THE MEMORIAL TREE 



BY CHARLES LATHROP PACK 



{From an Address at the New York State Institute of Applied Agriculture, Farmingdale, L. I., May 25, 1921.) 



T AM glad to be with you here, my friends. We like 



to talk together about trees. The trees could tell 

 us much, if they could but speak our language. I like 

 to remember there are trees living in California that 

 discovered America before Christopher Columbus did- 

 Some trees in Africa could perchance tell us of the 

 things they saw and gossip about the pranks of the 

 Queen of Sheba w'fcn she visited King Solomon's 

 mines. Trees still living in England very likely shel- 

 tered some of the cohorts of Caesar. 



Trees have saved the world on two great historic 

 occasions. The trees of the Ark saved life on the earth 

 from destruction. At the Redemption of the World, 

 when Christ died that we might live and live better 

 the tree of the Cross was a part of the greatest' event 

 of history. So it is very fitting that, like others, today 

 you dedicate trees to commemorate our part in the 

 World War. 



This international tree you plant here today is sig- 

 nificant indeed, placed as it is in the soil from allied 

 countries and diflferent states of this country. The 

 men you honor with this living growing memorial 

 came together at freedom's call from the ends of the 

 earth. Many have returned again to their places, but 

 some did not return. 



Therefore this tree, nurtured by the soil of these 

 many lands, typifies, to my mind, the bonding together 

 of those who died and those who live. As from this 

 soil its roots send forth life so from the sacrifice of 

 those men you honor today there continues to live in 

 the world an idea worth fighting for. 



In the ever renewing life of this tree each year the 

 call. those men answered is ever kept before us. An 



oak it is. In the oak we find sturdiness, steadfastness, 

 strength, all combined as we found it in the charac- 

 ters of those men who asked nothing for themselves, 

 but gave all for others. 



Here we have, as Kilmer sang, "A tree that looks at 

 God all day and lifts her leafy arms to pray." As this 

 tree will stand through the years in memory of them, 

 so let it always remind us that we have a task ; the 

 task of helping to make this country just a little bet- 

 ter place in which to live. They gave their lives to 

 keep what we have and now let us go forward to- 

 gether and ever strive to erect that greatest of all me- 

 morials^the better country. Let us every one do our 

 part to make it not just a land of free people, but a 

 country of real folks. That is all the memorial they 

 would ask could they but choose. And speaking of me- 

 morials let us not forget that millions of trees have given 

 their lives for this country. That their sacrifice has meant 

 the building of millions of homes, the progress of thou- 

 sands of industries, the very life of the nation. 



This sacrifice is growing every day, every year and 

 yet what are we doing to memorialize, if I may so ex- 

 press it, these trees? Are we planting trees in their place? 

 Very few, far too few. Are we encouraging natural re- 

 growth of other trees in our forests ? Far too little are we 

 doing so. 



Let me say in all seriousness that the future life of 

 the nation depends upon our replacing millions of trees 

 which gave their lives to the upbuilding of our country. 

 Forests must be restored, growing forests must be pro- 

 tected. Let us carry the memorial idea to a very prac- 

 tical conclusion, and in place of forests that are gone, let 

 us grow new forests and protect the future of our country. 



A "ROOSEVELT PINE" FOR ROOSEVELT'S SON 



TY7RITING to her mother in Washington, Madame 

 ' ' Hugli-Camp, of Berne, Switzerland, says : 



"Here in Geneva there is a man who can only be 

 described as a character, with a capital 'C. His name 

 is Henri Correvon, and he lives solely for his plants. 

 His work on Alpine flora is standard and has been 

 translated into all the important languages. In the 

 midst of his garden, which is a marvel of curious and 

 beautiful patches of red Alpine roses, white edelweiss 

 and blue gentians, he has constructed a bit of crum- 

 bling old wall, and this he uses to teach the world 

 how to beautify the remains of a vanishing past. In 

 every crevice he has put a tuft of flowering plants and 

 the result of this 'Garden in the Wall' is rare and beau- 

 tiful. The little man himself is practically on wires, 

 and after bounding from bed to bed in the garden, he 

 swiftly led me to where two young silver pines were 

 growing. 'These are my Roosevelt Pines,' he told me 



proudly, 'raised from seed the President gave me, and 

 up there on the side of the Saleve there is now growing 

 a vigorous grove of them, which I planted there at this 

 same time.' In Asia magazine for January I read ho\\ 

 Meyer, the plant explorer, placed a little Chinese pine 

 on the grave of our Minister to China, W. W. Rock- 

 hill, the man who had helped him to procure somany 

 useful Chinese plants for the United States. It occurs 

 to me that it would be a beautiful and appropriate 

 thing to get from Monsieur Correvon a 'Roosevelt 

 Pine' to plant on the grave of the great man's hero 

 son in France. Is the idea practical and can it be laid 

 before a committee who will carry it out? I will here 

 and now answer for the ready acquiescence of the 

 character with a capital 'C'." 



AMERICAN FORESTRY is glad to give endorse- 

 ment and publicity to Madame Camp's suggestion. 



