THE AMERICAN TREE 



299 





President. Under his proclamation most of these were 

 established, beginning with the few acres of Pelican 

 Island on the Indian River in Florida the first one 

 and increasing in size and 

 area in the Yukon Delta in 

 Alaska to about the size of 

 the State of Massachusetts. 

 Roosevelt, great in so many 

 ways, was preeminently a 

 leader in his love for wild- 

 life and did a wonderful 

 work in teaching the nation 

 how to protect it. These 

 sanctuaries have been an 

 actual and a spiritual pow- 

 er for the protection of 

 birds whose value the 

 world has come to recog- 

 nize. 



States also have taken up 

 the movement, Massachu- 

 setts having a dozen or 

 more State bird and game 

 reservations, some owned 

 by the State, others con- 

 sisting of privately - pos- 

 sessed land over which the 

 jtate extends its protecting 

 authority. Perhaps the 

 most widely known of these 

 is the Moose Hill Sanc- 

 tuary of the Massachu- 



^J^, 



Courtesy of the Arnold Arboretum 



GRE.AT CLUMPS OF KALMIA. OR MOUNTAIN LAUREL, 

 AT THE FOOT OF HEMLOCK HILL. 



setts Audubon Society at Sharon, Massachusetts. This, 

 established some five years ago for the protection of 

 birds, now through the cooperation of the Massachu- 

 setts Society for the Protection of Native Plants, jjto- 

 tects the wild flowers as well. In fact, the balancing 

 value of all wild life is here recognized and it is realized 

 that to protect one form the others must be equally 

 protected. If such protection for the wild flowers and 

 other desirable forms of wild life could be extended to 



all bird reservations their value to the birds and to 

 mankind would be greatly enhanced. At the Moose 

 Hill reservation not only native rare and interesting 



species are protected, but 

 many others which were 

 not native, but to which the 

 environment is favorable 

 have been introduced and 

 have thrived. The warden 

 in charge protects the trees 

 and shrubs, the wild flow- 

 ers and the harmless other 

 wild creatures of the woods 

 as well as the birds. Proof 

 that the sanctuary idea ap- 

 peals to the public which 

 is eager to observe, to 

 learn and to carry the good 

 idea elsewhere, may be 

 found in the fact that in 

 the single month of May 

 nearly a thousand people 

 visited the place. 



Not every city can have 

 an Arnold Arboretum with 

 its wonderful collection of 

 trees and shrubs from all 

 over the world, cultivated 

 and labelled and free to 

 public inspection at all 

 times, but near every city 

 can be established a wild- 

 life sanctuary where wild flowers will be adequately 

 conserved and increased for the pleasure and enlighten- 

 ment of the public. 



Patient and persistent education in regard to our wild 

 flowers and the need of protecting them will bring this 

 about. Two societies entirely altruistic in aims and 

 methods are at j)resent working wisely and diligently 

 with this great end in view ^The Society for the Protec- 

 tion of Native Plants, and the Wild Flower Preservation 

 Society and they deserve the support of all nature lovers. 



Plant we our Native Tree, 

 Most noble Hickory, 



Best tree of all ; 

 Strongest in forest shade, 

 Towering unafraid. 

 Best tree God ever made, 



Best fruit of fall. 



THE AMERICAN TREE 



Earth-mother fold to Thee 

 This, thy young daughter-tree, 



Fold to thy breast ; 

 Dress her out green in spring, 

 Call the sweet birds to sing. 

 Colors in autumn bring. 



Gayest and best. 



Nourish her, native sod. 

 Bring her up well, O God. 



Worthy of fame; 

 Now, in thy tender care 

 Leave we this daughter fair. 

 Breathing to Thee a prayer 

 In His dear name. 



(The above lines, suitable for school memorial tree planting exercises and to be sung to the tune of 

 ".America," were written by Marta Scott Conser, of Memphis, Tennessee, long known as a writer on conser- 

 vation and forestry, and an earnest advocate of the planting of all kinds of nut trees wherever and when- 

 ever possible.) 



