Baltimore Belle. Moss Roses:
Princess Adelaide, Luxemburg, etc. June Roses: Per-
sian, Yellow Harrison, Cinnamon. Hybrid Roses: Gen.
Jacqueminot, La France, Gen. Washington, Madame
Plantier. There are also quite a number of other varieties
which might be recommended.

It is a mistake to plant too many varieties, and just as
great a one to plant too few. Always select good, healthy
stock ; old and stunted trees are unprofitable. Do not
make the mistake of planting a tree or shrub in a post
hole, or in very poor soil, or in June grass sod. Make a
good-sized hole, and if the soil is poor fill in with better
or mix well with compost. Do not make a mound close
to the body, but have the ground higher two or three feet
away, so as to form a basin and collect the water when it
rains. [In the fall the basin should be filled up—Ep.] If
mulch is used, treat it in the same way. We must not
think that trees once planted will take care of themselves,
or can be “turned out to grass.” They need just as good
cultivation as a crop of corn, potatoes, or vegetables for
the first three or four years. A tree needs extra attention

88 ARBOR DAY.

when on poor soil, and, like pigs and cattle, needs occa-
sional feeding.

TREES FOR ARBOR DAY.

By Gero. J. KELLOGG, JANESVILLE, WISCONSIN.

Every school district and college throughout the land
should observe Arbor Day by the planting of trees, and
in some cases by the removal of objectionable ones in too
close proximity to buildings. There are places where the
school-house stands in a natural grove. In such cases it is
as necessary to remove a portion as to plant on the bleak
prairies; but do not clear them all out. Let there be
enough saved to border the lot, with an occasional tree in
the midst of the grounds, but remove the trees near the
house and let in sufficient sunlight. In improving the
school lot in the country, let committees be appointed, and
let family join with family in each planting a tree. Have
special plantings recorded in a book kept for the purpose
by the clerk of the district, and let the school board decide
what varieties shall be set out. Give volunteers from the
children a chance to make memorable the day, the occa-
sion, and the grounds, by each planting a tree. In other
cases, let classes or teachers have that privilege. These
plans might be modified for school lots, which ought to be
provided for at public expense, but often there are chances

ARBOR DAY. 89

for classes, as at colleges, to plant some tree or shrub in
some portion of the grounds on this day. In case of
churches, the trustees should see that Arbor Day be im-
proved by planting shade trees. all about the lot, and
keeping them in, good condition by removing and replac-
ing, as the occasion may require.

Wuar To Prant.—In recommending varieties there is
a great diversity of opinion; there are some adapted to all
sections. Nothing can take the place of the white elm,
but they should not be nearer than twenty-five feet, and
for street planting forty feet is better. The hard maple is —
king among trees and cannot be extolled too highly. The
ash comes nearer the hard maple than any other tree, and
the linden is queen in the forest and suitable for all loca-
tions; and yet, when the soft maple leaf louse troubles the
maple and box-elder, it will restrict the planting of the
basswood unless the leaf louse has entirely disappeared.
An elm at each corner of the lot and the rows filled be-
tween with alternating hard maple, ash, catalpa, hickory,
or linden, any of which would make nice trees, and for
variety and contrast would be acceptable. For the school
lawn there is nothing equal, for a single tree, to the cut-
leaf weeping birch. For screens to outbuildings nothing
is so good as the American arbor vite, which can be
better planted at eighteen inches to two feet high, than
larger ; yet where contiguous to a nursery, trees can usu-

12 ;

90 ARBOR DAY. —

ally be procured six feet high, and if care is used no loss
need occur. ‘

Tue Best Way TO Procure TREEs for Arbor Day,
when possible, is to go direct to the nearest nursery, see
them properly dug and carefully handled; never let a
small root dry. All shade trees may be pruned to a bare
pole, cut off at uniform height, or if not too tall, leave the
central shoot uncut. When suitable ones can be procured,
trees may, with care in digging, be taken direct from the
forest. Where the ground is hard, with a tough June
grass sod, it will be difficult to plant and insure growth
unless great pains is taken. The sod should be removed
three inches deep, four feet across, the first spade deep of
earth laid out, and the second spade depth inverted, and
the top spading used in planting the tree and filling up,
and the sod may be inverted on top of four inches of
straw, manure, chips, or sawdust, which will answer for
a mulch. Care must be used to pack the earth firmly
about the roots, using a little water to fill in while plant-
ing. Every tree must be protected by 2x4 inch upright
posts with boards across—for school children will romp
and play, and catch hold of and twist them out of shape;
they must be protected. In the treeless portions of the
Northwest, where trees cannot be procured, nuts from
nut-bearing trees should be secured this fall for fall
planting, among which I would mention all the oak

ARBOR DAY. 91

family which are hardy, black walnut, butternut, and
hickory; and while waiting for these, plant willow and
other similar tree cuttings.

When district boards are ordering from a distance, 1
advise them to buy six to eight feet young trees. They
will be more likely to live and be much less expensive.
For screens or front line or division fences get arbor vite
which have been well transplanted and are two feet high.
Whatever you plant, dig the soil from two to three feet
on each side of the tree, mulch thoroughly, protect the trees,
and let no sod form about them for three years. The
trunk of each tree should be bound up four feet at plant-
ing time with marsh hay for shade, and so the borer will
not deposit his eggs the first season. Street trees should
always be planted outside the sidewalk.

INDIANA TREE LISTS.

By C. M. Hopss, BripGEeport, IND., SECRETARY OF THE STATE
HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.

For THE StatTE.—Would recommend the following list
of trees for planting on streets and in public grounds in
Indiana. They are all native to the state, and easily ob-
tained, generally hardy and easily transplanted. To this
list might be added other native and foreign trees, quite
as desirable, but it is not best to have the list too long,

92 ARBOR DAY.

as it is more confusing than helpful to the inexperienced.
Arbor Day has done much for Indiana, and we hope to
see it do much more. List of trees: Sugar maple, silver
or soft maple, elm, ash, catalpa speciosa, linden or bass-
wood, black walnut, poplar, or tulip trees. Evergreens:
Norway spruce, hemlock, white, Scotch, and Austrian
pines, and American arbor vite. The Carolina poplar is
quite extensively planted as a shade tree.

By H. 8. StinE, BURNETT’S CREEK, IND.

Nortu-wEst.—For Arbor Day, and especially for trees
for school-house yards, etc., I would recommend the fol-
lowing, taking into consideration hardiness, symmetry,
and cleanliness of foliage, viz.: The sugar maple, white
ash, black walnut, black locust, sycamore, soft maple,
and Russian mulberry.

ARBOR DAY IN DAKOTA.

Great interest is being taken in Arbor Day in Dakota,
and it will be almost universally observed. This is not
to be wondered at, as no section will derive more benefit’
from the planting of trees. The Arbor Day committee,
appointed at the December meeting of the Dakota Horti-
cultural Society, recommended Wednesday, April 25, as
Arbor Day for that part of the territory lying south of

ARBOR DAY. 93

latitude 47, and Thursday, May 5, for the part north of
that parallel. They also urge city councils, boards of
trade, town officers, school boards, and others in authority
to take steps for the local observance of the day. Every
citizen is urged to plant at least one tree as a memorial
of the day. They recommend for street planting: White
elm, box-elder, and hard maple. For parks and farms:
Cut-leaved weeping willow, European white birch, laurel
larch, English and American larch, mountain ash, blue
spruce, white elm, white ash, and box-elder. Cottonwood
is much planted for a quick-growing tree, but consider-
able difficulty has been experienced the last three years
in getting cuttings to grow, and those having experience
recommend cutting thrifty shoots, tying in bundles, and
throwing in water to soak five or six weeks, until the
buds begin to start, before planting, which will be about
the twentieth of April.

Tue Native Trees of Dakota which will be sure to
grow under almost any conditions are: Elm, cottonwood,
and willow on low ground, and native ash (Fraxinus vir-
idis) and box-elder on the high prairie. The pure, dry
atmosphere, lack of snow in winter, and hot, drying
winds of summer, make it difficult to grow hard maple
and many other kinds of trees which are not used to a
rigorous climate. With the planting of trees will come
a change of climate, which will make it safe to set out a

94 ARBOR DAY.

much greater variety than is now possible. The extensive
planting of trees will be of very great benefit, outside of
their money value, preventing the snow from all drifting
into the hollows in the winter, and arresting the drying
winds of summer, and thus materially aiding in changing
the climate.

RoapsipE Pxuiantinc.—The North Dakota Farmer
gives the following from an old tree planter for setting
trees along roadsides :

“Plow two furrows, turning the sod in opposite direc-
tions, leaving a land furrow; loosen the soil in the bottom
of this land furrow by one or two more shallow furrows,
so as to get enough mellow ground for convenience in
planting the trees ; set the trees in the center of this land
furrow, mulching heavily then with straw, hay, or coarse _
manure, taking care that the mulch does not come in con-
tact with the trunk of the tree. Look out for fire protec-
tion in fall and spring. The mulching is a substitute for
cultivation, but the mulch must be heavy enough to choke
out all weeds.”

The growth of many kinds of trees is very rapid, espe-
cially when the weather is favorable and the trees receive
good treatment, and is all the way from two to eight feet
in a single season. Good reports for Arbor Day may be
looked for in all parts of the territory.

ARBOR DAY. 95

NOTES ON ARBOR DAY IN MICHIGAN,

WHERE, HOW, AND WHAT TO PLANT.
By Pror. L. H. BAILEY, AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, MICH.

The tree or bush which is planted by the child should
remain as a memorial of the child’s effort. The young
mind becomes attached to the plant as a property pecu-
liarly its own, and the early love and interest is likely to
remain, to some extent, through life. But here we are met
with a serious question: If Arbor Day is to return each
year, and each person is annually to set a tree which shall
remain until it dies, where can places be found to plant all
the trees? Already, in states which inaugurated Arbor
Day some years ago, there are door-yards and school
grounds overfull of trees. A few suggestions may be
helpful in this connection: Do not plant too thickly in
the home grounds! Thick planting is an evil which few
people appear to comprehend. ‘Trees which are crowded
not only lose their own beauty and destroy the symmetry
of neighboring trees, but they produce about residences a
shade so dense as to be unhealthful. The persons are
few who possess sufficient courage to remove large trees,
even though fully aware that the trees are useless and
injurious. Forty feet is very close for trees of large species
which are to be grown for the beauty of the individual

specimen.

96 ARBOR DAY.

WHERE SHALL WE Piant?—l. Home grounds first.
Plant in such a manner as to screen the house somewhat
from the street. Plant also so as to partially hide the.
barn. Cover by trees or bushes all unsightly objects, as
outhouses, etc. Plant the coarser trees at the farthest
points from the residence. Do not plant the trees in rows
unless it is desired to have a windbreak.

2. The school grounds neat. Nine out of ten, or even
more, of the school premises of the country districts are a
disgrace to the community. Glaring outhouses, shameful
fences, absence of attractive trees and shrubs, forbidding
bareness, too often characterize the district school. No
wonder that so many children have a dread of school.

3. The roadsides. Many country roads are even worse
than the school grounds. Were it not for the fact that
the roadsides are usually neglected, our country highways
would be “things of beauty.” Every land-owner should
have his roadsides planted.

4. Groves on barren hills and in large pastures. .

Wuat SHatt WE Puiant?—i. Largely of native
plants. They are cheap, hardy, vigorous, most likely to
succeed under neglect. They are attractive and important.
They should be preserved from the general devastation of
natural forests. Plant in great variety. Every forest tree
and bush is attractive when given a chance.

2. Plant many shrubs. There is no reason why the

ARBOR DAY. 97

planting of shrubs should not be included in Arbor Day.
The native bushes are much neglected. They make
attractive screens and covers for bare and unsightly
objects. They break up the monotony of a lawn more
completely and satisfactorily than trees of the larger sizes
can do.

8. Exotic trees or shrubs. When these are planted,
select the best known.

How SHaLut WE Puant?—i. The shrubs in groups
irregular in outline. |

2. The trees in groups or long belts along many road-—
sides and in large grounds. These groups can be man-
aged easily in the crooks and about the corners of roads,
_ where they will add greatly to the beauty of the highway.
Mix in many kinds, in some cases using bushes about the
borders. Along straight and level highways trees look
best in rows. By planting in groups in roomy places the
trees may be set closer together than in lawn planting, for
we aim at the effect of the whole group rather than that
of a single tree. The groups themselves, however, should
not be crowded.

MICHIGAN TREES.
By E. H. REYNOLDS, MONROE, MICH,
I have been engaged in the nursery business here nearly
fifty years. Our little city of about 6,000 is nicely
13

98 ARBOR DAY.

shaded, and is sometimes called the “Floral City.” I
have set out at least 500 trees by the wayside. The prin-
cipal trees planted on the streets are elm, soft and hard
maple. After many years of experience, the hard maple
is my preference, and it is most called for. The horse
chestnut is a very fine shade tree in any locality, and
there are many other shade and ornamental trees which
will do well if properly cared for.

ARBOR DAY IN LOUISIANA.

By M. VINCENT, ST. CHARLES, LOUISIANA.

This is a question which has not as yet received much
consideration in Louisiana. With our almost inexhaust-
ible supplies of timber, we do not stop to think that it-
may not be more than fifty or one hundred years before
our now immense forests may be cut down. ‘Timber is an
absolute necessity that the climate may be such as to pro-
duce the best results from the soil. Hence, every man in
opening a farm in Louisiana should plant a part of it to
trees. te

Among trees which will in the future be valuable,
not only for wood, but for the production of a steady
revenue, are: Soft shelled pecan, English walnut, black
walnut, and butternut. Interspersed with these may be
grown for ornament the magnolia, with its magnificent

ARBOR DAY. 99

blossoms that perfume the air to a great distance. In
addition to these, the pines which are native to the coun-
try may be grown; also oaks, all varieties of which
flourish here.

PENNSYLVANIA ARBOR DAY.
By SAMUEL C. Moon, MORRISVILLE, PENN.

Tree planting with an idea of creating timber tracts has
not yet been practiced to much extent in this section, be-
cause the country is naturally well wooded and generally
with valuable kinds, and cleared land is considered too
valuable for anything but pasturage or tillage. There
are, however, on almost every farm, steep hillsides or
rough, stony corners, which could be more profitably
utilized by growing trees, either fruit or timber, than in
any other way. White oak is our most valuable native
_ tree, but it requires a century to raise a crop of them, and
few Americans want to look so far ahead for returns of
their labor. Chestnut is probably the most profitable
timber tree, as it grows large enough for rails or wire
fence posts in ten, and attains maturity in forty or fifty,
years. Chestnuts cut in winter sucker from the stump,
and are thus perpetuated indefinitely. I think it is not
too sweeping to say that every farm house should have
some evergreens about it. It has been said that the

100 ARBOR DAY.

“tasteful and judicious planting of fruit and ornamental
trees enhances the value of real estate more than an equal
amount of money invested in any other way.” For the
proof of these statements it is only necessary to observe
the difference in appearance of farm houses in any neigh-
borhood, particularly on a windy winter day. An un-
sheltered house looks very cold and uninviting at such
times. Those who have not experienced the benefit of an
evergreen windbreak can but little appreciate its value in
subduing the force of a gale and the additional comfort
thereby contributed to a country home. Not only houses,
but many barns and stables would be made much more
comfortable if the force of the wind was broken by one or
_ More evergreen trees on their cold quarter. It does not
necessarily require many, nor need they be very close to- |
gether, but may be set with an eye to convenience or
artistic effect. The best varieties for the purpose are Nor-
way spruce, hemlock, white pine, Austrian pine, and
American arbor vite. Those who want something more
elegant for a lawn may plant Nordman’s silver fir, which
is one of the very finest hardy evergreens that we have in
cultivation. ,

Joseph W. Thomas & Son, King of Prussia, Pa., write:
The best trees to plant in our locality are Norway, sugar,
and Wier’s cut-leaved maples, pine, oak, purple and other
beeches, and white birch. For low, rather wet ground, I

ARBOR DAY. 101

would recommend scarlet maple, oriental plane, and Caro-
lina poplar.

SETTING GOOD EXAMPLES.

EACH ILLINOIS STATE OFFICER WILL PLANT A TREE ON ARBOR
| Day.

The state officers have concluded to give Arbor Day a
little boom, and each of them will set out a tree about the
state house grounds. Goy. Oglesby will plant an elm,
getting the tree and digging the hole himself. Secretary
of State Dement will plant an elm ; State Superintendent
Edwards and Attorney-General Hunt each a hard maple ;
Supreme Court Clerk Snively an old hickory; State
Treasurer Tanner a sycamore from the Wabash ; Auditor
Swigert a larch; Dr. Wines, secretary of the state board
of charities, an elm; Appellate Court Clerk Jones, an
elm; Adjutant-General Vance a larch; Supreme Court
Reporter Freeman, a hard maple; Secretary Lord, of the
board of labor statistics, and Dr. Rauch, of the state board
of health, each an elm; and C. F. Mills, secretary of
the state board of agriculture, a box-elder.

102 ARBOR DAY.

NEBRASKA CITY “DAILY PRESS” ARBOR
DAY EDITION.

The Nebraska City Daily Press, deciding to issue an
Arbor Day edition on Nebraska Arbor Day, April 22,
1888, the editor, H. L. Wood, Esq., by correspondence
obtained expressions from prominent appreciative persons
in various parts of the United States, relating to the day
and its author. We are permitted to make extracts of the
following more important letters:

~~

FROM JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL.

DeEERFOoT Farm, SOUTHBOROUGH,

March 25, 1888.

Dear Srr—I thank you for the opportunity you so ~
kindly offer me of uniting my thanks with those of others
to Mr. Morton on the 22d of April. I heartily wish all
our newspapers could be as usefully employed on that day.
Our Teutonic ancestors, if they did not worship trees, at
least held certain species of them sacred, and made votive
offerings to them on certain days of the year. In this
vegetable hagiology the oak and the beech held the first
places, for the frugal reason, perhaps, that their mast fur-
nished a gratuitous food for swine, the chief wealth, one
may assume, of these dwellers in the primeval forest. If
the Aryan races migrated westward from Asia, they prob-

ARBOR DAY. 103

ably brought this cult with them, for there, also, trees are
looked upon with religious veneration. The Greeks, in
this, as in other things, had a more imaginative faith, and
associated the lives of superhuman, though not immortal,
things with those of trees.

I willingly confess so great a partiality for trees as
tempts me to respect a man in exact proportion to his
respect for them. He cannot be wholly bad who has a
sympathy with what is so innocent and so beautiful. But
quite apart from any sentimental consideration, the influ-
ence of trees upon climate and rainfall gives to the plant-
ing of trees, and to the protection of them where nature
has already planted them, a national importance. Our
- wicked wastefulness and contempt for the teaching of sci-
ence in this matter will most surely be avenged on our
descendants. Nature may not instantly rebuke, but she
never forgives the breach of her laws.

I am glad, therefore, to join in this tribute of friendly
gratitude to the inventor of Arbor Day. I think that no
man does anything more visibly useful to posterity than
he who plants a tree. I should answer the cynic’s ques-
tion, “ What has posterity done for me that I should do
anything for it?” by saying that it is all the pleasanter to
do something for those who can do nothing for us.

Marco Polo relates that the great Kublai Khan planted
trees the more willingly because “his astrologers and

104 ARBOR DAY.

diviners told him that they who planted trees lived long.”
Let me hope that this may prove true in the case of Mr.
Morton. Faithfully yours,

J. R. LOWELL.
Mr. H. L. Woon,
Nebraska City, Neb.

FROM GEORGE H. BOKER.

PHILADELPHIA, April 11, 1888.

DrEaR Mr. Woop—It would be impossible in a brief
note to do justice to the service rendered to the country,
particularly to the great West, by the Hon. J. Sterling
Morton, in suggesting and putting into practical operation
the systematic planting of trees on the day to which he
gave the happy title of “Arbor Day.” How strongly the -
movement commended itself to the popular sense has been
proven by the fact that since Mr. Morton made his motion
in Nebraska, almost every other state in the Union has
appointed a day for the same purpose.

Nor has “ Arbor Day” been a mere sentimental dedica-
tion. Mr. Morton’s recommendation has been put into
practice on every hand. Even in this city, among people
who live upon bricks and stones, and therefore have but
dim rural ideas, on “ Arbor Day” crowds of our citizens
may be seen thronging into our park, saplings in hand, for
the purpose of supplying its unshaded places with what, in

ARBOR DAY. 105

the future, will form beautiful groves of trees, as well as
imperishable monuments to the honor of J. Sterling
Morton.

No instructed agriculturist is unacquainted with the
ameliorating influence on climate, rainfall, freshet, wind-
storms, etc., produced by the liberal planting of trees on
waste lands; the cheering thing has been that the same
wise ideas have crept into the minds of our people and
made them set resolutely to work in carrying out the sim-
ple, practical, and benignant suggestion of Mr. Morton. |

An essay might be written on this topic by any thought-
ful man acquainted with the phenomena of meteorology,
and if Mr. Morton’s plan shall be persevered in by the
whole country, nature herself will write that essay in
beautiful style before a quarter of a century is passed.

I regard Mr. Morton as one of the greatest benefactors
of his race; for I understand that his noble idea is spread-
ing beyond his own country; and that not only in the
planting but in the sparing of growing trees there has
been a universal change of opinion. Blessed be the man
who brought all this about! I beg to join with you all
in the congratulations that may be offered to this friend
of humanity on his birthday, which was a happy day for
the world into which he was born.

Yours sincerely,
GrorcE H. Boker.
14

106 ARBOR DAY.

FROM JOHN BOYLE O'REILLY.

Boston, April 9, 1888.

Eprror NEBRASKA “ PREss”—Your purpose of hon-
oring the man who has originated the beautiful and benefi-
cent practice of systematic tree planting is of interest to
every one who loves nature and knows enough to thank
God for giving us all an opportunity of increasing his
blessings. The best and highest thing a man can do in a
day is to sow a seed, whether it be in the shape of a word,
an act, or an acorn. Last year, on less than half an acre
of ground, at my summer home by the seaside at Hull, I
planted 227 individual lives, of creeper, shrub, and tree.
All through the winter, from the city, my mind reached
out, as it were, to observe and care for the young things
in their strange soil. Last week I went to see them, and
Mr. Morton will know the thrill of pleasure, unlike all
other pleasures, which came from the signs of health and
growth in the plants.

I thank you for allowing me to express my admiration
for a man who has started one of the loveliest practices of
the country and century.

I am, respectfully yours,
JoHN BoyLe O'REILLY.

ARBOR DAY. 107

FROM JOHN BURROUGHS,

West Park, N. Y., April 8, 1888.

Epiror Nepraska “Press”—It is not very long
since, especially in the eastern states, when the enemy of
the tree was considered the friend of the human race, but
the time has now come when the friend of the tree is the
friend of the race.

Mr. Morton deserves the gratitude of the whole land.
How many naked spots on this vast continent will be
clothed in verdure by reason of his happy suggestion. The
birds and animals, as well as the people, profit by his wise
forethought. Every tree planted upon this day will serve
to keep green his memory. I send my congratulations.

Very sincerely,
JoHN BURROUGHS.

FROM J. T. TROWBRIDGE.

ArutrineTon, Mass., April 2.
Eprror oF THE NEBRASKA “ PREss”: DEAR Sir—
If, as has been wisely said, he is a public benefactor who
causes two blades of grass to grow where only one grew
before, we well may honor the man to whom his country
will owe, in the near future, so many beautiful groves,
and orchards, and trees, blessing with their shade its

village streets.
ais J. T. TROWBRIDGE,

108 ARBOR DAY.

FROM MAURICE THOMPSON.

CRAWFORDSVILLE, IND.,
April 8, 1888.

My Dear Mr. Woop—Your letter of the 26th of
March is just in hand, owing to my three months’ absence
from home. I was ill, and no letters save those of a
pressing official nature were sent to me.

How glad I should have been to respond to your
request if I had been able!

The occasion you mention is deeply interesting to me,
and I hope it will be impressively celebrated.

I send every good word and every good wish, and I
sincerely hope that the founder of Arbor Day will live to
enjoy many and many a pleasing return of the day, with
the love and honor of his neighbors and of his distant —

friends.
Very truly yours,

MavuricE THOMPSON.

FROM EDWARD EVERETT HALE.

39 HIGHLAND Sr.,
Roxsury, Mass., April 6.
Dear Str—I am certainly one of those who wish to
recognize the services of Mr. Morton in the forestry work,
and I thank you for giving me an opportunity.

ARBOR DAY. 109

I could wish that the Press and those who write for it
could consider a plan which seems to me very important
in the forestry movement.

Most of the states have sinking funds with which to
provide for debts not yet due. It would be a simple and
wise policy for a state to invest a considerable sum annu-
ally from its sinking fund in forests. Individuals hesitate
about a form of investment which does not pay for many
years. A state need not hesitate, because it does not need
the money for many years. A state has also the power to
make and enforce the laws which will protect its forests.

With great respect,

Yours truly,
Epwarp E. HALe.

FROM FRANCIS PARKMAN.

Boston, April 2, 1888.
Dear Str—The practice of systematic tree planting is
a most excellent one, and those who have encouraged and
promoted it deserve well of their country. I am very glad
that the West has been roused to a sense of the importance
of planting trees, and hope that all parts of the country

will soon feel the necessity of preserving them.
Yours very truly,
FRANCIS PARKMAN.

110 ARBOR DAY.

FROM J. T. HEADLEY.

NeEwsurG, April 11, 1888.

DEAR Str—I never believed that Arbor Day was the
result of mere reflection—a carefully matured plan—but
that it was an inspiration, springing spontaneously from
the heart and brain of the author. Human ingenuity
could not have devised a scheme so fraught with benefits
and yet possessing not a single objectionable feature.

Its material benefits are incalculable. If that man is to
be considered a benefactor of his race “who makes two
blades of grass to grow where only one grew before,” what
shall be said of him who makes a million trees grow
where none grew before? Its material benefits alone are
incalculable, for it makes the barren land fertile and the ~
desert plain green with beauty.

But these material benefits, great as they are, are small
compared with the moral effect on the mind and heart of
the people. In the young, especially, it enriches the taste,
cultivates the love of beauty, and provides pleasant,
healthful impressions that never will be obliterated. The
love of trees, I think, has a more elevating effect than even
the love of flowers. It is more strong and invigorating.

Besides all these immediate benefits, Arbor Day reaches
far beyond the localities where it is observed. The young,
gathered in certain sections, eventually become scattered

ARBOR DAY. - 111

and have homes of their own. The influence of this day
will follow them there, and under the influence of their
early cherished impressions trees will be planted, not only
around their dwellings, but along the roads and water-
courses of the places in which they live, and thus cover
the land with beauty and blessing.

All honor, then, to the founder of Arbor Day. The
sculptor’s art could not erect so noble a monument to
his memory as loving hands and hearts are rearing and
shall rear to it all over this barren land.

Yours very truly,
J. T. HEADLEY.

FROM THOMAS WENTWORTH HIGGINSON,

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.
Dear Str—All lovers of nature may well rejoice in
the establishment of Arbor Day and join in doing honor
to the founder of an institution so beneficent.
THomAs WENTWORTH HIGGINSON.

FROM GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS.
West New BRIGHTON,
SraTeN Istanp, N. Y., March 21.
Dear Srr—I am very glad to join in grateful congratu-
lations to the author of the suggestion which has resulted

\

(
112 «ARBOR DAY.

in so beautiful and serviceable an observance as Arbor
Day. Whatever makes a village or town more attractive
promotes that local pride and public spirit which are the
vital and conservative forces of a great republic; and if
the planter of one shade tree is a public benefactor, what
shall we say of him who stimulates the planting of whole
groves and forests? Truly yours,
GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS.

FROM CARL SCHURZ.

175 W. 58TH St., New York,
March 26, 1888. *
DEAR Sir—I gladly join those who honor Mr. Morton
for his zeal in promoting the planting of forest trees. The
man who does that deserves well of his country. 3
I am, dear sir, very truly yours,
C. ScHuRz.

FROM HON. B. E. FERNOW.

WasuineTon, D. C., .
March 23, 1888.
Dear S1r—The reformer in this world, when he begins
his work is called a crank, when he has succeeded in bring-
ing some of the more intelligent people to think and see
with him, he is called an enthusiast, and when the results

ARBOR DAY. 113

of his labors begin to show themselves he is called a hero
and is worshiped. And well he ought to be! For he has
had not only the right idea, but he has had the courage
of a hero to stand by his convictions, be it in the wide field
of political or national development, be it in the narrower
field of economic or communal development.

The man who starts a new idea deserves credit first, the
man who puts the idea into practice next, and the man
who gains general recognition of its value next. I be-
lieve the credit belongs in all these phases to Governor

J. Sterling Morton for the idea of Arbor Day, and I

gladly pay my tribute to the man who started, put into
practice, and promulgated the new idea, which has now
become generally recognized as one of the important
educational means of changing a race of forest destroyers
into a race of forest planters.

As an educational feature, to stimulate interest in tree

culture, Arbor Day is now recognized by twenty-eight

states; enough to make its observance as a national festi-
val possible and desirable. As a means to produce actual
quantitative tree planting—in the number of trees planted
‘on that one day—I believe that Nebraska still stands
ahead of all other states, thanks to the fostering care
which has been bestowed by the agricultural and horti-
cultural societies and public-spirited men upon keeping
the interest in the day unflagging.
15

MO 0
3 buale

114 ARBOR DAY.

_And while a comparison of the enormous yearly drain
upon our forest resources—equaling probably not less
than twice the amount of possible yearly wood-growth on
our present forest area—with the amount of present tree
planting does not lend strength to the hope that by such
tree planting as may be done in one day, an appreciable
amount of what has been used during the year is replaced,
yet the observance of Arbor Day is aiding in bringing
about a realization of the needs of our forestry interests,
and will ultimately make the whole country equal to the
occasion of a methodical, systematic forestry management.

May the Arbor Days multiply in number each season,
and thus not only a praiseworthy sentiment, a spirit of
improvement, find active expression, but an important
question find its solution.

Truly yours,
B. E. FERNow.

FROM HON. GEORGE B. LORING.

Sauem, Mass., April 4, 1888.
Dear Str—I most cordially extend to Gov. Morton
my thanks for the service he has rendered the forestry
interests of the United States, by his wise counsels in the
management of our wooded tracts; and the zeal he has
imparted to our people by instituting Arbor Day. We

ARBOR DAY. 115

have reached a point when we must exercise economy in
the use of our forests and taste in adorning our towns,
To both these interests Gov. Morton has contributed
largely, and for both he is entitled to the gratitude of

his country.
Truly yours,
Geo. B. Lorine.

FROM ADOLPH LEUE.

Crxcrnnati, April 5, 1888.

Dear Srr—Please accept my sincere thanks for the
information contained in your favor of the 26th inst.

In view of the great importance of forests to the pros-
perity of a country, and in consideration of the fact
that our forest area is constantly and rapidly diminished,
the necessity of due attention to the forestry question of
our country is obvious. The pressing need of the devel-
opment of a rational system of forestry is not sufficiently
felt and understood by the people of this country. Now,
in my mind,.nothing is better calculated to create an inter-
est in forestry and to nourish such interest where it exists,
than the annual observance of Arbor Day.

It is indeed not too much to say that the Nebraska
State Board of Agriculture never passed a more impor-
tant measure than that celebrated Arbor Day resolution
of Hon. J. Sterling Morton on January 14, 1872.

116 ARBOR DAY.

The beneficial influence of Arbor Day is not limited to
Nebraska, but has extended over nearly the whole coun-
try. In no way could the people of the United States
better show its gratitude to Mr. Morton than by asking
congress to pass a law declaring Hon. J. Sterling Morton’s
birthday, the twenty-second day of April of each year, a
National Arbor Day, and by faithfully observing this day
by planting of forest trees, or by cultivating trees pre-
viously planted.

Hoping that besides an annual Arbor Day we shall
soon have Arbor Weeks and Arbor Months, and that
these may be as successful as J. Sterling Morton’s Arbor

Days, I sign,
Very respectfully yours,

ADOLPH LEUE.

FROM HON. GEORGE W. MINIER.

: Minter, I[uu., April 7, 1888.

DeEAR Str—Some years since, at the “ Forestry Con- -
gress” in Washington, D. C., Ex-Goy. Furnas, of your
state, introduced Gov. J. Sterling Morton to the congress
as the “inventor” of Arbor Day. His hand was
heartily grasped by those great-hearted and great-brained
men who, without hope of personal reward and at their
own cost, were laboring to perpetuate the old and plant
new forests. For myself, I felt like Paul at the Three

ARBOR DAY. 117

Taverns (vide Acts xxviii. 15), I thanked God and took
courage.

All honor to the man who, with noble spirit and fer-
tile brain, conceived the thought, and all honor to the
agricultural board which so nobly carried out the plans.

Gero. W. MINTER.

FROM ROBT. W. FURNAS.

BRownvVI..E, Nes., April 9, 1888. _

Dear Str—In matter of honors, some one once said,
or wrote, it matters not who or which, he would “ rather
be right than to be president.” A lover of trees and tree
planting might appropriately move an amendment: Sub-
stitute for the word “right” the words “author of Arbor
Day.”

With me it is a matter of pride that Arbor Day origi-
nated in Nebraska, and that my warm personal friend and
long time intimate associate, J. Sterling Morton, is the
author thereof. He, perhaps, thought little when he
drafted the resolutions which created Arbor Day that, in
his life-time, results would become world-wide and incal-
culable, as they have.

In fancied dreams I sometimes think if the flora and
sylva work of the here-life could be translated, accom-
panied by characteristic Divine revision and improve-

118 ARBOR DAY.

ments, what possible greater reward could be conceived
than enjoyment of an eternal eolian minstrelsy, which
would, in the very nature of things, pervade the orchards
and groves in the wonderland of the great hereafter.

It is gratifying to witness preparations made to plant
trees in Nebraska on Arbor Day, 1888. Prof. Lane, state
superintendent of public instruction, it will be seen by the
circulation of his thousands of circulars, takes the matter

in hand “with a will.”
Yours truly,

Rost. W. Furnas.

FROM GOVERNOR THAYER, OF NEBRASKA.

Lincoin, April 14, 1888.

DeEaR Srtr—Your favor acquainting me with your
purpose to issue an Arbor Day edition of the Press,
containing, among other matter, tributes to Hon. J. Ster-
ling Morton, as the author of Arbor Day, was duly
received.

Replying thereto I take pleasure in saying that I cor-
dially endorse the purpose you have in view. To Mr.
Morton belongs the credit and the honor of having orig-
inated and inaugurated Arbor Day in Nebraska. As a
result of his wise forecast, Nebraska set the example of
planting trees ; an example which has not only pervaded

ARBOR DAY. 119

many of the older states, but has even reached into foreign
lands.

The planting of trees exerts a most wholesome influ-
ence, and will in the future confer incalculable blessings
upon our race. I gladly join in this public tribute of
regard to Mr. Morton. His name will ever be associ-
ated with Arbor Day.

Very truly yours,
JOHN M. THAYER.

FROM GOVERNOR MARTIN, OF KANSAS,

Topeka, Kansas, April 5th.

Mr. H. L. Woop: Dear Srr— * * * I believe it
is generally conceded that the Hon. J. Sterling Morton,
of your state, was the original suggester or inventor of
Arbor Day, and I think it is equally true that the sugges-
tions made by him received a prompt and hearty second
in this state.

The designation of one day to be devoted to tree plant-
ing has, I believe, been attended with the best results in
all the prairie states. It has certainly called the attention
of the people generally to the benefits that followed the
planting of trees, and thus popularized the work. I have
no doubt that hundreds of thousands of trees, planted in
Kansas during the past eight or ten years, would never

120 ARBOR DAY.

have been planted if an Arbor Day had never been desig-
nated. Mr. Morton’s thought has brought forth good
fruit, and has been of vast pecuniary value to Kansas and
Nebraska, and to all the states of the West.
Yours very respectfully,
Jno. A. MARTIN.

FROM GOVERNOR LARRABEE, OF IOWA.

Plant trees and care for them. Like friends they will
always be to you objects of interest and attachment.
They will repay you for many years to come in fruit,
nuts, and flowers; and will afford protection for man,
beast, and bird against the piercing rays of old Sol in
summer and the fierce blasts of old Boreas in winter.
Plant trees.

FROM GOVERNOR ADAMS, OF COLORADO.

DENVER, April 16, 1888.

DEAR Srr—While to-day we all do honor to those who
“invented” Arbor Day, it is a sentiment of gratitude that
will grow fuller and stronger as the years pass and the
good results of Arbor Day work are seen in reclaimed des-
erts, in fruitful orchards, in refreshing springs; wherever
barrenness has given way to verdure, wherever the desola-
tion of the prairie has been conquered by the planting of

ARBOR DAY. 121

forests, there will you find the ever-living monuments of
those who had the wisdom and courage to plant trees upon
the western plains.
Truly yours,
ALVA ADAMS,

FROM GOVERNOR BUCKNER, OF KENTUCKY.

FRANKFORT, March 31, 1888.

’ Mr. H. L. Woop, NeprasKka “Press”: DEAR SrrR—_
“Blessed is the man who invented sleep,” said the im-
mortal Sancho, and not less honored should be the name
of the patriot who “invented” Arbor Day. He has given
an impulse to the thoughts, not only of those who love
nature for nature’s sake, but of those who earnestly wish
to advance, through the ceremonies of Arbor Day, the
material interests of the country.

It is to be hoped that the impulse thus started by the |
Hon. J. Sterling Morton may continue until it results in
the adoption by the American people of the custom pre-
vailing amongst the countrymen of Sancho, to plant by
the wayside the seed of the fruit that refreshes them in
their journey. :
Respectfully,

A. B, BucKNER.

122 ARBOR DAY.

FROM GOVERNOR M’GILL, OF MINNESOTA.

Sr. Paun, March 31, 1888.
H. L. Woop, Esq.: DEAR Str—Minnesota has been
following for some years the lead of Nebraska in ap-
pointing an Arbor Day, and it has now become a feature
in the state. We see the advantages of the custom, and
expect to follow it for years to come. To Hon. J. Ster-
ling Morton, of your state, is due the conception of the
idea. He has been a public benefactor, and his name
should be honored throughout the land. It is to such
men that the people should go bearing tribute. I wish to
congratulate your state that you have been so fortunate
as to have such a man amongst you, and I trust his years

may be full of honor to the end of his life.
I am, very truly yours,
N. R. McGiu1.

FROM GOVERNOR SAWYER, OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.

ConcorD, April 5th.

H. L. Woop: Drar Str—Having just issued the
gubernatorial proclamation for Arbor Day in New Hamp-
shire, it gives me pleasure to acknowledge our indebted-
ness to Nebraska as being the first state to establish by
legislative enactment the custom of setting apart a day
in each year for the planting of trees, which, in common
with other states, we have adopted.

ARBOR DAY. 123

The “inventor” of Arbor Day may justly be classed as
a public benefactor. Its adoption has added to the interest
taken in the science of forestry.
Yours very truly,
C. H. SawYEr.

FROM HON. J. B. GRINNELL.

Normat, Iux., April 13, 1888.

My Dear Str—From my home at Grinnell, Iowa,
your complimentary invitation was forwarded here, where
Iam making a family visit.

I heartily approve of your purpose to make the most
of Arbor Day, and set on an honored pedestal the name
of my old friend, Hon. J. Sterling Morton.

In this literary city of Bloomington, of which Normal
is a suburb, there lived the lamented Jesse W. Fell, an
arboriculturist and savant of eminence thirty years agone.
A million of birds skip on the fruit and ornamental
boughs which adorn this country, and for him I seem to
hear the plaintive refrain to his memory on the opening of
the buds, to lend variety to luxuriant evergreen sentinels
waving in grace on the prairie expanse.

I know nothing to so effectually drive away discontent
and the demon of unrest as the tree-embowered rural
home. Let, then, Nebraska and Iowa plant and cherish

124 ARBOR DAY.

the trees in generous rivalry. Gentle rains shall fall in
reward from heaven, before as brass. The brute shall
articulate gratitude to his master for shelter and shade,
and our children, for the trees we left in arbor, orchard,
and field, will find incentives to cherish the paternal leg-
acy, speaking as by the eolian harp long after they who
planted sleep in sepulture.

My haste only permits a wish that you make my re-
gards to Mr. Morton, and that the companions of the
“Beecher Elm” and “Lincoln Maple” may multiply a
thousand-fold, waving fraternal salutations of our Lowa
and Nebraska states, in full accord for homes of beauty,
temperance, and virtue, and a country heaven shall look

down to see.
J. B. GRINNELL.

FROM HON. H. G. JOLY, OF QUEBEC.

QuEBEC, April 2, 1888.

Dear Str—I thank you for the opportunity you afford
me of showing my respect for the Hon. J. Sterling Mor-
ton, the originator of Arbor Day.

Many people, often among the most intelligent, when
they first hear of Arbor Day look upon it as a kind of
sentimental feast quite out of date in our matter-of-fact
generation, but upon a closer inspection they soon discover
its practical value.

ARBOR DAY. 125

The celebration of Arbor Day, in which young children
are called to take an active part, teaches them to love the
trees they plant, and to treasure those that a kind Provi-
dence has sown and grown for them. At the same time,
it reminds the children’s parents that the time has come
for them to preserve the remnants of the old forest, or, if
too late for that, to make up for their wasteful extrava-
gance by planting a new one.

On your western. prairies Arbor Day calls together
those who, while grateful for the abundant crops yielded —
by your fertile soil, still sadly miss the forests of their
old eastern homes. It encourages them to do for them-
selves what a wise Providence has left for them to do, to
create new forests which will not only yield fuel and val-
uable timber, but will even modify the climate and make
it still more suitable for all agricultural operations. And,
in planting these young trees, which so many will not live
to see in their prime, Arbor Day teaches both young and
old that it is man’s duty and privilege to work, not only
for himself but for those who shall come after him.

May the Hon. J. Sterling Morton be spared to enjoy
many more such celebrations as this, and to see each suc-
cessive Arbor Day more successful than the last.

Believe me, dear sir,
Yours truly,
H. G, Jory.

126 ARBOR DAY.

FROM J. B. PEASLEE.

CIncINNATI, April 9, 1888.

DEAR Srr—It is a source of great pleasure to me as it
must be to every lover of trees and of forest culture to
know that you, through your influential paper, the
Nebraska Press, are about to do just and merited hon-
ors to the distinguished originator of Arbor Day, the
Hon. J. Sterling Morton, of your city. No man now
living has done more to beautify and enrich his state
and country than he. Millions upon millions of green
and living monuments attest his forethought and his
worth; and as these trees grow and expand in beauty,
so will the love of this great benefactor increase in the
hearts of our people.

It is singularly fortunate that Governor Morton’s birth-
day comes at just that time of the year in your and many
of the other states, when most suitable for tree planting,
so that “Morton Day,” and Arbor Day can be united in .
one, and the 22d of April be known ee the
country as Morton-Arbor Day.

Years ago, while superintendent of the Cincinnati fake
lic schools, I inaugurated the celebration of the birthdays
of authors; and in 1882, the year Ohio followed your
state in instituting Arbor Day, I carried the celebration to
Eden Park, where the children planted and dedicated with

ARBOR DAY. 127

appropriate literary, musical, and other exercises, trees in
honor and memory of distinguished and worthy authors,
statesmen, scientists, and so on. This beautiful custom
has been adopted in at least nineteen states of the Union,
in the dominion of Canada, and has crossed the ocean into
England. In this connection let me request superintend-
ents and teachers to see to it that every school has its
“Morton tree,” around which, annually, on his natal day,
appropriate celebration exercises shall be held; and let
me suggest that it would be a wise and gracious act for
each state, where climatic conditions are favorable, to
appoint the 22d of April as Arbor Day, in honor of its
originator.

Heartily thanking you for giving me this opportunity
to participate with you in honoring your distinguished
fellow citizen,

I remain, yours truly,
JoHN B. PEASLEE.

FROM N. H. EGGLESTON.

Wasuineton, D. C., April 16, 1888.
H. L. Woop, Esq.: DEAR Str—It is eminently proper,
and according to “the eternal fitness of things,” that the
day designated for Arbor Day in Nebraska this year
should be that of the anniversary of the birth of the

128 ARBOR DAY.

Hon. J. Sterling Morton, to whom not only is Nebraska,
but the whole country, indebted for the origination of a
day which promises to become a national holiday of the
highest and most useful character, and to perpetuate the
memory of Mr. Morton as no monument of marble or
brass could do. If our country was not so vast in extent,
and our climate in consequence so varied, if Florida and
Nebraska, if Maine and California were enough alike in
climate to allow of tree planting at the same time, and
that time could be the 22d of April, surely we should
all adopt that day. But whatever day may be designated
in any state as most fit for simultaneous and united tree
planting, we cannot fail to remember the man whose
happy thought and full appreciation of the value of trees
to man, led to the suggestion of this treé planting festival.
Now that our schools have become so largely enlisted in
the observance of Arbor Day, it has become one of our
best educational appliances, and I hope that on this ac-

count the next generation will be as eminently one of |

tree lovers and tree protectors as the present has been of
tree destroyers.
Arbor Day is full of good influences. May you have
a happy celebration of it in Nebraska.
Yours for the trees,
N. H. Ee eston.

~

ARBOR DAY. 129

FROM WARREN HIGLEY.

New York, April 19, 1888.

My Dear Str—Your esteemed favor of nearly one
month ago came in my absence, and has been neglected
until I fear it is too late for word from me to reach you.

It gives me great pleasure to add my testimony to the
value of a life that has been instrumental in conferring
so vast a blessing on mankind as that of the Hon. J.
Sterling Morton of your state.

The institution of Arbor Day has given an intense
interest throughout the land to the value of trees and
the necessity for forests. It has fired the youth with a |
love for nature and for the study of her laws. It has
stimulated the esthetic sense of the people, taught the
lesson that a landscape without the everchanging beauty
of ‘tree and grove is but a desert; and that without a fair
proportion of forest growth, a country, however fertile at
first, is sure to become a barren waste—a perpetual rebuke
to the ignorance and greed of ungrateful man.

Arbor Day, publicly instituted and established by Gov.
Morton, has spread gloriously among Nebraska’s sister
states, until a large proportion of them has engrafted it
in their laws; and with the Arbor Day teachings our
country is bound to increase the efforts toward preserving

and conserving her forest domain.
17

130 ARBOR DAY.

All honor to Gov. Morton, and in his life-time. He
has done a work that entitles him to a monument as high
as the towering pine, sturdy as the oak, graceful as the
stately elm, and as enduring as mountains of granite.
When he established Arbor Day he planted the seed that
has grown and will continue to grow in the hearts of his
countrymen, and bear the fruits of noble deeds that are a
continual blessing to the whole country.

May he live long to enjoy the honor of this great
work, while he sees it grow and spread to the delight and
benefit of all. Very sincerely yours,

WaRREN HIGLEY.

FROM SECRETARY BAYARD.

WasuineTon, D. C., March 31.

H. L. Woop, Esq.: DEAR Str—Responding to your
suggestion, I am happy to record my vote in favor of
public thanks to a living benefactor, without waiting until _
“storied urn or animated bust” are raised to him who is
beyond the reach of such gratification. .

Present laws in Kansas may make it dangerous for a
man to raise a “vine” there, but a “fig tree,” under
whose shade he may recline, is even there permissible.
In Nebraska, a man may sit under both his vine and fig
tree, and “none shall make him afraid.”

ARBOR DAY. 131

I count it my good fortune to have long known J.
Sterling Morton; and appreciate his many delightful
qualities of head and heart. It was the wisdom of a good
heart and far-seeing sagacity that induced him, sixteen
years ago, to lead the State Board of Agriculture to “set
apart and consecrate” a day for tree planting. I do not
say that Mr. Morton “builded wiser than he knew,” but
he built wisely, and the expansion of his thought has
wonderfully blessed his country, and deserves the hearty
thanks and recognition of his countrymen in all sections.

The wisdom and pertinency of Jonathan Swift’s saying
may now well be recalled: “ And he gave for his opinion,
that whoever could make two ears of corn or two blades
of grass to grow on a spot of ground where only one grew
before, would deserve better of mankind, and do more
essential service to his country, than the whole race of
politicians put together.”

If this were true of two ears of corn or blades of
grass, how much more of a tree.

“The trees went forth on a time to annoint a king over
them, and they said unto the olive tree: ‘Reign thou

over us,’ ”

May such be the ruler in these United States.
' I am, very truly yours,
T. F. Bayarp.

132 ARBOR DAY. |

FROM PROF. A. L. PERRY.

WILLIAMs COLLEGE,
Wiuuiamstown, Mass., April 5, 1888.

My first personal acquaintance with Mr. Morton was
made in 1875, although more than twenty years before
that we were both members of the same affiliated college
society, he in the University of Michigan, and I in Wil-
liams College, and I remember very well with what pleas-
ure and laughter the letters from the Michigan branch, of
which he was secretary, were read here. In 1875 he was
president of the state agricultural society of Nebraska, in
which capacity he invited me to deliver the annual
address at Omaha. It was a long journey to take for the
sake of making an hour’s talk; but I never found occa-.
sion to regret either the journey or the talk, because the
latter, “Foes of the Farmers,” was soon after published
by the society that procured it in two successive editions
and widely scattered, and was also printed by the Chicago .
Times and other newspapers, so that something like a
quarter of a million copies were circulated.

The main reason, however, why I have never regretted
that journey to Omaha is, that I thus was enabled to
make the personal acquaintance of Mr. Morton himself
and his most estimable lady, since departed, to both of
whom alike, as I understand it, Nebraska and the whole

ARBOR DAY. 133

country are indebted for the useful and beautiful annual
of Arbor Day.

The late Senator Hitchcock, who was a graduate of this
college and a pupil of mine, did me the honor to listen
attentively to that address, and in connection with the
Mortons showed me many polite attentions besides, as did
also Mr. Howard Kennedy and his excellent wife, at
whose house I was hospitably lodged.

Since then I have been repeatedly at Nebraska City,
and have found in Mr. Morton, in his own home at
Arbor Lodge, not only an esteemed and established friend,
but also a man in whose political intelligence and deep-
seated fidelity to the rights of the masses of the people I
feel the utmost confidence. He owes much in character
and courtesy and keenness to his venerable mother, still
living ; and I cannot conclude this note, written at the
suggestion of one of his neighbors, without expressing
the friendly hope that his sons, some of whom are at
present in positions of great responsibility, may follow in
the moral footsteps of a worthy and lovable father.

ArtTHuR LATHAM PERRY.

FROM WIRT DEXTER.
' Curicaao, April 9, 1888.
Dear Srr—I thank you for calling my attention to
your proposed Arbor Day edition of the Press. When I

134 ARBOR DAY.

first visited Nebraska, on the invitation of my old school-
mate, J. Sterling Morton, I thought it had every element
of beauty but trees. This great want, as I have repeated
my visits year by year, I have seen supplied. In my
shooting trips, as I have sometimes rested in the shade of
Arbor Day trees, I can assure you that it has been none
the less grateful to me because I knew that the trees under
which I reposed were the product of a happy thought by
a dear friend.

If it be true, as has been said, that the man was a pub-
lic benefactor who made two blades of grass grow where
only one grew before, what may not be said of the bene-
factions of the man who has made trees grow where none
grew before? Yours truly,

Wirt DEXTER.

FROM J. M. WOOLWORTH.

Omana, NEs., April 9, 1888.

DEAR Srr—You have laid me under obligations by
asking me to join my fellow citizens in bearing testimony
to Mr. Morton’s services to the cause of forestry. Those
of us whose memories go back to the days when the foun-
dations of social and civil order were being laid in
Nebraska will never forget our sense of loneliness as we
looked out upon the treeless prairies. Ever since those

ARBOR DAY. 135
i

days Mr. Morton has given his efforts to redeem the
dreariness of the landscape.

It was a characteristic suggestion of his that one day
should be devoted by all the people to this service, and be
_ taken out of the calendar of work days and made a holi- .
day ; and its labor should not be a toil but recreation.

Arbor Day is beneficent; for its beauty and usefulness
our friend will be held in “everlasting remembrance.”

Yours truly,
J. M. Woonworrn.

FROM A. J. SAWYER.

Highest tribute is ever given to scientific discoverers,
for to them we are indebted for the glimpses we have of
the mysteries of nature, for the knowledge of the laws
and principles which govern that occult realm, and for the
exhibition of the power of nature’s forces; but still
greater homage should be given to those who are able to
apply these principles to practical account in supplying
the wants of man, and who are able to harness these
subtle forces to the chariots of civilization or to economize
and utilize them for the benefit of their fellow men.

_ Compare the kite and key of Benjamin Franklin, dis-
tilling the electric spark, with the telegraph of Morse and
the Atlantic cable of Field; the falling apple of Isaac

136 ARBOR DAY.

Newton with the myriad applications of the force of
gravity in mechanics, or Wenzel’s ideas of chemical com-
binations with the compounds made so useful in the
industrial arts through the practical labors of Michael
Faraday. |

What these almoners of science are to the health, com-
fort, and luxury of home, and to the growth and munifi-
cence of commerce, the founder of Arbor Day is to the
wealth and enjoyment of the future.

Prior to 1872 no system of forestry had been eee .!
in the United States. The spasmodic efforts of tree
planting upon a small scale, with very rare exceptions,
were attended with the most unsatisfactory results.

Forests were cut away without system and without
thought of future conditions or wants, until it was self-
evident that unless some judicious and comprehensive for-
est policy was adopted, this continent, once bristling with
its primeval forests, would be permanently deprived of an
element which constitutes a most important part in the
economy of nature.

Forestry, no less than science, is a development of civil-
ization. Colbert was instrumental in preventing the use-
less wastes of the forests of the old world, but the honor
of bequeathing to future generations an invaluable legacy
by the perpetuation of forests was reserved for a philan-
thropist of a more advanced age.

ARBOR DAY. 137

There is no state in the Union but needs such a legacy,
and when that which is now observed in twenty-eight
states becomes a national holiday, then will each citizen
have left to him and to his heirs forever, under a seal
greater than that of Cesar’s, “private arbors and new-
planted orchards.”

If a John Howard, ameliorating the evils of convict
life and alleviating the sufferings of prisoners, can be
called the “world’s philanthropist,” surely he who origi-
nates measures which tend directly to the improvement .
and fertility of the land and the wealth and comfort of
the inhabitants, adding as many dollars to the world’s
exchequer as the mines of uncoined ore produce, and more
rays to the brightness of the world’s civilization than the
electric spark has generated, is not least among his fellow
men.

A. J. SAWYER.

FROM IRVING J. MANATT.

LincoLn, April 17, 1888.
My Dear Srr—One whose life has been largely spent
in the presence of grand old forests can but set a high
value on the institution of Arbor Day. Its purpose
appeals to the finer sentiments and to hard common sense
alike; and it is but natural that the idea of it should
18

138 " ARBOR DAY. h

have originated in a mind at once poetic and practical. I
believe that the author of Arbor Day is to hold a perma-
nent place in popular regard alongside the author of the
homestead law.

This commonwealth of its origin should not only cele-
brate but use the day, until everywhere within her bor-
ders ‘‘the wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad
for it, and the desert shall blossom as the rose; * *
and the parched ground shall become a pool, and the
thirsty land springs of water.” ;

Last year the university had the privilege of listen-
ing to the chaste and classic eloquence of Mr. Morton
himself; this year we observe the day by laying the
corner-stone of the Grant Memorial Hall, a structure
consecrated in a special sense to the sentiment and the
duty of patriotism. Whether by planting trees or by
planting institutions, we propose always to honor the
day which Nebraska has given to the nation, and which
the nation is so warmly taking to her heart.

I desire to join with:all my heart in the congratulations
which the 22d of April must always bring to the distin-
guished citizen to whom Nebraska and the nation are alike
indebted for Arbor Day.

Faithfully yours,
Irvine J. MANarr.

ARBOR DAY. 139

FROM A. J. POPPLETON.

Ex Paso, Texas, April 19, 1888.
DEAR Str—Yours was received in the City of Mexico.
A letter cannot reach you in time. Arbor Day is recog-
nized and celebrated in Mexico. Mr. Morton, its author,
is a benefactor of other states and countries as well as his
own. In Nebraska, “ Plant trees” should be the eleventh
commandment.
A. J. POPPLETON.

FROM JOHN C, FREMONT,

Los ANGELES, Cau., April 20.

H. L. Woop, Esg.: DEAR Srr—I received letter con-
cerning your intention to honor Mr. Morton by a special
Arbor Day edition of the Press, and I sincerely regret
that my reply will not reach you in time to have a place
among the tributes paid to his noble work.

It strikes us always with surprise when suddenly some
great act makes us see how much good one man can do,
and Mr. Morton’s is exceptionally of this kind. I am
naturally and by the education of experience and travel a
lover of forests. Their still and solemn beauty, the sense
of repose and shelter which they give within quiet depths,
while storms may rage through their summits, have been
a real joy to me.

140 ARBOR DAY.

But, in a larger view, the protection which they afford
to great regions from stormy weather, their gathering and
holding in storage supplies of water for rivers and for the
needs of agriculture, have made me see with constant
regret their wasteful destruction throughout the country.

Some years of travel over the north-western plains,
many years ago, made me familiar with their widely dif-
ferent character and aspects in the different seasons. I
have enjoyed in summer their delightful weather, their
green seas of grass, and the grateful breeze, like that of
ocean, which belongs to them; and in winter I have
looked out over their treeless wastes with many a fore-
boding of disaster. It was upon them that I learned the
value of forest growth. It was that absence of timber
that made their dangerous character in winter, which -
gave constant anxiety and required caution in travelers,
and which daily impressed upon my mind the value of
forests, and gave to their beauty and grandeur that one
great feature of surpassing value.

This experience of travel which I have had enables me
to appreciate fully the great value to the country of the
work initiated and established by Mr. Morton. Working
in harmony with the efforts of nature, his work is imper-
ishable, and is of the kind which we should suppose a
good government would aid and foster and encourage.
For myself, I am glad to have the opportunity you have

ARBOR DAY. 141

given me to enroll myself among the friends and well-
wishers of Mr. Morton, and to congratulate him upon the
success of his unselfish and broadly useful work.

Although only in a local way, we too have been work-
ing here in harmony with nature by celebrating the annual
Festival of Flowers.

Yours truly,
JoHN C, FREMONT.

THE TREE PLANTER.

Tribute of fruits be his, and glossy wreaths
From roadside trees, and his the people’s love,
When east and west the wind of summer breathes
Through orchard, shaded path, and sighing grove.

EDMUND C. STEDMAN.
Hon. J. STERLING MORTON,

the originator of Arbor Day.
New York, April, 1888.

FOR ARBOR DAY.

Let dead names be eternized by dead stone,
Whose substance time cannot increase nor mar;

Let living names by living shafts be known,
That feel the influence of sun and star.

Plant thou a tree, whose griefless leaves shall sing
Thy deed and thee, each fresh unfolding spring.

EpirH M. THOMAS.
New York, April 14.

142 ARBOR DAY.

SPECIMEN GUBERNATORIAL ARBOR DAY
PROCLAMATIONS.

NEBRASKA.

To THE PEOPLE OF NEBRASKA:

Spring-time is at hand—the time to plant trees,
Therefore, in accordance with an appropriate custom, now
well established and recognized by law, I hereby designate
the 23d day of April, 1888, as

ARBOR DAY,

and I do earnestly request the people throughout this
state to plant trees, plant trees, PLANT TREES; and the
present and future generations will rise up and call you
blessed.

If, unfortunately, the weather should be so stormy as
_ to prevent the work on that day, please do not fail to
observe the next fair day.

In Witness WHEREOF, I have hereunto set
my hand and caused to be affixed the great

[SEAL.| seal of the state of Nebraska.
Done at Lincoln, this 21st day of March, .v.

1888.

JOHN M. THAYER.
By the Governor:

G. L,, Laws,
Sec’y of State.

ARBOR DAY. 143

KANSAS:

SraTe oF Kansas,
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,
Topeka, February 9, 1888.

The designation, by the executive, of a day to be de-
voted to the planting of trees has been approved by
public sentiment, and is justified by the experience and
results of former years:

Therefore, I, John A. Martin, governor of Kansas, do
hereby designate and appoint Wednesday, April 4th, as
Arbor Day, and do request the people of Kansas to de-—
vote that day to the planting of trees, forest, fruit, shade,
or ornamental, around their homes, in their fields, along
the highways, and in the grounds surrounding schools,
churches, and other public buildings.

The officers of the several schoo! districts of Kansas,
and the teachers employed in the public schools, are espe-
cially urged to give attention to the planting of trees in
school grounds and parks.

In Testimony WHEREOF, I have hereunto
subscribed my name and caused to be

[SEAL.] affixed the great seal of the state.

Done at Topeka this 9th day of February,
A.D. 1888, and of the state the twenty-

eighth.
, JoHn A. MARTIN.
By the Governor:
E. B. ALLEN,
Sec’y of State.

144 ARBOR DAY.

DAKOTA.

TERRITORY OF Daxkora,
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,
BisMARCK, March 20, 1888.

In conformity with custom and the sentiment of our
people, I, Louis K. Church, governor of Dakota, do
hereby designate Wednesday, April 25th, as Arbor Day
for that portion of Dakota lying south of the 7th stand-
ard parallel of latitude, and Thursday, May 5th, as Arbor
Day for that portion of Dakota lying north of such
parallel, and I do declare the same a legal holiday, and
request that the people devote the day as designated to
the planting of trees, shrubs, and vines in and about pub-
lic and private grounds and ways, and I especially urge -
appropriate observances in our public schools, and that
public officials and citizens generally aid in making the
day one that will confer a blessing to the future as well
as a benefit to the present; and I would call attention to
the wise laws of Dakota upon this important subject,
which are as follows:

“Qn all public highways of not less than sixty-six feet
in width, the owners, occupants, or claimants of adjoining
lands may use and occupy one rod in width of such high-
way adjoining such lands for the purpose of cultivating
the growth of timber and trees thereon; Provided, That

ARBOR DAY. 145

the same be kept continuously in good order and under
full timber and tree cultivation.

“ Any person cultivating a hedge upon his land adjoin-
ing a public highway and desiring to fence the same, may
place such fence seven feet over and upon such highway ;
Provided, That it do not obstruct the public travel.

“Every person planting one acre or more of prairie
land within five years after the passage of this act (March
13, 1885) with any kind of forest trees except black locust
and cottonwood, and successfully growing and cultivating .

for three years, shall be entitled to receive for ten years
thereafter an annual bounty of two dollars for each acre
so planted and cultivated, to be paid out of the territorial
treasury; but such bounty shall not be paid any longer
than such grove of trees is maintained and kept in
growing condition.

*‘ Any person wishing to secure the benefit of this act
shall, within three years after planting such grove of trees,
and annually thereafter, file with the county auditor or
clerk of the county in which the same is located, a correct
plat of land, describing the section or fraction thereof on
which such grove has been planted or cultivated, and
shall make due proof of such planting and cultivation, as
well as of the title to the land, by oath of the owner and
the aftidavit of two householders residing in the vicinity,
setting forth the facts in relation to the growth and culti-

19

ad

146 ARBOR DAY.

vation of the grove of trees for which such bounty is
demanded. The several county auditors or clerks shall,
on or before the first Monday of August of each year,
forward to the territorial auditor a certified list of all the
lands and tree planting reported and verified to them in
compliance with this act, with the name and post-office
address of the respective owners thereof; Provided, This
act shall not apply to any railroad company for planting
of trees within two hundred feet of its track for the pur-
pose of making a snow fence, nor to any trees planted
upon land held, entered, and acquired under the timber
culture act of the United States.

“Tf the territorial auditor shall find that the provisions
of this act have been duly complied with, he shall issue to
the several applicants entitled thereto his warrant upon ~
the territorial treasurer for the bounty so earned.”

In Wirness WHEREOF, I have hereunto.
subscribed my name and caused the great
[sEaL.] seal of Dakota to be affixed this 20th of -
March, 1888.

Louis K. Cuurca,
Governor.

By the Governor:
M. L. McCoRMACK,
Secretary.

a 2

ARBOR DAY. 147

ILLINOIS.

Srate oF ILurvois,
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,
SPRINGFIELD, March 13, 1888.

“AN ACT to Encourage the Planting of Trees.

“Src. 1. Be it Enacted by the People of the State of
Illinois, represented in the General Assembly: That the
governor shall annually, in the spring, designate, by offi-
cial proclamation, a day to be designated as Arbor Day,
to be observed throughout the state as a day for planting —
trees, shrubs, and vines about the homes and along high-
_ ways, and about public grounds within this state, thus
contributing to the wealth, comfort, and attractions of our
state.”

To give effect to and carry into execution the foregoing
act, Friday, the thirteenth day of April, 1888, is hereby
designated as Arbor Day.

I earnestly commend to the people of the state the
observance of said day. It is believed great good will
result from an earnest effort by the public to inaugurate
and perpetuate a day for the special purpose of planting
trees, shrubs, and vines. It would greatly add to the
‘beauty of our state, could every home, school-house,
church, highway, and public grounds be ornamented by
trees, arbors, shrubs, and vines, and great benefit would

148 ARBOR DAY.

result from planting forest trees, which in time would
immensely increase the value of our lands. Should local
committees agree to co-operate in this respect, a great deal
would be accomplished; but whether communities shall
co-operate, or individuals alone undertake to adorn and
beautify the state, there can be no doubt that if the day
is properly inaugurated and habitually observed, great
public and private good will result from its observance.
In Witness WuHEREoF, I hereto set my
[SEAL.] hand and cause the great seal of the State
to be affixed.

Done at Springfield, the day and year first

above written.

RicHARD J. OGLESBY.
By the Governor:
HENRY D. DEMENT,
Secretary of State.

COLORADO.

In compliance with the desires from public schools,
and with the wishes of our people generally, I hereby.
designate Friday, the sixth day of May, as Arbor Day.
I trust that our citizens will observe the day by beautify-
ing their homes, the streets, the highways, and the public
places.

To the teachers in our public schools, I would suggest

ARBOR DAY. 149

that on this day they give such instruction as will bring
to the mind of every pupil the value and beauty of
forestry, and to devote a portion of the day to practical
experience in planting trees in school yards and other
places.

There is an Arabian proverb that, with the plant-
ing of a tree, a blessing comes to him who drops the seed.
This is a sentiment that should find expression in the life
and acts of every citizen of our state. We are to-day
enjoying the grateful shade, the scenes of beauty, and the
fragrant fruitage of those trees whose planting was the —
thoughtful care of those who first came to this western
_ land. In this arid country, where the fields bloom only
by the aid of artificial irrigation, it is not alone the
sentiment of beauty, but of utility and profit, that should
inspire a general observance of Arbor Day.

Climate, health, comfort, the products of our soil—
everything that makes Colorado attractive and desirable—
depend, to a certain extent, upon the influence of forest
culture. Let every child, every citizen, plant each year a
tree, and a few years would change the aspect of our
country ; there would remain for those who come after us
not only living and beautiful memorials of our labor, but
they would cover with verdure the domain where desola-
tion now reigns, and convert the barren plains into fruit-
ful fields.

150 ARBOR DAY.

The tree, vine, and flower are the ornaments with
which the Creator adorns the home of man, and he who
cares for these children of Nature obeys the mandates of
Him who placed us here, contributes to the wealth of
his country, and augments the happiness of posterity.

ALVA ADAMS,
Governor.

ARBOR DAY IN SCHOOLS.

At Grand Rapids, Michigan, January 26, 1888, before
the State Forestry Convention, the following exercises
were had. Seventy-five pupils from one of the schools, —
each representing a different kind of a tree, were arranged
together in the room, and constituted “A Convention of
Michigan Trees.” \ g

Norway Pine (Louie), rising, said: Fellow Trees of -
Michigan—In order to organize this meeting, I move the
election of White Oak as chairman. Seconded. All
favoring this motion please say Aye. Vote apparently
unanimous. Those who are opposed say No. The ayes
have it; the White Oak will take the chair.

White Oak (Julius), taking the chair, said: Fellow
Trees, the object of this meeting is to consider whatever

ARBOR DAY. 151

may be to our best interests in the forests of Michigan.
It is a subject of great importance to the state, and to all
of us, and we hope to hear from every one present, and
gain much valuable information from each other. We
have gathered from all parts of the state for this con-
ference, and that we may have a permanent record of the
- proceedings for ourselves and for the press, will some one
name a recording secretary.

Beech (Harriet) : I nominate Chestnut (Lily). See-
onded.

White Oak: All who favor the nomination say Aye. ~
Many ayes. Those opposed will say No. The ayes
have it. Chestnut is elected secretary. (She takes her
place.)

White Oak: Our musician, Miss Pine (Bessie), has
kindly arranged the music for us. She sings only when
the spirits move her, and we may know when that is by
the peculiar swaying of her head. At the swaying we
will suspend business and listen. She moves now—we’ll
hear “ The Echoes from the Forest.” (Bessie sings.)

White Oak: We are now ready for discussion (several
trees rising at once). Tulip Tree has the floor.

Tulip Tree (Herman): Fellow Trees, I am glad of
this opportunity to plead my qualifications as an orna-
mental tree. I grow to a great size and height, and have
shining, queer-shaped leaves, and large, tulip-shaped blos-

152 ARBOR DAY.

soms, which remind you of the sunny South, where live
my sisters, the Magnolias.

Burr Oak (Joseph): I would like to ask Tulip Tree
of what use he is? Michigan people have a right to
demand of us usefulness as well as beauty.

Tulip Tree: Iam not only valuable as an ornamental
shade tree, but I also furnish excellent timber for carriage
bottoms, furniture, and finishing houses. Years ago my
forefathers were numerous south of the Grande River
valley, and supplied food for laths and shingles, and
lumber in the place of the white pine. Our family is a
small one, represented in Michigan by a single species.

White Oak: We shall be glad to hear from any
members of the Oak family living in Michigan. (Sixteen
members rise.) This is certainly a large family. I -
recognize Chestnut as entitled to the floor. What claims
have you to rank in your family?

Chestnut (Lily): All botanists of the present day
agree that the beech, the ironwood, the blue beech, the
hazels, and the chestnuts are first cousins to the oak. I
live in four counties in the south-eastern part of the state,
and am well known for valuable timber, and for a good
crop of edible nuts.

Beech: Upon my smooth, gray bark many a heart
history has been carved. The poet Campbell tells it so
beautifully :

ARBOR DAY. 153

“ Thrice twenty summers have I stood
Since youthful lovers in my shade
Their vows of truth and rapture paid,
And, on my trunk’s surviving frame,
Carved many a long forgotten name.”

And here is another beautiful thing from Whittier:
“T have always admired the taste of the Indians around
Sebago lake, who, when their chief died, dug round the
beech tree, swaying it down, and placed his body in the
rent, and then let the noble tree fall back into its original
place, a green and beautiful monument for a son of the
forest.” I am one of the commonest and well known >
trees of Michigan.

Burr Oak: Out of about 300 Oaks, ten of us live in
this state. Brother White Oak is by far the most com-
mon and well known. He is the senior member of our
family and has attained a very great age. He never
thrives in perfection except in a good soil and a temperate
climate. The Michigan people are proud that so many of
our family live with them.

Tulip Tree: White Oak is certainly loyal to his
family, but I should like to hear of his uses.

Burr Oak: Every particle of him is useful, even to his
ashes. His bark is used for tanning leather; his wood is
hard, compact, heavy, tough, and durable; good for heavy
wagons, plows, railroad ties, fence posts, ship timber,
furniture, and finishing the interior of houses.

20

154 ARBOR DAY.

Swamp White Oak (Leona): As much of my timber
is so nearly like that of White Oak, and often passes
for it, I will say, as a tree, “I am beautiful in every
stage of my growth; at first, light, slender, delicate, and
waving; at last, broad, massive, and grand, but always
graceful.”

Chestnut Oak (James): Emerson says of White Oak:
“As an ornament to the landscape, or as a single object,
no other tree is to be compared with it, in every period of
its growth, for picturesqueness, majesty, and inexhaustible
variety of beauty. When standing alone it throws out its
mighty arms with an air and force of grandeur which have
made it everywhere to be considered the fittest emblem of
strength and power of resistance. Commonly the oak
braves the storm to the last, without yielding, better than —
any other tree. The limbs go out at a great angle and
stretch horizontally to a vast distance.”

Laurel Oak (John): The famous A. J. Downing said:
“There are no grander or more superb trees than our
American oaks. We are fully disposed to concede it the
first rank among the denizens of the forest. As an orna-
mental object we consider the oak the most varied in
expression, the most beautiful, grand, majestic and pic-
turesque of all deciduous trees.”

Black Jack Oak (Herbert): Poetry, history, mythol-
ogy, and romance abound in references to the oak. I

ARBOR DAY. 155

should like to hear from our fellow trees some common
quotations in reference to the oak.

White Ash (Myrtle): “The unwedgeable and gnarled
oak,”

Black Ash (Ella): “The old oaken bucket.” |

Sugar Maple (Louise): “Jove’s own tree that holds
the woods in awful sovereignty.”

Red Maple (Anna): “A goodly oak, whose boughs
were massed with age.”

Scarlet Oak (Ben): “ King of the woods.”

Blue Ash (Amy): “Thy guardian oaks, my country,
are thy boast.”

Silver Maple (Kate): ‘The monarch oak, the patri-
arch of trees.”

Butternut (Burke): “The oak, for grandeur, strength,
and noble size, excels all trees that in the forest grow.”

Black Walnut (Frank): “Tall oaks from little acorns
grow.” |

Buttonwood (Harrison) :

‘Woodman, forbear thy stroke!
Cut not its earth-bound ties;

Oh, spare that aged oak,
Now towering to the skies.’’

Sassafras (Henry):
“ Behold yon oak,
How stern he frowns.’’

156 ARBOR DAY.

Pepperidge (Walter): “The glory of the woods.”
Buckeye (Samuel) :

“ Proud monarch of the forest!

That once, a sapling bough,

Didst quail far more at evening’s breath
Than at the tempest now.

Strange scenes have passed, long ages rolled,
Since first upon thy stem,

Then weak as osier twig, spring set
Her leafy diadem.’’

Red Oak (Lulu): I begin to feel my pride rising, and
hope White Oak will give me a chance to quote a poem
written in honor of one of our family.

White Oak bows.

Red Oak:

“A glorious tree is the old gray oak;
He has stood for a thousand years—
Has stood and frowned
On the trees around
Like a king among his peers;
As round their king they stand, so now,
When the flowers their pale leaves fold,
The tall trees around him stand, arrayed
In their robes of purple and gold.
He has stood like a tower,
And dared the winds to battle;
He has heard the hail,
As from plates of mail,
From his own limbs shaken, rattle;

ARBOR DAY. 157

He has tossed them about and shorn the tops,
When the storm has roused his might,

Of the forest trees, as a strong man doth
The heads of his foes in fight.”

Scarlet Oak (Otto): The poem which Red Oak quoted.
reminded me of an old saying of Dr. Holmes, He says:
“T wonder if you ever thought of a single mark of
supremacy which distinguishes this tree from those
around it? The others shirk the work of resisting
gravity, the oak defies it. It chooses the horizontal direc-
tion for its limbs, so that their whole weight may tell, ©
and then stretches them out fifty or sixty feet, so that the

strain may be mighty enough to be worth resisting. You
"will find that in passing from the extreme downward
droop of the branches of the weeping willow to the
extreme upward inclination of those of the poplar, they
sweep nearly half a circle. At ninety degrees the oak
stops short ; to slant upward another degree would mark
infirmity of purpose; to bend downward, weakness of
organization.”

Black Oak (Ruby): What the Oak says sounds scien-
tific. I want to tell you something that begins with
“once upon atime.” Once upon a time the Evil One
agreed with a man that he should have the latter’s soul
at the time when the oak leaves fell; but when he came to
look at the oak in the autumn he found it still in leaf, nor

158 | ARBOR DAY.

did it part with its old leaves until the new ones began
to sprout. In his rage and disappointment he scratched
the leaves so vehemently that they have in consequence
been jagged ever since.

White Oak: These are certainly good words for the
oak family. We will next listen to some music from
the litte birds—our very dear friends. (Song by school
children.) ; :

White Oak: We shall next hear from the maples, of
which there are six in our state. They are cousins to the
buckeye, bladdernut, and box-elder, all of which belong
to the maple family.

Sugar Maple (Louise): I am a favorite ornamental
tree. Poets of all ages have sung about the oak. I am
no “Sweet Singer of Michigan,” but I am possessed of ©
sweetness. I claim to have made more boys and girls
happy than any other tree. I have many changes in
dress—wearing in spring the softest shade of every color;
in the summer the purest emerald, and in the autumn the
most brilliant yellow. -My wood is used for furniture,
floors, and for furnishing the interior of houses, and after
the houses are finished, few can warm them better than I.

Red Maple (Mary): Iam often called Soft Maple, a
name also applied to one of my sisters. I beautify the
country in spring with early red blossoms, and in
autumn my leaves are streaked with scarlet.

ARBOR DAY. 159

Silver Maple (Jennie) : My sister Red Maple and
myself are both called Soft Maple. I make a very rapid
growth, and am found by the side of streams. I am often
planted as a shade tree, and in the far West many are
planted for shelter belts and for timber.

Basswood (Maud): I am a fine shade tree, my home
a moist, rich soil. My fragrant flowers furnish a great
amount of excellent honey for the bees at a time when
most other flowers have disappeared. My timber is soft,
light, and tough, and not apt to split, good for cabinet —
work, boxes, broom handles, ete. My proper name is
Linden. |

Black Cherry (Ethel): With our beautiful blossoms
we need not be envious of the orange groves of Califor-
nia. Iam one large snowball of blossoms in the spring.
My fruit is much liked by the birds, and my wood is
fine, light, durable, and looks much like mahogany.
My cousins are the wild plum, crabapple, mountain ash,
hawthorn, juneberry, spirea, the apple, pear, quince, and
the peach, and we all belong to the rose family.

Black Walnut (Frank): Iam not ornamental, nor am
I a good neighbor, for I sometimes poison other trees that
live near me. In spite of my bad qualities, I am liked
because I can be converted into cash at any moment.
Some of my brothers have sold as high as $2,000. Those
who care for us, care for a fortune. My relative, the

160 ARBOR DAY.

Butternut, is much loved by boys and girls. It was
round my brother, at Haverstraw, on the Hudson, that
Gen. Wayne mustered his forces at midnight, preparatory
to his attack on Stony Point.

Hickory (Ray): There are four brothers of us in
Michigan, but I am the least worthy of them ail, and am
the only one present at this convention. We are cousins
of the walnut and butternut, and all belong to the wal-
nut family. If you want a wood that is good for buggies,
ax handles, barrel hoops, a wood like iron, call upon my
brother Shag-bark. You will have all the nuts you want
thrown into the bargain. Once upon a time there was a
president of the country who had so many of my qualities
that they called him ‘Old Hickory.”

White Oak: We will sing about the “ Echo which in ©
the forest dwells.” (Song.)

White Oak: We will next hear a few words from the
Ashes. (Three rise and stand till all are through.)

White Ash (Myrtle): Iam a tall tree, and have often
been complimented for my usefulness. I have often been
told that I have a graceful top and beautiful pinnate
leaves. My wood is heavy, hard, strong, coarse-grained,
compact, and of a brown color, and is much used for
cabinet ware, farm implements, and house finishing. I
thrive on moist, rich soil.

Blue Ash (Amy): I am not often found in Michigan.

ARBOR DAY. 161

I grow slowly, and attain a good size. My wood is valu-
able for lumber, posts, and sills. I may be distinguished
from all other ashes by my square branches of a year’s
growth.

Black Ash (Ella): I thrive in swamps and along
streams, and become a large, useful tree. My wood is
used for furniture, barrel hoops, and baskets. When well
cared for, I become one of the finest ornamental trees,
For this purpose I have never been fully appreciated.
The ashes belong to the olive family. We have been
called musical, as in this quotation : .

**Ye ashes, wild resounding o’er the steep,
Delicious is your music to the soul.”’

White Oak: Who will speak next? (A number rise.)
Birch has the floor.

Birch (William): Iam a useful factor in the cause of
education, though not now so commonly found in the
school-room as in former years. There are five sisters of
us Birches in Michigan. The alders are our cousins.
Probably you are best acquainted with the canoe birch,
whose white wood you see in spools and shoe-pegs. It
gives up its beautiful white dress without any injury to
itself. Longfellow has made us a celebrated family in
Hiawatha. He says of us:

21

162 ARBOR DAY.

“Give me of your bark, O, Birch tree!
Of your yellow bark, O, Birch tree!
Growing by the rushing river,

Tall and stately in the valley!

I a light canoe will build me,

That shall float upon the river,

Like a yellow leaf in Autumn,

Like a yellow water lily!

Lay aside your cloak, O, Birch tree!
Lay aside your white skin wrapper;
For the summer time is coming,

And the sun is warm in heaven,

And you need no white skin wrapper.”

White Oak: Let us hear from the Elms.

American Elm (Lida): I have been called the Queen
of the Forest, and stand without a rival at the head of the
list of ornamental deciduous leaved trees. I claim this —
rank on account of hardiness, rapid growth, and the grace-
ful and majestic beauty of my drooping branches. We
are very proud of our Massachusetts relative under whose
venerable shade Washington first took command of the
Continental Army, July 3, 1775. How the affection of
every lover of the country clings around that tree! What
care has been taken of it, what marks of esteem have been
shown it by the citizens of Cambridge, may be judged by
those who have seen it standing, as it does, in the center
of a great public thoroughfare, its trunk protected by an
iron fence from injury by passing vehicles, which for

ARBOR DAY. 163

more than a century have turned aside in deference to this
monarch of the revolution.

Red Elm (Claude): I am well known for my durable
red wood and mucilaginous bark, and am often called
“Slippery Elm.” My sister, Rock Elm, is a fine tree
with corky branches, and the wood is valuable for farm
implements.

Hackberry (Otis): I am one of the poor cousins of
the elm, and am little known. I am sometimes called the
Nettle tree, and I am afraid Michigan people are not on -
speaking terms with me. Allow me to tell you about
my German relative, the Luther Elm, near Worms.
It is said to have been planted as follows: A bigoted
old lady, thrusting a stick in the ground, declared her
resolution not to accept the new faith until that dry
stick became green. The fact that it did so proved
the interest taken by trees in the preservation of ortho-
doxy.

Red Mulberry (Robert): I am another obscure cousin
of the elms, and one not often seen in Michigan. The
birds are fond of my berries, and the wood is as valuable
as cedar for posts. Let me praise the elm.

“ Hail to the elm! the brave old elm!
Our last lone forest tree,
Whose limbs outstand the lightning’s brand,
For a brave old elm is he!

164 ARBOR DAY.

For fifteen score of full told years
He has borne his leafy prime,

Yet he holds them well, and lives to tell
His tale of olden time.”’

White Oak: Let us all repeat the lines of N. S. Dodge
in praise of the Queen of the Forest. (All unite.)
“Then hail to the elm, the green-topped elm,
And long may his branches wave,
For a relic is he, the gnarled old tree,
Of the times of the good and brave.”’

White Oak: We will have another song about the
birds, or any other subject. (Song.)

White Oak: We have heard nothing from the
Willows.

Willow (Marion): I live near the water, and my wood
is made into the strangest things—artificial limbs, tooth-
picks, ball clubs, and gunpowder. Some of us are called
“Pussy Willows.” Elizabeth Allen has written »this
lovely poem to my sister, the Weeping Willow, of Eu-
rope, who has been for years mourning something to us
unknown:

“O, Willow, why forever weep,

As one who mourns an endless wrong,
What hidden woe can lie so deep?

What utter grief can last so long?
Mourn on forever, unconsoled,

And keep your secret, faithful tree,
No heart in all the world can hold

A sweeter grace than constancy.”’

ARBOR DAY. 165

The Poplar (Cara): There are five sisters of us Pop-
lars who live in Michigan. One is called cottonwood,
and two are called aspens. We are cousins of the wil-
lows and all belong to the willow family. I will read
some lines of the poets:

“Why tremble so, broad aspen tree ?
Why shake thy leaves, ne’er ceasing ?

At rest thou never seem’st to be,
For when the air is still and clear,

Or when the nipping gale, increasing,
Shakes from thy boughs soft twilight’s tear,
Thou tremblest still, broad aspen tree,
And never tranquil seem’st to be.”

White Oak: Our exercises would not be complete
without hearing from the members of the Pine family, or
cone-bearing trees.

White Pine (Sylvia): I am one of the tallest and
largest, most common and well known and valuable trees
of the state. In Europe, where some of my number have
been introduced, they often call me Weymouth Pine.
My leaves are long, light green, and in clusters of five.
As a long-lived and beautiful tree for ornamenting rural
grounds and parks, I take a high rank, while an immense
amount of valuable timber is cut from my wood.

White Oak: Let us hear from another Pine of
Michigan.

Red Pine (Naoma): I am often called Norway Pine,

166 ARBOR DAY.

though I do not know why. I never lived in Norway,
but am only found in North America. I am a tall,
straight tree, with long, evergreen leaves, in clusters of
two. I grow slowly, making valuable timber, which is
much harder than that of white pine. For ornamental’
purposes I much resemble Austrian pine, though much
superior to that tree, if we rely on the opinions of noted
horticulturists.

White Oak: The White Pine and Red Pine have a
sister Pine in Michigan. We shall now give her an
opportunity to speak.

Grey Pine (Rose): I am a tree of small size, found on
poor land in Northern Michigan. When young my
growth is rapid; my leaves grow in pairs and are quite
short. My wood abounds in pitch. I am known by a>
variety of names, as Scrub Pine, Jack Pine, Buckwheat
Pine, Black Pine, Crocodile Pine, but the name I like the
best is Pinus banksiana. I want to tell you what Ruskin
says: “The tremendous unity of the pine absorbs and
molds the life of a race. The pine shadows rest upon a
nation. The northern people, century after century, lived
under one or other of the two great powers of the pine
and the sea, both infinite. They dwelt amidst the forests
or they wandered on the waves, and saw no end nor any
other horizon. Still the dark green trees or the dark
green waters jagged the dawn with their fringe or. their

ARBOR DAY. 167

foam, and whatever elements of imagination or of warrior
strength or of domestic justice were brought down by the
Norwegian or the Goth against the dissoluteness or degra-
dation of the south of Europe, were taught them under
the green roofs and wild penetralia of the pine.” .

White Oak: We have another cone-bearing tree in
attendance. I call on

Hemlock Spruce (Agnes): I have been called by stu-
dents in art and botany and horticulture “the most beau-
tiful coniferous hardy tree yet known.” I grow to a
good height and acquire a large size. My evergreen |
leaves have delicate tints, my young branches droop grace-
_ fully. As a timber tree I do not claim the highest honor.
My bark is valuable for tanning leather.

White Oak: There are two other sister evergreens
called “Spruces” I see in the audience.

Black Spruce (Rhoda): I abound in swamps in North-
ern Michigan. I am often used for Christmas trees on
festive occasions, and boys and girls search over me for a
supply of first-class gum. I am not responsible, though,
for all the gum that goes by my name. Within a few
years my wood has been largely used to make white paper.

White Oak: I recognize another evergreen. I call on

Red Cedar (Clara): In summer my leaves are beau-
tiful, but in winter they become brown. I am found
only sparingly in any part of the world, though I am the

168 ARBOR DAY.

most widely distributed of any tree in the United States.
I grow slowly, and produce a beautiful red, fragrant
wood, which is soft and very durable. My wood is now
mainly limited to the making of lead pencils.

White Oak: Let us next hear from

Balsam Fir (Alice): I am a rather small, slender ever-
green, found in swamps, though often cultivated as an
ornament about dwellings. I arrive at my prime when
about fourteen years of age.

White Oak: I shall now call on

Arbor Vite (Maud): I thrive in the swamps of the
North, and afford shelter to wild animals. I am often
called White Cedar, and I furnish most of the telegraph
poles, some fence posts, railway ties, and blocks for paving
streets. I take a high place as an ornamental tree.

White Oak: We have now heard from all the cone-
bearing evergreen trees who are present. There is another
tree of the state, not here present, which is cone-bearing,
and belongs to the Pine family. I refer to the Tamarack.

OTHER MATTERS.

_ White Oak: There are some other matters, appropriate

to Arbor Day, which demand our attention at this time.
How do the trees of Michigan compare in_beauty and
variety with those of Great Britain, of which we read so
much ?

ARBOR DAY. 169

Susie: The farther north we go, the fewer kinds of
trees we find; the farther south, the greater variety.
Great Britain and Ireland contain more than twice the
area of Michigan. They have one basswood, not as good
as ours; one very small maple, one cherry, one small
ash, two elms, two poplars, one beech, one small birch,
one pine, one oak much like our white oak. Great
Britain has about ten species of trees native to her soil,
while Michigan, with half the territory, has about ninety
species, or nine times as great a variety. |

White Oak: For some interesting points in reference
to nuts and seeds I call on

Red Maple: Last autumn the hazels, beeches, chest-
nuts, oaks, hickories, walnuts, and buckeyes matured
their fruit, and with this maturing the burrs, or cups, or
husks opened, or the stems snapped in two at a joint
which began to form months before. If a burr or nut
held fast too tenaciously, the frost made it willing to
drop, and down it went with hundreds of others among
the leaves. The leaves, with the help of the shifting
winds, gently covered the fruit—or some portions of it.
The leaves make the best kind of protection from dry air
and severe cold, and they come just at the right time.
All the seeds are not covered, but Dame Nature is gen-
erous. She produces an abundance; enough for seed and
enough to feed the birds, squirrels, and other animals.

22

170 ARBOR DAY.

White Oak: We want to hear a word about Nature’s
tree planters, the squirrels, birds, and other animals.

Basswood: The squirrels eat many nuts, but carry a
portion to some distance in every direction, where they
plant one or two.in a place. It may be the thought of
the squirrel to return at some future time of need, but
his bump of locality is not well developed, or he has laid
up more than he needed. At all events some of the nuts
are allowed to remain where he planted them. In this
way he is a benefit to the trees, and pays for the nuts he
eats. He has not lived in vain, for he is a tree planter
and believes in arboriculture. His Arbor Day comes in
autumn, and he needs no governor’s message to stimulate
him to his work.

White Oak: This subject will be continued by

White Spruce (Adeline): Many of our trees and shrubs
produce a fleshy fruit or berry. Among them are the
mountain ash, service berry, wild crab-apple, hawthorn,
cherry, holly, viburnum, pepperidge, hackberry, mul-
berry, sassafras, wild plum, persimmon, pawpaw, cedars,
and junipers. Many of these, when ripe, are rendered
conspicuous by brilliant colors. The fruits. are eagerly
sought by grouse, turkeys, deer, bear, or other animals.
In most cases the seeds of such fruits are protected by
a very firm covering, and are not digestible. They are
sown broadeast by wild animals, under circumstances

ARBOR DAY. 171

most favorable for germination. The birds, too, belong
to the society of tree planters,

White Oak: We will next listen to some accounts of
the wind as a sower of seeds, 3

Sassafras (Iona): Some trees produce dry seeds or
seed-pods, and usually drop only a portion in autumn,
They hold on to some seeds with considerable tenacity.
Among these are the buttonwood, basswood, ironwood,
blue beech, box-elder, hop tree, tulip tree, the ashes, —
catalpa, locust, judas tree, birches, alders, larches, pines,
spruces, The fruit or the seed is thin, or provided with
wings, which distribute them as they fall, or after they
"have fallen. In winter it needs but a slight packing of
the snow to bear up the seeds. At such times, some of
the seeds are torn from the trees by the wind, and may be
seen sliding along like miniature ice-boats, often half a
mile or more from the nearest tree. The wind also aids
in transporting the seeds of our elms, maples, willows,
and poplars.

White Oak: Next listen to something more about
seeds.

Red Bud (Cynthia): A seed is a young plant and is
packed ready for transportation. It has a tiny stem,
some seed leaves, and a terminal bud. The mother tree,
before casting off her progeny into the world, did not fail
to give it a little outfit in the form of starch for food

172 ARBOR DAY.

stored up in or surrounding the thick seed-leaves. As
the young chicks while in the shell are nourished by the
yolk of the egg, so the young oak or maple subsists on
the starch stored up before ripening.

White Oak: When do our trees make their growth
and how do they get ready for the next year?

Box-elder (Nina): Most of our trees put forth their
new growth during a few weeks in spring or early sum-
mer. Do you wonder what they are doing during the
rest of the warm weather? They are by no means idle.
They may be perfecting flowers and seeds, but all of them
are busy getting ready for the next winter and spring.
Through the influence of light and heat the green leaves
are forming starch, which is transported and stored in the -
pith, young wood, and bark. The young leaves and
stems are started and arranged, packed in cotton, covered
by scales, and in some cases the scales are protected by
pitch or varnish.

White Oak: Next in order will be a few words in
regard to the tree as a community.

Buckeye (Douglas): A tree is a composite being. A
kind of community by itself. The leaves and limbs are
all the time striving with each other to see which shall
have the most room and the most sunshine. Each strives
for all he can get. While some perish in the attempt, or
meet with only very indifferent success, the strongest of

ARBOR DAY. 173

the strongest buds survive. Each leaf helps to sustain
the limb which carries it, and each limb furnishes some
nourishment to the common trunk for the common wel-
fare. The tax is always adjusted according to the ability
of each to contribute. As the limbs of a tree are con-
stantly striving for the mastery, so each bush and tree in
grove or forest is striving with others for the mastery.
The weakest succumb to the strongest; some perish early,
some lead a feeble existence for many years, while even
the strongest are more or less injured. With plenty of |
room, the trunk will be short, the branches many and
wide-spread; where crowded, the lower limbs perish for
"want of light. Dead limbs fall to the ground to protect
and enrich it for nourishing the surviving limbs and the
trunk. The scars heal over, more limbs perish as new
ones creep upward, and thus we find tall, clean trunks in
a dense forest.

White Oak: To be successful, it is very important to
know how to gather and care for seeds and nuts.

Yellow Wood (Robert): Gather the seeds or nuts of
trees when ripe, and, if convenient, plant them where the
trees are expected to remain. In this list we include
especially the trees which have long tap roots, and do not
easily transplant, such as the tulip tree, the hickories,
the oaks, the walnuts, and chestnuts. The seeds of elms
and maples are not easily kept over winter. Seeds of

174 ARBOR DAY.

evergreens, the larch, and the locusts may be dried and
kept as grain is kept. Many seeds and nuts may be
mixed with an equal bulk of sand as it is dug from a
knoll, and buried a few inches or a foot below the surface.
In spring they may be carried to the garden and planted.
Soak seeds of locust and honey locust in hot water
till the outer covering softens, and then plant. Soak
seeds of evergreens three or four days in water, changed
daily, and then plant very shallow in rows a few inches
apart in rich loam, well screened by lath, brush, or mus-
lin. See that weeds do not rob the young plants of light,
room, and nourishment. Evergreens in small quantity,
when small and two or three years old, can be purchased
of experts more cheaply than they can be raised at home.
These can be set in rows and cultivated for a few years
like Indian corn. For further details you are advised to —
read copies of our state horticultural reports, take lessons
of a nurseryman, or go to the agricultural college.

White Oak: It is of little use to plant seeds or buy
trees, unless we know how to handle them while moving.

Kentucky Coffee Tree (Hiram): In taking up a tree,
whether large or small, do not twist it about so as to
break or bend the roots abruptly. Get all the roots you
can afford to, remembering that a tree will not grow
without roots. When out of the ground keep the roots
constantly covered with soil, moss, damp straw, or some-

ARBOR DAY. 175

thing else. The roots are far more sensitive to dry air
than are the parts above ground. No one need wonder
that trees carted into town with short roots exposed to dry
air, often fail to grow, or lead a precarious life for years,
Study the structure and the physiology of a tree and treat
it as one who always makes everything thrive which he
cares for.

White Oak: How shall we care for the trees after
planting?

Apple Tree (Hannah): To set a tree so as to insure its
thrifty growth, place it but little deeper than it was while
growing. Have the soil well pulverized and pack it
closely about the tree. After all this trouble, do not
court disappointment in the slow growth or death of a
favorite tree, but dig or rake the ground every week or
two, all summer for three to five years, for a distance of
four feet or more each way from the tree. If this is im-
practicable, place a mulch of something covering the space
above mentioned.

White Oak: After planting, trees sometimes become
too thick. What shall we do?

Pear Tree (Andrew): A tree, like a child, is a living,
organized being, and keeps changing as long as life lasts,
It is not best merely to set as many trees as we expect to
remain for a life-time, but plant them more thickly, with a
view to removal. Here is where ninety out of a hundred

176 ARBOR DAY.

fail. They do not keep an eye on the growth and trim or
remove trees until they have crowded and damaged each
other beyond recovery. In: most instances a few large,
well-developed trees should grow where many small ones
were planted years before. It needs courage and judg-
ment to remove some favorite tree that others may con-
tinue to spread and make a symmetrical growth.

White Oak: Next will follow something in reference
to the flowers of trees.

Bitternut (Silas): With rare exceptions, our trees bear
flowers which are inconspicuous. The elms and the
maples produce flowers in spring before the leaves appear.
Most have the staminate and pistillate flowers on different
parts of the tree or on different trees. The wind or grav-
ity carries the pollen to the pistil, so there is no need of
sweet odors or a gay display of flowers to attract bees and
butterflies and moths to carry the pollen. Compensation
is well displayed in Nature. If the tree has not gorgeous
or fragrant flowers, it has a large size and often a beautiful
form.

White Oak: We should learn to love trees and to
associate them with the generous hand who planted and.
cared for them. )

Wild Plum (Ezra): I will tell you something which
was written by Washington Irving: “There is something
noble, simple, and pure in a taste for trees. It argues, I

ARBOR DAY. 177

think, a sweet and generous nature to have this strong
relish for beauties of vegetation, and this friendship for
the hardy and glorious sons of the forest. There is a
grandeur of thought connected with this part of rural
economy. It is worthy of liberal, and free-born, and
aspiring men. He who plants an oak looks forward to
future ages, and plants for posterity. Nothing can be less
selfish than this. He cannot expect to sit in its shade nor
enjoy its shelter; but he exults in the idea that the acorn
which he has buried in the earth shall grow up into a
lofty pile, and shall keep on flourishing and increasing
and benefiting mankind long after he shall have ceased
to tread his paternal fields.”

White Oak: We will hear what O. W. Holmes says
on this subject.

Tamarack (Elias): Dr. O. W. Holmes says: “I have
written many verses, but the best poems I have produced
are the trees I planted on the hillside which overlooks the
broad meadows, scalloped and rounded at their edges by
loops of the sinuous Housatonic, Nature finds rhymes
for them in the recurring measures of the seasons, Win-
ter strips them of their ornaments, and gives them, as it
were, in prose translation ; and summer reclothes them in
all the splendid phrases of their leafy language. What
are these maples and beeches and birches but odes and
idyls and madrigals? What are these pines and firs and

23

178 . ARBOR DAY.

spruces but holy rhymes, too solemn for the many-hued
raiment of their gay, deciduous neighbors. As you drop
the seed, as you plant the sapling, your left hand hardly
knows what your right hand is doing. But Nature
knows, and in due time the power that sees and works in
secret will reward you openly.”

White Oak: This concludes what we had on the pro-
gramme for this convention.

Hemlock: I move we have some more music and then
adjourn.

White Oak: If there be no objections, we shall have
the music.

White Oak: This convention stands adjourned until
again convened by the proper authorities.

ARBOR DAY. 179

ARBOR DAY EXCERPTS.

WHAT A TREE IS.

An unknown author says:

To many men a tree is known only in its commercial
point of view; it is so many feet of uncut timber, or so
many pecks of nuts; but the man who lives close to
Nature learns to know it differently.

Yon oak, writes the German Lichte, which grows be-

side my farm-house, was planted an acorn two centuries
ago by my ancestor. Five generations*have been born and
died beneath it. As I look up into its protecting shadow,
or hear its solemn whisper, can I doubt that its life has
some mysterious connection with that of my family, and
that, in its dumb way, it shares our joys and our
sorrows?

The hunters and trappers in the Appalachian moun-
tains speak of trees precisely as they do of human beings ;
this one is “good-humored and friendly ;” that, “cantan-
kerous and surly.” The black balsam, they aver, knows a
dark secret, and grows only on bare, solitary peaks, “as if
it had a murder to think of,” while the pecan tree is fond

180 ARBOR DAY.

of young people, and will not thrive near a house in
which there is no child.

Blindfolded or in the darkest night these mountain-
eers can recognize the different kind of trees by their
“voices,” as they call the rustling of their boughs. They ~
have a store of singular facts to prove the unaccountable
loves and hatreds between different trees, the world-old
antipathy known to all woodsmen between the oak and
the pine, for example, or that between the ash and
hickory.

Beside the giant trees of California, there are certain
famous patriarchs in the forests of the South which are
regarded with universal reverence and affection. Two
cedars in the Nantchela mountains are estimated to be
more than a thousand years old, and a live oak on the
Gulf coast is believed by some persons to antedate the
Christian era.

It is probable that the most magnificent trees on the
continent are a group of gigantic magnolias in the Atta-
,a French lover

kapas, Louisiana. The Compte de P
of trees, hearing of these majestic growths, made a journey
to Lousiana to see them. The old Swiss horticulturist —
who had them in charge thus described his visit:

“He had never seen a magnolia. I took him through
the woods, that he should not see these giants until he was
close upon them. They stand like kings upon a high hill,

’

ARBOR DAY. i 181

each one perfect in shape, crowned with crimson flowers,
draped in moss from head to foot. The sun shone on
them ; the wind stirred the moss like silvery veils.

“When he saw them he drew his breath and stopped
short. Then he went up and put his arms about the
trunk of one, and the tears rolled down his cheeks, and I
—I loved him like a brother!”

Between these men and the trader, who sees only lum-
ber in a tree, there is the same difference that there is
between the man who finds music only a senseless noise,
and him who hears in it messages of divine import to
his soul,

Nature gives to us only that which we are able to
receive from her; to this man crops of oats; to that man
strength and repose. The boy or girl who would come
close to her must train not only eye and ear, but heart, to
comprehend and receive her language.

JOAQUIN MILLER ON ARBOR DAY.
The following poem was read by him at the first festi-
val of tree planting, celebrated early in 1887, at Yerba
Buena, California.

Against our golden orient dawns
We lift a living light to-day,

That shall outshine the splendid bronze
That lords and lights the lesser bay.

182 ARBOR DAY.

Sweet Paradise was sown with trees.
Thy very name, lorn Nazareth,

Means woods, means sense of birds and bees
And song of leaves with lisping breath,

God gave us mother earth, full blest
With robes of green in healthful fold;
We tore the green robes from her breast!
We sold our mother’s robes for gold!

We sold her garments fair, and she

Lies shamed and naked at our feet!
In penitence we plant a tree;

We plant the cross and count it meet.

For this, where Balboa’s waters toss,
Here in this glorious Spanish bay,
We plant the cross, the Christian cross,

The Crusade Cross of Arbor Day.

What conqueror in any part of “life’s broad field of
battle” could desire a more beautiful, a more noble, or a
more patriotic monument than a tree planted by the hands
of pure and joyous children, as a memorial of his achieve-
ments? What earnest, honest worker, with hand and
brain, for the benefit of his fellow men, could desire a
more pleasing recognition of his usefulness than such a
monument, a symbol of his or her productions, ever
growing, ever blooming, and ever bearing - wholesome
fruit?—Benson J. Lossing.

ARBOR DAY. 183

The wealth, beauty, fertility, and healthfulness of the
country largely depend upon the conservation of our for-
ests and the planting of trees—John Greenleaf Whittier.

The celebration of Arbor Day fosters a taste for tree

planting, especially among school children. Through its
’ kindly influences, every school yard will, in a few years,
be provided with grateful shade, and the pupils will
acquire instruction through the planting of trees. It isa —
beautiful custom, and is constantly growing in favor.—
Thomas Meehan.

When we plant trees, we are doing what we can to
make our planet a more wholesome and happier dwelling-
place for those who come after us if not for ourselves.
— Oliver Wendell Holmes.

The project of connecting the planting of trees with
the names of authors is a beautiful one, and one certain to
exert a beneficial influence upon the children who partici-
pate in these exercises. The institution of an “ Arbor
Day”. is highly commendable from its artistic conse-
quences, and can not fail to result in great benefit to the
climate and to the commercial interests of the country
when it becomes an institution of general adoption.—
Prof. B. Pickmann Mann, son of Horace Mann—extract
from letter.

184 ARBOR DAY.

THE MURMURING PINE.

Thou wilt not tell me, O, murmuring pine tree!
What thou art whispering, day by day ;

I cannot guess thy song’s vague burden,
And cares are calling me far away.

And so I must go from thy half-guessed secret ;
Thy mystic spell must not hold me long ;
Mine is the strife of the far-off city,

Thine, to murmur thy woodland song.
—J. 8. Cutler.

“What gnarled stretch, what depth of shade is his!
There needs no crown to mark the forest’s king.”’

This poem is one of the finest tributes to the moral
beauty of a tree which is to be found in our literature.
Mr. Lowell has also written poems on the pine, the birch,
the willow, which are frequently used on similar occasions.

A popular favorite for Arbor Day is the “ Forest
Hymn” of Bryant. A beautiful poem is “The Pine
Tree,” by Ralph Waldo Emerson. There is a fine passage
upon the mountain ash in Wordsworth’s “ Excursion.”

Shakespeare’s “Under the Greenwood Tree” could
either be said or sung on Arbor Day. ‘ Woodman, Spare
That Tree,” by George P. Morris, has been set to easy
music, and there is the song of “The Brave Old Oak,”
once often heard in our concert rooms. The song by
Charles Dickens upon “The Ivy Green,” in “ Pickwick,”
is interesting because Dickens wrote it, and may serve its
turn.

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