PUBLIC PARKS OF IOWA 33 



How fine, how great a thing it would he to plant a tree to with- 

 stand the storms and beautify landscapes and shelter and refresh by 

 its shade for centuries. Plant trees on the schoolgrounds of Iowa. 

 Keep a record of the planting when and by whom that future 

 generations may call your name blessed. All is for the future. Re- 

 member that and contribute something to make life in the coming 

 years desirable, beautiful, great. Fail not to do so in many ways, 

 but plant trees. 



NEED OF RECREATION 



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By Mark Twain, American Humorist and Author. 



We walked up and down one of the most popular streets for some 

 time enjoying other people's comfort and wishing we could export 

 some of it to our restless, driving, vitality-consuming marts at home. 

 Just in this one matter lies the main charm in Europe: comfort. 

 In America, we hurry, which is well.; but when the day's work is 

 done, we go on thinking of losses and gains, we plan for the mor- 

 row, we even carry our business cares to bed with us, and toss and 

 worry over them when we ought to be restoring our racked bodies 

 and brains with sleep. We burn up our energies with this excite- 

 ment and either die early or drop into a mean and lean old age, at 

 a time of life they call a man's prime in Europe. When an acre of 

 ground has produced long and well, we let it lie fallow and rest for 

 a season ; we take no man clear across the continent in the same 

 coach in which he started; the coach is stabled somewhere on the 

 plains and its heated machinery allowed to cool for a few days; 

 when a razor has been long in service and refuses to hold an edge, 

 the barber lays it aside for a few weeks and the edge comes back 

 of its own accord. We bestow thoughtful care upon inanimate ob- 

 jects but none upon ourselves. What a robust people, what a na- 

 tion of thinkers we might be, if we would only lay ourselves on the 

 shelf occassionally and renew our edges. 



.BEAUTY OF RETURNING SEASONS 

 By Mark Twain, American Humorist and Author. 



The land that has four well-defined seasons cannot lack beauty, 

 or pall with monotony. Each season brings a world of enjoyment 

 and interest in the watching of its unfolding, its gradual, harmonious 



