ROADS OF REMEMBRANCE 



417 



big forestry meeting at Syracuse in April, as reported 

 in the May number of American Forestry. The pre- 

 scribed activities of the three departments will permit 

 of the erection of this memorial as long as the Con- 

 servation Commission and the New York State Col- 

 lege of Forestry can supply trees. The College of For- 

 estry has 10,000 elms in its nursery at- Syracuse. These 

 range from four feet to eight feet in height and can 

 be appropriated for this purpose. The planting began 

 near Syracuse on the main road between that city and 

 Utica because of the short haul from the College Tree 

 Nursery and the fact that the perfected plans covered 

 this section. 



YANKEE TREES IN FRANCE 



Republished from San Francisco Chronicle, April i8, 1920. 

 (The American Forestry Association has undertaken the plant- 

 ing of native American trees as memorials to our soldiers who are 

 huricd on French soil.) 



No futile wreaths that fade and die, 



Whose life is but a day, 

 Can truly honor those who lie 



So many leagues away ; 

 Nor fainting blossoms represent 



The hope, the strength, the urge 

 Of Youth incarnate why, it sent 



Them laughing, to the verge. 



For those who perished overseas. 



Our glorious host that lies 

 In France, let hosts of living trees 



Gloriously arise. 

 Rise where charred limbs of older trees. 



Flung mute against the sky. 

 To countless wanton cruelties 



In silence testify. 



And at some distant future day 



When we, who mourn them now, 

 Because they died the self same way 



Have followed them, oh how 

 Shall we deserve so fine a thing 



For our memorial. 

 As trees lit with the green of spring, 



Or scarlet fires of fall? 



The movement has gained headway steadily since us 

 inception and the latest indication of this is the fact that 

 Senator Medill McCormick, of Illinois, has sponsored a 

 bill which provides for federal assistance in establishing 

 Roads of Remembrance and which has been made a 

 provision of the Snell Bill. 



The Road of Remembrance has had an actual be- 

 ginning in New York this spring on a large scale. The 

 planting will be pushed as far as possible which means 

 as long as weather conditions and the supply of trees per- 

 mit. The work will be carried on by competent hands, 

 as befits the splendid purpose to which the trees will 

 be consecrated. In this way the upkeep and replace- 

 ments will be reduced to a minimum and the health and 

 longevity of the trees will be insured. Prof. Alan F. 





THE DOUGLASS MEMORI.AL 

 This is a reproduction of the memorial tablet erected by 

 the 1916 Alumni Class of the New York State College or 

 Forestry at Syracuse in honor of Lieut. Harold C. W. 

 Douglass, who was killed June 11, 1918, when his plane 

 fell behind the German lines. He was one of the first 

 forestry college graduates to enter the service, joining 

 the aviation corps. His daring and courage as a mem- 

 ber of the Royal Flying Corps won the admiration of his 

 British and French comrades. On June 11, 1918, he left 

 his base on a scouting trip over "No man's land." He 

 soared over the German lines while both sides engaged in 

 fierce battle and he never returned. Th career and life 

 of this boy who gave his life unflinchingly for his country 

 is well characterized by the tablet, which was designed by 

 Hollis J. Howe, one of his classmates. It has been placed 

 in the rotunda of the College of Forestry at Syracuse. 



Arnold represents the Forestry College in cooperating 

 with the Highways Department and the Conservation 

 Commission. The planting when completed in accord- 

 ance with present plans will be more than 400 miles in 

 length. Some years may be required to plant the entire 

 route between New York and Buffalo, but in the end the 

 Road of Remembrance will become a thing of beauty 

 and a noble monument commemorating the high pa- 

 triotism that has always distinguished the American 

 citizen-soldier. Such a monument will be particularly 

 fitting because it will be a work of love for those who 

 loved their country more than their life, as the New 

 York Tribune has said, "It was through some tree-lined 

 road in France that every man who played a man's part 

 had to march to keep tryst with his destiny." 



There are many beautiful roadways in New England 

 where elms form a canopy over the road, but tliese are 

 sporadic groups. Massachusetts has planted some of her 

 roads and California boasts of stretches of tree-lined 



