AMERICAN FORESTRY 



297 



California, the school children observed Arbor Day by 

 planting an American prune tree in honor of Robert 

 Beyer, a Fernley soldier who made the supreme sacrifice 

 during the war. The Women's Civic Club, of Wheat- 

 land, planted four memorial trees on Arbor Day. The 

 trees were planted on the school grounds, with the chil- 

 dren of the school taking part in the exercises. Trees 

 were planted in honor of McKinley P. Brook, Milton 

 McCurry, Claude Boswell and Wilton McDonald. 



A sequoia gigantea was planted at Smartsville in honor 

 of Edward J. McGanney, who lost his lift in France, 

 October 6, 191 8. The tree planting ceremony on Arbor 

 Day was under the auspices of the Smartsville Farm 

 Center. Fifteen tulip trees were planted along the 

 H Street side of McKinley Park, in Sacramento, by the 

 children of Marshall School. In 1919 the pupils of the 

 same school planted two redwood trees in the park in 

 honor of the soldier dead. Planting of the Big Leaf 

 Maple along the State Highway at Cotati, in Sonoma 

 County, will be continued in the fall. The Cotati Com- 

 pany has been issued a permit to line the highway with 

 trees for a distance of five miles. It is anticipated that 



the cities of Santa Rosa and Petaluma will continue the 

 planting so that the entire highway between the two cities 

 may be lined with trees. The Chamber of Commerce and 

 Minerva Club of Santa Maria appointed a joint com- 

 mittee which is proceeding with the planting of pepper 

 trees along the main street of the city. . Other streets 

 will ultimately be tree lined. 



Here are fine examples of pushing the work for "Roads 

 of Remembrance" for which the Association is campaign- 

 ing. These roads lined with memorial trees will provide 

 not only a fine memorial but a wonderful setting for 

 whatever memorial building or memorial shaft may be 

 adopted by various communities. A feature of the whole 

 work is the way children are taking part in the programs 

 in thousands of places. This means that in the years to 

 come they will know and appreciate the value of trees 

 and will realize the need of perpetuating our forests. 

 Thus the American Legion, the Women's Clubs and the 

 patriotic organizations everywhere are uniting with the 

 American Forestry Association in making this great tree 

 planting work successful. 



AN APPRECIATION OF COLONEL GRAVES 



IN accepting the resignation of Colonel Henry S. 

 Graves as Chief Forester of the United States, Sec- 

 retary of Agriculture E. T. Meredith wrote the fol- 

 lowing letter: 



My Dear Col. Graves : Your decision that you cannot, 

 in justice to yourself, continue longer at the head of the 

 Forest Service is one which I have received with the 

 deepest regret. I am compelled to accept it much against 

 my inclination, because I cannot, in fairness to you, do 

 otherwise. The loss of your services, however, is a mat- 

 ter of great moment to the Department of Agriculture, 

 as well as to the public interests which you have so 

 effectively protected and advanced ; and I sincerely re- 

 gret that I shall not have the benefit of your counsel 

 and experience as Chief Forester during the remainder 

 of my term of office here. 



"The decade through which you have guided the For- 

 est Service has been notable in accomplishment, and 

 the organization which you have developed to a high 

 plane of efficiency has won not merely respect but the 

 hearty approval of the West, which is perhaps most di- 

 rectly interested in it, as well as the country at large. 

 -More and more you have made the National Forests 

 serve the public welfare. Their usefulness has been ex- 

 panded along lines which make the most of their pro- 

 ductive resources, scientifically yet practically, and al- 

 ways with a sound, far-sighted public policy. You have 

 seen to it that they are utilized in helping the home 

 builder, in promoting local prosperity, and in contrib- 

 uting largely to the benefit of the people as a whole. 

 Thus you have given stability and permanence to the 

 public forest enterprise which means true development 

 as against destructive exploitation. You have handled 

 the public resources in the interests of the many as 



against encouraging or permitting monopoly by a privil- 

 eged few. 



"You have put the handling of the public forests on 

 a thoroughly businesslike basis from every standpoint. 

 Under severe handicaps and discouragements of a kind 

 unknown in private business, you have secured an ad- 

 mirably trained personnel, developed a system of ad- 

 ministration which I believe to be unsurpassed in effec- 

 tiveness in any branch of the Government, and con- 

 spicuously stimulated, by leadership, a spirit of loyalty 

 and devotion to the interests of the public in your or- 

 ganization. At the same time, you have recognized that 

 the work must be based on technical knowledge that 

 the public welfare must be served by experts and special- 

 ists, just as private business is, if public ownership and 

 management of the great public properties under the 

 jurisdiction of the Forest Service are to meet with the 

 highest degree of success. You have, therefore, em- 

 phasized the importance of scientific research and of 

 the application of its results in the business of ad- 

 ministration. The progress made under your direction 

 in the development of the basic knowledge of forestry 

 and in its practical application has been no less signal 

 than the progress made in the building of an efficient 

 organization and the working out of good business 

 methods. 



"You have also carried to substantial completion a 

 great work of land classification, based on sound princi- 

 ples which it became your duty to formulate; so that 

 large areas, in the aggregate, of agricultural lands have 

 been opened to acquisition and conversion into farms, 

 while the lands suited to permanent public ownership 

 and administration for forest purposes have been classi- 

 fied as such a step in itself of utmost significance for 



