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4 'Che Conservative *
It is pleasant to
ARBOR DAY.
have for a subject
one that in its name suggests comfort
and rest a shelter for the weary a
grateful shade to the traveler. Arbor
Day is the only holiday that exists for
the future , all others eulogize the past ,
keep alive some memory mingled with
sorrow.
Arbor day speaks only of joy , pro
gress , hope , the most unselfish of days
providing for the welfare of the future ,
adding to the joy of our descendants ,
rather than glorifying the deeds of our
ancestors.
The first settlers found on the shores
of their new homo unlimited forests ,
reaching , as far as they knew , from
shore to shore. The necessity of clear
ings for their farms led them to look up
on the forests as their natural enemy , to
bo disposed of by axe and saw ; so for
years forest destruction seemed in the
line of progress. The woodman's axe
was the symbol of civilization. What a
change of scene met the eyes of those
who , in later years , emerged from the
cool , protecting woods upon the vast ,
treeless , sunburned plains of the west !
Here , under the fierce rays of the sun ,
in the blinding eand storms , in the death
dealing winds of winter , they learned
the value of trees , realized as never be
fore then beauty , their protection , their
life saving properties. So , out of man's
necessities grew the sentiment for which
Arbor Day was born. Early settlers
destroyed the forests that the fields
might bloom ; we must protect the for
ests , that the fields may not cease to
bloom.
J. Sterling Morton of Nebraska , Sec
retary of Agriculture , who for eighteen
years had planted
The Origin.
trees about his
home , Arbor Lodge , making it a cool ,
green , sheltered spot on a burning , wind
swept plain , in 1872 conceived the idea
of setting apart a day for tree planting.
Before that time rows of trees for
wind breaks about the ranch buildings ,
with here and there a little foliage
along the river banks , was all that gave
variety to that great rolling prairie.
Mr. Morton on January 4th , 1872 , in
the city of Lincoln , Neb. , at the State
Board of Agriculture , introduced a reso
lution declaring that a day in April be
set apart for tree planting , to be named
Arbor Day , its object to avert treeless-
ness , to improve the climatic conditions
for the sanitation and embellishment
of home environments for the love of
the beautiful and useful combined in
the music and majesty of a tree , as
fancy and truth unite in an epic poem.
One hundred dollars was offered to
any Nebraska county planting the great
est number of trees , and a farm library ,
costing twenty-five dollars , to any per
son properly planting the greatest num
ber of trees.
Thus Arbor Day originated , and the
cry of "plant trees" resounded through
the state.
On March 81 , 1874 , Gov. Robert W.
Fnrnas issued the first proclamation for
the observation of
Results. , . . .
the new holiday.
Some years later the legislature made
the 22nd of April , Secretary Morton's
birthday , a legal holiday , and christen
ed it Arbor Day. So quickly did it ap
peal to the intelligent , beauty-loving
people of the state , that upon its first
anniversary one million trees were
planted , and within sixteen years three
hundred and fifty-five million forest ,
fruit and shade trees , one firm alone
having a contract for planting three and
a half-million forest trees.
Nebraska is known as the tree plant
ing state. So readily do trees grow in
its fertile soil that thousands are pulled
up by the roots from the banks of the
Missouri and set in rows in ploughed
furrows , the earth turned back upon
their roots , trodden down by the plant
er's foot , and left to grow without fur
ther care. Naturally the greatest num
ber of trees are planted in treeless states ,
but the tree spirit is as strong among
our well wooded hills , and as deep a love
may be aroused by the planting of a
single tree.
Already forty-two states observe Ar
bor Day , either as a legal holiday , or as
. , , _ , , _ , a day set apart by
.
All But Three. . . .
their governors.
The States not officially observing Arbor
Day are Utah , Wyoming and Delaware.
Arbor Day has entered Canada and Mexico
ice , and crossed the seas to Great Britain
and India.
Do you realize that railroads , manu
factories and forest fires consume in the
United States an
Daily Use. .
„ „ „ „ „
average of 25,000
acres growth every twenty-four hours ?
How many acres are planted" every
twenty-four hours ? How long will it
be before the primeval woodlands will
be completely denuded.
With this enormous consumption , the
need of tree planting becomes greater ,
and the importance of Arbor Day in
creases. As more than twice as much
wood is consumed as can be grown on
our forest area , Arbor day cannot hope
to repair the loss , but will set in motion
those ideas , that in time , will develop
systematic forest management , such as
is enjoyed by European nations , and
forest guardians to enforce protective
laws will reduce our loss to a minimum.
Next in importance to Arbor Day be
ing made a national holiday comes its
, . , celebration in the
The School * . , ,
schools , for much
as we may hope to influence the present
generation toward tree preservation , it
is among the children that the greatest
work must be done. Only by arousing
a tree planting sentiment among them
can we hope for forests in the future.
Our states do not own great forest areas
as in Europe , even private estates seldom
pass from generation to generation in
one family , so that we must depend up
on public sentiment for our tree preser
vation upon individual effort there
fore our clubs cannot place responsibil
ity upon the government it is to the
people that we must look , and the people
ple must be taught through the public
schools.
Let the young be taught that they
herald an era of forest planters , not of
forest destroyers , for "Enlightened pub
lic sentiment is better than a national
police. "
The day was first celebrated in schools
in America through the influence of the
Forestry Association , which met in Cin
cinnati in 1882. The city put on its hol
iday attire , public schools were dismiss
ed that teacher and public might take
part in the ceremonies.
Fifty thousand people assembled in
the parks to attend the planting. Upon
. _ . , the firing of a gun
. D
A Congregation. . ,
memorial groves ,
such as President Grove , Pioneer's
Grove , Battle , Citizens , Author's Groves ,
were planted by loving hands and dedi
cated with appropriate ceremonies. In
each grove tablets with inscriptions were
set. The celebration aroused great en
thusiasm. No sight more touching or
beautiful has been seen in Cincinnati ,
and a crown of success was awarded the
Forestry Association. This Cincinnati
plan of planting memorial trees and
groves has been followed by other states
and recommended in the schools of
Great Britain. When we consider that
the age of an oak may be 2000 years of
an elm 500 , of a maple 800 what more
enduring or beneficent monument can
be raised to the dead. New Haven ,
with its famous elms , holds in grateful
remembrance Hon. James Hillhouse , by
whose hands they were planted.
Today the beautiful ash trees planted by
Washington at Mt. Vernon are not the
least of his mem-
Piitrlotic Trees. . . _ _ . .
orials. What mon
ument of marble moves the heart of every
true American as does the Washington
Elm in Cambridge , and as did our be
loved Boston Elm , upon whose fall the
church bells tolled ?
The interest in the grove planted by
Hamilton in New York grows deeper as
time goes on , and by its living presence
seems to bring us into closer touch with
the hand that tended it in youth.
In Iowa a law provided that each
school shall plant twelve trees upon its
I'upU'H Plant. unshaded grounds.
In towns where
children can plant trees the day is cele
brated out of doors by instructing the
scholars how to plant trees previously
selected , and for which holes have been
carefully prepared , poems are read and
songs sung relating to their beauty and
growth , thereby investing them with an
interest and affection that always fol-