DIVISION OF FOEESTRY. 205 



in wbole or in jiart by our numerous newspapers, together with the dis- 

 cussions which have taken place in agricultural and other conventions; 

 have extended the knowledge of the subject, and it is one which only 

 needs to be known to awaken interest, for it is seen at once to be one of 

 great importance to the country, bearing as it does so manifestly upon 

 all the arts, industries, and occupations of life. 



The establishment of Arbor Day, or tree-planting day, already adoi)ted 

 in sixteen of our States and Territories, is one of the most encouraging 

 signs of the advancement of forestry. The extension of the observance 

 of this day throughout the country should be urged by every proper 

 consideration. Its general establishment would be among the most 

 eilectivo means of creating a proper sentiment in regard to trees and 

 their adequate protection. 



The establishment of Arbor Day should enlist the children as well as 

 adults in its observance. While the principles and practice of forestry 

 should be taught with scii.-'. tific completeness and precision in our agri- 

 cultural and other colleges and experiment stations, the pupils in onr 

 common schools should be taught the elements at least of vegetable 

 physiology, though in a simple and untechnical manner. They may 

 well be encouraged to plant trees and flowering shrubs around the 

 school-house and in its vicinity. They can easily be led to watch their 

 growth, and so doing, they will become interested in them and be ready 

 to protect them. Becoming interested in these, which will seem to be 

 in some sense their own, they will soon be interested in other trees, com- 

 ])aringthem one wirh another and noting their points of agreement and 

 difference, especially if the helpful guidance of a teacher is given them. 

 They will thus be led in a most pleasant way into the observation and 

 study of natural objects, than which there is no more useful study, and 

 in this way we might hope to have soon a generation who will be tree 

 protectors instead of destroyers. In some European countries the law 

 requires every school-house to be so situated and to have such a space 

 of gTound connected with it as to admit of the planting of a grove of 

 trees about it. Why should not our legislation be as wise? 



But with the encouragement we have from an increased knowledge 

 and an awakened interest, and hopeful as the prospect seems to be, the 

 waste of our forests goes on still with little if any abatement, except 

 where complete exhaustion makes further destruction impossible. Little, 

 if anything, has yet been done to check the annual destruction by fires 

 which so often ravage our woodlands. The ax of the lumberman is also 

 unchecked. As the trees in one region are swept away, the virgin for- 

 ests in another are invaded by an army of ax-men, which carries destruc- 

 tion before it. Although the lumber market is now overstocked, tin- 

 prospect is that more trees will be felled during the present winter than 

 were cut during the last one. 



Every consideration, therefore, urges ns to engage in the work of 

 tree-planting, and to do what we can to prevent the unnecessary de- 

 struction of our existing forests. The great interests of agriculture, 

 manufactures, and commerce call for such action. The health and 

 comfort of the people call for it. True economy also calls for it, and 

 this whether looked at in the large view and with reference to the gen- 

 eral welfare or to the interest of- the individual. The cultivation of 

 trees is, almost everywhere, one of the surest sources of income. There 

 are many tracts of land in all parts of the country, even in the prairie 

 States and the rich river vaUeys, which can be made so useful and prof- 

 itable in no other way as bj* devoting them to the growth of trees. To 

 guard them from the incursions of animals is sufficient, often, to con- 



