ARBOR DAY. 39 



railroad stations in England, France, and Germany, is 

 universal. The neatness and good taste displayed with 

 climbing vines, trees, and plants around public and pri- 

 vate establishments, the grandeur of their boulevards and 

 parks, is certainly worthy of our emulation as a people." 

 I thoroughly agreed with him. In our great country, 

 in the scramble for the almighty dollar we have almost 

 lost sight of the beautiful in nature. The disparagement 

 of country life is one of the worst tendencies of the times ; 

 the hankering for city diversions and excitements, and so- 

 called more genteel employment, has brought ruin to many 

 worthy families. Every influence around the young 

 should combine to foster home attachments, for there is 

 national protection, as well as education, in the love of 

 home. To love the beautiful in nature is to elevate the 

 race, and to inculcate this should be a part of our national 

 system of education. Men of means should take the lead ; 

 when once started it becomes contagious, but not danger- 

 ous ; its influence is soon felt in society, and also in the 

 price of real estate. The love for the beautiful in nature 

 sharpens the finer senses, and quickens the intellectual fac- 

 ulties makes better boys, better men. Our railroad sta- 

 tions and public school grounds are generally uninviting 

 and often repulsive; but with the founding of Arbor Day 

 we have made one step in the right direction, and in a few 

 decades we may reasonably expect to see beneficent results. 



