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ARBOR DAY ITS HISTORY AND OBSERVANCE. 



I am of the opinion also that the participation of the schools and, to a consider- 

 able extent, the citizens in the observance of Arbor Day has resulted in a moral and 

 aesthetic improvement that may be clearly discerned. 



New York was late in adopting Arbor Day by legal provision, though 

 the day had been more or less observed for several years; but no State, 

 since the enactment of the " act to encourage arboriculture" (1888), has 

 been more active or efficient in the observance of Arbor Day. Hon. 

 Charles K. Skinner, State superintendent of public instruction, speak- 

 ing of the passage of the act, says : 



Without doubt one of the effects of this legislation has been to arouse a deeper 

 interest in trees and flowers among pupils and people. We hear more in these days 

 concerning the preservation of our forests than before the enactment of the law. 

 Our school grounds are kept in better condition and the trees about our school- 

 houses are better protected. In thousands of cases trees so planted on Arbor Day 

 have been named for men and women prominent in education and in our history 

 generally. 



The manuals which have been issued by the department of public 

 instruction from year to year, and the larger and very noteworthy manual 

 compiled by Mr. Skinner himself, testify abundantly to the vigor with 

 which the Arbor-Day propaganda has been promoted in New York. 

 Those manuals have been freely drawn upon in the preparation of the 

 present publication. 



The number of trees planted in New York on Arbor Day is officially 

 stated by Mr. Skinner as follows: 1889, 24,166; 1890, 27,130; 1891, 

 25,786; 1892,20,622; 1893,15,973; 1894,16,624. 



STATES AND TERRITORIES OBSERVING ARBOR DAY. 



