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THE LITTLE PLANT 



In my little garden bed 



Raked so nicely over, 

 First the tiny seeds I sow, 



Then with soft earth cover. 



Shining down, the great round sun 



Smiles upon it often; 

 Little raindrops pattering down, 



Help the seeds to soften. 



Then the little plant awakes ! 



Down the roots go creeping, 

 Up it lifts its little head 



Through the brown mold peeping. 



High and higher still it grows 

 Through the summer hours, 



Till some day the happy buds 

 Open into flowers. 



GEMS OF THOUGHT FOR ARBOR DAY 



following selected gems are suitable as answers 

 to roll call; may be made part of an essay; 

 may be recited; written or printed on the 

 blackboard with colored chalks; or any use 

 to which a live teacher sees fit to put them. 



In freedom's air we plant the tree, 



Our land of hope, America ; 

 Beneath the blue sky, freedom's dome, 

 Within the green earth, freedom's home, 

 We plant the tree for years to come, 

 And pray, God bless America. 



Butterworth. 



Dear little tree that we plant to-day, 



What will you be when we're old and gray ? 



"The savings bank of the squirrel and mouse, 

 For robin and wren an apartment house, 



The dressing-room of the butterfly's ball, 



The locust's and katydid's concert hall, 



The schoolboy's ladder in pleasant June, 

 The schoolgirl's tent in the July moon, 



And my leaves shall whisper them merrily, 



A tale of the children who planted me." 



Youth's Companion. 



