102 How to Know the Trees 



in winter. The school itself is more pleasant the 

 year round and a better place in which to work. 



But look now at the picture of that other 

 Nebraska schoolhouse. There is not a single 

 tree as far as you can see, and the children that 

 go to this school have never had an Arbor Day. 

 Who would have believed that a few trees could 

 make so much difference? 



Beginning in a small way in a state without 

 forests, Arbor Day is now observed in nearly 

 every state. American, English, French, and 

 even Japanese schools now have their Arbor 

 Days. In this country the governor of each 

 state names a day in spring when the weather 

 is good for tree-planting. On that day the pupils 

 in many schools go out into the school yard with 

 the teacher. Some one digs a hole, and in this 

 hole a very small tree is planted, often a young 

 maple, a birch, or a beech. All through the school 

 year the pupils water and care for the tree 

 planted on that day. They watch its growth 

 from year to year with interest, as the young 

 branches shoot upward and the trunk grows in 

 thickness. 



