STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 25 



one consequence has been that the subject has been continually dis- 

 cussed. I remember that more than twenty-five years ago, when I 

 first became an inhabitant of these prairies, perhaps the first sound 

 that greeted my ear was a plea for tree culture, and it bore evidence 

 even then of being an old story. 



I stand before you then with no hope of uttering an original 

 thought or presenting a new argument. There have been men en- 

 gaged in this work who have devoted themselves to it not only with 

 intelligence and wisdom, but also with a resistless enthusiasm. 

 Some of these men I vividly recall. They have given the subject a 

 most earnest and laborious study. Their hearts were in it. They 

 had themselves conducted experiments in order to learn how most 

 wisely and effectually to plant and grow trees, and they had eagerly 

 listened to the results of the experiments of others. I feel that in 

 attempting to speak upon this subject at this time, I am but feebly 

 treading in the wake of these worthy pioneers. 



Why should trees be planted within the enclosures of school 

 houses? For the same reason that impels us to plant trees any- 

 where. The only difference that we can note, is that in the case of 

 school yards these reasons are intensified. As a rule the benefit de- 

 rived from trees will be more permanently and more effectually felt 

 if enjoyed by children than if enjoyed by adults. 



But what are the advantages of tree planting generally consid- 

 ered? What are our needs in these days in this part of our coun- 

 try? I see it frequently stated that our streams are drying up. We 

 are told that formerly the Illinois River was navigable to La Salle 

 nearly the year round. Now it is as much as ever that we can say 

 it is navigable at all. Smaller streams which were formerly so 

 marked a feature of the prairie landscape, have been substantially 

 obliterated. A process seems to be going on similar to that which 

 has taken place in certain historic regions of the old world. In 

 these ancient localities, lands that two thousand years ago teemed 

 with a dense population, which was abundantly fed from their prod- 

 ucts, are to-day a dreary desert. In this year of unparalleled 

 drouth, we, in Illinois, have been startled by the terrible possibili- 

 ties. Our very soil is washing away, for when moisture comes to us, 

 it often comes in a sudden flood, and instead of saturating the earth, 

 it suddenly rushes away as if it found itself an unwelcome guest. 

 What does all this forebode? This being the resistless tendency of 

 to-day, what may we expect for the future? 



And we are told that these changes are largely due to the dis- 

 truction of the forests as well as other forms of vegetatioo. Trees, 

 even if they do not increase the rainfall, as some think they do, cer- 

 tainly equalize it. The rain that falls in a forest does not rush away 

 in a momentary torrent. The roots of trees also hold the soil in its 

 place on bluffs and hillsides. A forest both irrigates and fertilizes. 



Trees also furnish a protection against the violence of storms. 



