CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 241 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 



ARBORICULTURE. 



Arbor Day is in fact a national day. The people of 

 nearly all the states give recognition to the immense im- 

 portance of tree planting by setting apart a day for this 

 work. The late J. Sterling Morton, of Nebraska City, a 

 pioneer of the trans-Missouri country, was the father of 

 Arbor Day, and .by his zeal and interest in it he forced 

 recognition for the day everywhere. 



Mr. Morton was for more than forty years a resident 

 of Nebraska. At his home, Arbor Lodge, as he called it, 

 is one of the finest groves of trees in all the country. Shortly 

 before his death he wrote expressly for the 1902 Soil Cul- 

 ture Manual the letter which follows, and what he then 

 wrote has such permanent value that it is here repeated. 

 He had become deeply interested in the work being done 

 for study of the soil and for agriculture in the semi-and 

 b r \L He wrote: 



Mr. H. W. Campbell: 



DEAR SIR After an experience of more than forty 

 years at Arbor Lodge, adjoining Nebraska City, in the 

 County of Otoe, I declare that the best method of plant- 

 ing forest trees is in rows running north and south. The 

 first row on the east should be of a rapidly growing variety, 

 like catalpa speciosa, cottonwood, aspen, or soft maple. 

 The next row should be a nut-bearing tree, like the black 

 walnut, butternut, or coffee bean. The next succeeding 

 row on the west should be, like the first one, of a rapidly 



