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Day The first Arbor Daj^ was the 22nd April, 1872, and from that 

 date to 1896 — twenty four years — it was computed that 605,000,000 

 trees were planted in Nebraska alone as the result of this popular 

 movement. Other States followed, and the custom spread to Canada, 

 England, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa. 



Our late beloved Queen delighted to plant a tree wherever she went, 

 as a memorial of a visit, and no better day could be chosen than her 

 birth i ay for the observance of Arbor Day. 



The Americans are eminently practical, and it is not probable that 

 Arbor Day would have become so universally observed, if the advan- 

 tages, both to the individual and to the State, were not so evident to 

 every thoughtful mind. 



Compare a country or a district naked of trees, except for a few 

 scattered solitary individuals, with another country well clothed with a 

 lace-like garment of trees. The contrast may often be seen in a day's 

 journey by train in America. Where there are few trees, the fields are 

 seen to be washed of their soil by rain, which sweeps over them with- 

 out check, swelling the turbid streams and rivers beyond their natural 

 bounds, and causing destruction to banks, bridges and dwellings. Where 

 the clothing of trees makes the landscape a perpetual delight, the rain 

 impeded in its flow, sinks to form wells and springs, the stream show 

 no sign of wasted fertility, there is shade for man and beast, orchards 

 of fruit trees, and abundance of timber for home use and for export. 



Moreover, where the education of the masses is considered to be the 

 first duty of the statesman and the philanthropist, the value of trees 

 in a scheme of nature study is well understo id, and the lessons that 

 can hi learnt from trees by the young are perhap< the highest induce- 

 ment to plant them. The beauty of trees, the mystery of their un- 

 foldins: buds, the changino^ colours of the leaves, the distinct character 

 of the branching, the grace of their pos^, — if pointed out with sympa- 

 thetic expression — can hardly fail to inspire a love of Nature in the 

 mind, which will remain forever a source of pure delight. Besides the 

 aesthetic side there is also the practical ; — there is growth according 

 to definite laws which can be ascertained by observation an i experi- 

 ment, growth which can be assisted by systematic care and by con- 

 stant attention to details. 



The mere planting of a tree may be an interesting ceremony, but it 

 will do more harm than good if it is not followed up by daily care. It 

 will only emphasise that thoughtlessness and carelessness which are 

 but too prevalent amongst our people, who are too apt to think that a 

 plant may b3 stuck into the ground anyhow and then left to nature ; 

 that it is the fault of the plant or of some one else if it does not thrive 

 without water, without forking, and without manure; th it anyway, 

 after the excitement is over, it is too much bother and trouble to pay 

 any further attention to it. Unless people are prepared to go to a con- 

 siderable amount of personal trouble over the trees that they propose 

 to plant on Arbor Day, it would be better that they should not plant 

 at all. The lessons to be learnt will be lost, and bad habits will only 



be confirmed. 



(3) 



Applications for plants for Arbor Day were received up to the 13tli 



of May from all parts of the island. These were attended to in rota- 



