THE WASHINGTON HORSE-CHESTNUT AND A 



LOWELL LETTER 



'T'HE Washington Horse-Chestnut, near Bath Pennsyl- 

 -* vania, pictured on the cover of this magazine, is 

 nominated for a place in the Hall of Fame for 

 trees by Asa K. Mcllhaney, of Bath, Pennsylvania, 

 because the tree came from Mt. Vernon. General 

 Washington presented it to General Brown, of Revo- 

 lutionary fame, and General Brown planted it in front 

 of his old home where the picture show's it today. The 

 base circumference of the tree, Mr. Mcllhaney inform* 

 the American Forestry Association, is 27 feet and seven 

 inches, while six feet from the ground the girth is 17 feet. 



The horse-chestnut at Bath is the property of the Bath 

 Portland Cement Company, and Mr. F. B. Franks, the 

 vice-president, has presented this picture to the American 

 Forestry Association. 



Mr. Mcllhaney has a letter from James Russell Lowell, 

 the poet, who was also born on February 22, the birth date 

 of George Washington. The letter was written in regard 



to the value of tree planting. It was written thirty years 

 ago in April by the poet and former Ambassador to 

 Great Britain, just four months before he died. The 

 letter follows : 



Elmwood, Cambridge, April 5, 1891. 

 Dear Sir: 



I sympathize warmly with the gracious objeat for the further- 

 ance of which Arbor Day was instituted. I have planted many 

 trees, and every summer they repay me with an abundant grati- 

 tude. There is not a leaf on them but whispers benediction. I 

 often think of the Scottish farmer's words quoted by Scott : 

 "Be aye stickin' in a tree, Jock, 'twill be growin' while ye're 

 sleepin'." In my childhood I put a nut into the earth, from which 

 sprang a horse-chestnut tree, whose trunk has now a girth of 

 eight feet, and sustains a vast dome of verdure, the haunt of 

 birds and bees and of thoughts as cheery as they. In planting 

 a tree we lay the foundation of a structure of which the seasons 

 (without care of ours) shall be the builders and which shall be 

 a joy to others when we are gone. 



I need not say how great a pleasure it is to me that my young 

 friends should decorate my memory with a tree of their planting. 

 I wish I could be with them to throw the first shovelful of 

 earth upon its roots. Faithfully yours. 



To Asa K. Mcllhaney, (Signed) J. R. Lowell. 



Principal of Schools, Bath, Pennsylvania. 



rwood and Underwood. 



CHILDREN OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA STUDY TREE LIFE AT FIRST HAND 



Directed by Susan S. Alburtis, the nature study department of the schools of the District of Columbia has been studying the 

 values of various trees, preparatory to taking a vote in the American Forestry Association's national referendum as to what 

 should be the national tree of the country. Here the pupils are studying the elms on New Hampshire Avenue, near the Force 

 School. The schools are taking up this educational campaign in many parts of the country, and the Association asks its 

 members to push the work in their own towns. The newspapers are now printing series of lessons on trees and ballots for voting. 



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