126 ARBOR DAY. 



FROM J. B. PEASLEE. 



CINCINNATI, April 9, 1888. 



DEAR SIR It is a source of great pleasure to me as it 

 must be to every lover of trees and of forest culture to 

 know that you, through your influential paper, the 

 Nebraska Press, are about to do just and merited hon- 

 ors to the distinguished originator of Arbor Day, the 

 Hon. J. Sterling Morton, of your city. No man now 

 living has done more to beautify and enrich his state 

 and country than he. Millions upon millions of green 

 and living monuments attest his forethought and his 

 worth; and as these trees grow and expand in beauty, 

 so will the love of this great benefactor increase in the 

 hearts of our people. 



It is singularly fortunate that Governor Morton's birth- 

 day comes at just that time of the year in your and many 

 of the other states, when most suitable for tree planting, 

 so that "Morton Day," and Arbor Day can be united in 

 one, and the 22d of April be known throughout the 

 country as Morton- Arbor Day. 



Years ago, while superintendent of the Cincinnati pub- 

 lic schools, I inaugurated the celebration of the birthdays 

 of authors; and in 1882, the year Ohio followed your 

 state in instituting Arbor Day, I carried the celebration to 

 Eden Park, where the children planted and dedicated with 



