14 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



that there is no fundamental reason for fearing any serious re- 

 sults from the proposed tariff legislation. As to the lumber busi- 

 ness itself, while it may require a slightly greater effort to mar- 

 ket stock in the next few months and while pick-up orders will 

 not be so common as recently, still there will not be any great 

 difficulty in finding buyers for all hanlwood lumber for sale for 

 some months ahead and at prices equal to and in some cases 

 greater than present prevailing values. 



The Lessons of Arbor Day 



THE OBSERVATIOX OF AEBOE DAY is not a national affair, 

 though it is nation-wide. Each state sets its own time and 

 celebrates the occasion after its own fashion, though all conform 

 to the same general plan. Texas and Alabama have made February 

 22 their tree day; Florida is still earlier and does the work in 

 January; Georgia in December; New Mexico in March; Nebraska 

 on April 22, which is the birthday of J. Sterling Morton, who is 

 by some considered the father of the Arbor day idea. West Vir- 

 ginia has two tree days yearly, one in the spring, the other in 

 the fall. 



Various trade associations, dating from more than a century ago 

 down to recent years, have advocated tree planting for commer- 

 cial purposes. One of the most important of these periods of 

 agitation occurred about a hundred years ago, and the principal 

 work advocated was the planting of white oak to insure a suppl.v 

 of staves for the future. Little actual planting was done. 



The real education of the American people to the necessities of 

 forestry, ])articularly for the purpose of protecting soil against 

 erosion and watercourses against floods and water failure, dates 

 from 1S()4, when George P. Marsh published his book "Man and 

 Nature." He was a remarkable scholar, an extensive traveler, and 

 his work in the diplomatic service of the government, during which 

 he spent much time in Greece, Turkey, Italy and other countries of 

 South Europe, gave him an. opportunity to study the deplorable 

 results of deforestation. He noted numerous instances of splendid 

 regions which had been ruined in historic time. He began the 

 work which Bailey Willis has greatly extended since by carrying 

 the investigations across Asia to China. 



The writings of Marsh led to many of the results Avhich others 

 have worked out. J. Sterling Morton, Commissioner of Agriculture, 

 popularized the movement bj' bringing it directly home to the 

 people who needed trees. The work began in the place where it 

 was proper that it should begin, on the treeless plains. Mr. Morton 

 lived in Nebraska, and the Nebraskans became the most industrious 

 tree planters of the country. The movement spread quickly to 

 surrounding regions, and it is said that a million trees were planted 

 in a single year as a direct result of Mr. Morton's pioneer work. 

 The movement soon took hold of public schools, and in a few 

 years Arbor days were regularly instituted in all the states, except 

 two or three. 



The chief object held in view by those who conduct Arbor day 

 exercises is the beautifying of school grounds. The results are 

 visible everywhere, but more particularly in the country, villages 

 and small towns. There is less opportunity to make a showing in 

 cities. The bare and cheerless school house yard has been changed 

 into a thing of beauty which now inspires, though it formerly 

 appalled. It now appeals to children in a way to leave lasting 

 impressions. It is remarkable how great a change a few trees wiU 

 make in a school yard. 



The final results of this educational work will be seen in the 

 future. Tree planting on school grounds and by roadsides is in 

 itself a good thing, but very much must be done beyond this. The 

 movement must spread until it includes the whole country — the 

 mountains and plains as well as the yard and roadside. The wild 

 forests are passing. They are not yet gone, and some of them 

 will last a long time, much longer than people generally suppose; 

 but, nevertheless, the time is now at hand when the lessons of 

 Arbor day mnst be applied on a vast scale. Shade trees cannot 

 furnish lumber for the people of this country, and planting must 

 enlarge its scope to include timber for future markets. 



The influence of Arbor day in the schools is beginning to bear 

 fruit, and will increase. The children will carry their tree-plant- 

 ing ideas into the business world, and this will work as leaven in 

 the enlargement of favorable public opinion. The growing senti- 

 ment in favor of forest conservation is doubtless due, to a large 

 extent, to beginnings made in Arbor day exercises at country ,and 

 village schools. As the child grows, the ideas enlarge and attain 

 their fruition in the mature business man who is able to transform 

 ideas into accomplishments. 



Car Surplus and Shortage April 15 



ACCORDING TO THE LATEST REPORT of the American 

 Railway- Association, the total surplus of freight cars in the 

 country on April 15 was 70,715, as compared to surplus of 68,792 

 on April 1. The total shortage on April 15 was 13,217 cars, and 

 on April 1 was 10,804 cars. These figures show shipments to be 

 steady in volume. 



General Grant's Living Monument 



IN THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF WASHINGTON PARK, 

 *■ Chicago, near Cottage Grove avenue and Fifty-first street, is a 

 white elm (^clmus americana), about two feet in diameter, which 

 was planted Tuesday, November 18, 1879, by Gen. Ulysses S. Grant 

 during his stop in Chicago as he was completing his trip around 

 the world. 



The occasion w'as of great importance at the time, but it has 

 so nearly faded from the memory of most persons who now see the 

 tree and the stone near it which gives the date and fact, that few 

 can recall what was going on in Chicago at that time. This illus- 

 trates the truth that current events quickly fade from memory, 

 and unless preserved by written history^ the}' are soon lost. 



General Grant arrived in Chicago from San Francisco November 

 12, and was welcomed by booming cannon and committees of 

 various kinds. His tour round the world had been one grand tri- 

 umphal procession, and it was planned to end it in Chicago with 

 the greatest demonstration of all. The plan was carried out to the 

 letter. In addition to the city's population, there were 300,000 

 visitors present to join in the welcome. Some of the most noted 

 personages in the country were in Chicago to see and take part 

 in the celebration. 



General Grant remained in the city eight days, and every day 

 was crowded full of demonstrations, receptions, and parades. The 

 newspapers in some other cities accused Chicago of having gone 

 mail over Grant; and the socialists of the city voiced their protest 

 by holding a mass mooting at which violent resolutions were 

 adopted, and Chicago was warned, in thinly-veiled language, that 

 it was leading a movement, the purpose of which was to seat 

 Grant on a kingly throne as ruler of this country. One of the 

 city officials drew censure upon himself by referring to the fact 

 that Washington had refused to accept a crown when it was 

 offered. On November IS — the day the elm was planted — General 

 Grant was given a reception by 50,000 school children. 



The point of it all is that great demonstrations are soon for- 

 gotten. The most lasting thing connected with Grant's eight-day 

 stop in Chicago, on his return from the circumnavigation of the 

 globe, is the elm tree in Washington park. That is the monument 

 which has endured while nearly all else has passed from the memory 

 of the living. 



The remarkable thing of it is that in the scores of columns of 

 newspaper accounts of Grant's visit, not one line occurs — at least 

 in some of the papers — concerning the planting of the tree. Tiiere 

 were thousands of paragraphs in the write-ups giving accounts of 

 almost every conceivabl(> thing connected with the celebration, 

 even descriptions of children's hats and the buckles on horses' 

 harness, but the most important thing of all, the elm, was not 

 considered worth mentioning. 



The elm has grown to a diameter of about two feet in thirty- 

 three years. It is healthy and vigorous, and, barring accidents, it 

 ought to grow for three hundred years and reach a diameter of 

 six or scA-en feet and a height of a hundred or more. Planted 



