1908 



ARBOR DAY 



205 



perinient with fine and coarse soils, 

 stirred quickly in a tumbler of water, 

 and then allowed to settle, explains 

 how the stream continues muddv 

 while it runs swiftly, and how it clears 

 again as it slackens on more level 

 stretches, dropping the soil to the bot- 

 tom. 



"On any steep, plowed hillside, or on 

 any railroad or trolley embankment, 

 exposed soil may be seen washing with 

 the rain. A forest on a mountain 



spongy soil of a forest and the bare 

 soil or bed rock from which the for- 

 est litter has been removed. 



In many cases the trees planted by 

 school children on Arbor Day are ne- 

 glected afterwards and allowed to die. 

 In many other cases, however, they 

 are carefully looked after by the chil- 

 dren ; and in Idaho, South Dakota, 

 and Utah, the law requires the school 

 board to care for them during the va- 

 cation. 



Portion of the class at work planting tree seeds 



slope may be pictured by a cloth upon 

 a tilted table ; then if water be poured 

 on the higher edge, it will cre'ep down- 

 ward through the cloth and drip slow- 

 ly from the lower edge, as would rain 

 falling upon the forest. If now the 

 cloth be plucked ofif, and the water 

 still poured, we may observe at once 

 what happens when such a forest is 

 destroyed." 



This is an adn:irable illustration of 

 the difiference in run-off between the 



The State Superintendent of North 

 Dakota reports that the treeless char- 

 acter of the country is the reason why 

 the people fail to realize the need of 

 replacing, by artificial culture, the fa- 

 vorable conditions which nature sup- 

 plies in a forested country. He says, 

 however, that .progress is being made 

 in bringing this to the knowledge of 

 the people. In Kansas the day ap- 

 pointed is so late in the season that 

 trees planted then are not apt to thrive 



