ARBOR DAY ITS HISTORY AND OBSERVANCE. 67 



No man now living has done more to beautify and enrich his State and country 

 than he. Millions upon millions of green and living monuments attest his fore- 

 thought and his worth ; and as these trees grow and expand in beauty, so will the 

 love of this great benefactor increase in the hearts of our people. John B. Peaslee. 



The wisdom and pertinency of Jonathan Swift's saying may now well be recalled: 

 "And he gave for his opinion that whoever could make two ears of corn or two 

 blades of grass to grow on a spot of ground where only one grew before would 

 deserve better of mankind, and do more essential service to his country than the 

 whole race of politicians put together." 



If this were true of two ears of corn or blades of grass, how much more of a 

 tree. T. F. Bayard. 



Tribute of fruits be his, and glossy wreaths 



From roadside trees, and his the people's love, 

 "When east and west the wind of summer breathes 



Through orchard, shaded path, and sighing grove. 



[E. C. Stedman. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR PROGRAMMES. 



It is not necessary to give even a specimen pro- 

 gramme for the observance of Arbor Day. If 

 any attention to the subject is given beforehand 

 a teacher can hardly fail to arrange a scheme 

 of exercises that will be both interesting and 

 profitable, and the pupils will not be slow to 

 offer suggestions which will be worthy of consid- 

 eration, and the more they are allowed to have 

 a voice in the arrangements the more interested will they be in the actual 

 doings of the day, and the more beneficial also will these be to them. 



The exercises will naturally begin with the reading of the proclama- 

 tion of the governor of the State or of the superintendent of public 

 instruction, by which the day is fixed, or by the law setting apart the 

 day for special uses. Any or all of these may be read. They will give 

 dignity and impressiveness to the whole service. One or more selec- 

 tions from the Bible, indicating the high moral and religious lessons 

 which the trees afford and the conspicuous place which they have in 

 our sacred Scriptures, may fitly follow. 



Other particular features of the Arbor Day exercises will be deter- 

 mined by the character of the school, the age of the pupils, the studies 

 they are commonly engaged with, and various other considerations. 



Teachers will bear in mind that the observance of Arbor Day has 

 behind it a serious purpose, and that it is not simply an occasion for 

 the children u to have a good time." It looks to their education in what 

 is highest and noblest, to bring their minds into contact with the best 

 thoughts of other minds, and kindle in them the purest and best feel- 

 ings. It aims to open their hearts to the sweet and precious lessons 

 which come from intercourse with nature, to make them unselfish, con- 



