Sd 
ARBOR DAY. oad 
ing from the buds and the anemones pushing their sweet faces up 
through the leaves which have protected their roots through the 
cold winter: I know you do, for I have seen hundreds, yes, thou- 
sands of young people enjoying the warm spring daysin gathering 
them, and there is no pleasure in life that equals it. 
But, unfortunately, all children cannot go to the woods to see the 
trees and the flowers, and for this reason the builders of cities—if 
they are bright, intelligent people such as we have in Minneapolis, 
provide parks for them where they can see the beautiful gifts Nature 
has bestowed upon her children, and they plant trees on the streets 
to beautify them and to promote hea)th and comfort. 
“God help the boy that never sees 
The butterflies, the birds, the bees, 
Nor hears the music of the breeze 
Where zephyrs soft are blowing; 
Who cannot in sweet comfort lie 
Where clover blossoms are thick and high, 
And hear the gentle murmur nigh 
Of brooklets softly flowing.”’ 
We owe a debt of gratitue to the man who is now at the head of 
the agricultural department at Washington for his efforts in secur- 
ing to us this day which is set apart for the consideration of our 
beautiful friends, the trees. May the thousands which have been 
planted by the school children of our country on Arbor Days grow 
to be living monuments that shall for all time keep his memory 
green and his name dear to all who shall live to enjoy their shade. 
You cannot realize how much pleasure you will derive all through 
life for having participated in these Arbor Day exercises, and in the 
trees which you assist in planting. After you have grown to man- 
hood and womanhood, you will long to see how they have grown, 
and they will recall memories of your teachers and schoolmates 
which will lighten the burdens of life and make you young again. 
Longfellow never forgot the scenes which surrounded him in his 
youth, and, many years after he had left them, he wrote a beautiful 
poem in which he described them.: He tells us of the trees on the 
streets which sheltered him, and of his visit to “ Deering’s Woods” 
for acorns; the islands in the harbor; the ropewalk where he saw 
men spin rope as spiders spin their webs, the remembrance of which 
caused him to weave beautiful thoughts into his poem, which he 
called “My Lost Youth.” He says when he recalled these scenes 
that his youth came back to him, as the remembrance of these school 
days will come back to you. 
It is not much more trouble to plant a tree to have it live than to 
put it carelessly into the ground to die; yet, I regret to say that too 
many thinkthat all they haveto do is to dig a small holein the sand, 
just large enough to force the roots into with their feet,and then 
expect it to grow. I saw this done in front of one of our school 
buildings, and it is being done every spring by people who ought 
to know better. A tree must have good soil in which to grow, and 
it must have water. 
The rules for planting and caring for trees are very simple and, 
if observed, will save much dissapointment. The holes into which 
the tree is to be placed should be six feet in diameter, three to five 
