SCHOOL DEPARTMENT 



Edited by ALICE HALL WALTER 



Address all communications relative to the work of this depart- 

 ment to the Editor, 67 Oriole Avenue, Providence, R. I. 



ARE YOU DOING YOUR PART? 



A year goes quickly in these momentous times, and before these words are in 

 type, Spring will once more be with us, and Bird and Arbor Day in its train. 

 We have had many pleasant programs in times past for this occasion, many 

 happy gatherings of teachers, pupils, and parents, and, it is to be hoped, really 

 fruitful results from the observance of this annual nature-festival. 



This season our eyes are strained toward one goal, namely, winning the 

 war, and it is both right and imperative that we turn every effort in that direc- 

 tion. Of all the yearly hoHdays and anniversary days which we are accustomed 

 to celebrate, no day lends itself so well to the great conservation movement 

 of the present as Bird and Arbor Day. Without vegetation, trees, shrubs, 

 plants, grains, and grasses of all kinds on land, and marine vegetation in water, 

 there could be no life and no means of sustaining life on this earth, for without 

 vegetation animals must perish, a truth which is emphasized by Arbor Day 

 instructions. Now you and I may at present seem to be very far removed, 

 on the one hand, from any natural disaster which would cut off all life-supplies 

 for man and beast, and, on the other hand, from real extremity in the matter 

 of food, by reason of impending crises in national and international affairs. 

 If we are in this complacent attitude of mind, it shows how small our compre- 

 hension is of the true situation. We must realize two facts clearly, and we must 

 realize them now: first, that there are just as many, and probably more, de- 

 structive agencies at work in forest and field now than before the war, since 

 millions of human workers have left their accustomed duties to go to the front, 

 and, second, that the last surplus bushel of wheat in this country has already been 

 shipped abroad, so that we must redouble our efforts to conserve and use 

 substitutes for what we have until another harvest. 



Here is the plain statement of the case. With fewer and fewer men left to 

 keep up agriculture and forestry, insects, field-mice, gophers and other pests 

 are likely to increase more rapidly, while, at the same time, the actual food- 

 supphes of the world, which must feed every living creature until more can 

 be grown, are smaller and more unevenly distributed. 



This coming Bird and Arbor Day, let us say less and do more. Let us put 

 greater effort into plans for safeguarding crops and timber and make that 

 effort count for something beyond patriotic programs. Instead of planting a 

 tree or so about our schools, let us turn our energies to studying how to in- 

 crease and conserve the food and fuel supplies in our own neighborhoods. This 



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