AMERICAN FORESTRY 



175 



"CLUTTERED UP" THE MINDS OF SOME EDITORS 



a large number of people study trees, their 

 natures and range of growth geographical- 

 ly, it would be of inestimable benefit. And 

 if, in addition to this, they should learn 

 that the forests of the country are in dan- 

 ger of rapid extinction the value of the 

 study would be doubled. 



Study of the subject will be demanded 

 of those who enter this voting contest, for 

 they are expected to give reasons in writ- 

 ing for voting for their particular trees. 

 Naturally the selection of a tree that will 

 appropriately represent the American spirit 

 as far as a tree can will be no small task. 



Portland Oregouian: The American For- 

 estry Association's attempt to "elect" a 

 national tree evokes thoughts of the dif- 

 ficulties attending the task. Yet if it ful- 

 fills no other purpose than to inspire study 

 of the value of trees and the part they play 

 in our natural economics, it may be worth 

 while. To choose a tree that will represent 

 all parts of America would be a practically 

 impossible task. 



The editor of the Oregonian then "clut- 

 ters up" the mind of his readers with the 

 history and value of the Douglas fir sug- 

 gesting that tree be the candidate of the 

 Northwest. 



Philadelphia Public Ledger: It is to be 

 hoped the American Forestry Association 

 will get better results out of its very com- 

 mendable effort to get the country to select 

 a national tree than other associations got 

 in the past in trying to select a national 

 flower. If the analogies represented in the 

 selection of state flowers be followed in the 

 voting on a national tree, one sees all kinds 

 of breakers ahead, since, with a few excep- 



tions, wherein indigenous and characteristic 

 flowers have been selected which have size, 

 color and design as well as popularity, 

 many of th states have chosen flowers that 

 are absolutely meaningless or childish in 

 the extreme. 



With these untoward precedents in mind, 

 the American Forestry Association will give 

 real service, therefore, if it will advise 

 what not to select, so as to eliminate a 

 foolish catalogue of unmeaning shrubbery 

 and trees. There is, however, no trouble 

 about the Splendor and beauty of tree life 

 peculiar to and belonging to the United 

 States, though by reason of climatic and 

 topographic necessity not all these new 

 world species have a universal range. 

 Henoe it would be out of the question, per- 

 haps, to accept the redwood or the sequoias 

 as our national emblem, though they are 

 the most magnificent trees in the world 

 and absolutely our own. The various mag- 

 nolias are indubitably American and have 

 a large, though not universal, habitat over 

 here, and so would naturally be ruled out. 

 The hickory, also one of our most char- 

 acteristic trees and native to the very bark 

 anl leaf, might well come in for selection. 

 The common elm will occur to many as a 

 proper emblem, although our own elm be- 

 longs to a widespread genera not confined 

 to the New World. It is, however, wholly 

 different from the English elm, and its 

 loose, pendulous characteristics, with the 

 graceful soar and spread .of the limbs in 

 a fan-like manner, combined with its en- 

 durance and its strength and size in the 

 finest examples, are quite American and 

 in marked contrast to the stockiness and 

 sturdiness of the English elm which is 

 sometimes seen growing near the American 



elm in formal gardens and parks, yielding 

 the palm to its American congener so far 

 as a shapely symmetry of outline goes. No 

 one who has ever seen a characteristic tulip- 

 poplar in bloom in June in all its glory of 

 fresh foliage can forget the supreme im- 

 pression of vigor and beauty that makes 

 it easily an appropriate emblem of a great 

 people. 



Clinton (la.) Advertiser: It is to be 

 hoped that this appeal for an expression of 

 opinion in the matter of a national tree 

 will meet a ready and general response. 

 Every citizen should be interested in the 

 matter and take the time to make an in- 

 telligent decision, and then express it. 

 What tree, in your opinion, best expresses 

 the spirit of America, and in what manner 

 does it do this? Tell the American For- 

 estry Association. 



Philadelphia Press: To the praotical- 

 minded, the American Forestry Associa- 

 tion's attempt to "elect" a national tree, as 

 a symbol of these United States, may seem 

 like a specious and insignificant gesture. 

 "What is the use of bothering busy people 

 with such questions?" might be the natural 

 query. But the contemplated drive for 

 votes, inclusive of citizens of voting age 

 and of school children, has a point that 

 should not be overlooked. Its achievement 

 will be fully worth the incidental trouble. 



If a test of strict practicality were ap- 

 plied to the "election," no decorative trees 

 would win. Instead, we might get the use- 

 ful and wealth-producing yellow pine, which 

 in recent years has been the leader in lum- 

 ber production, or the almost equally pro- 

 ductive Douglas fir of the Northwest. But 



MR. BRIGGS, THE FAMOUS CARTOONIST OF THE NEW YORK TRIBUNE 



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