140 ARBOR DAY. 



i 



But, in a larger view, the protection which they afford 

 to great regions from stormy weather, their gathering and 

 holding in storage supplies of water for rivers and for the 

 needs of agriculture, have made me see with constant 

 regret their wasteful destruction throughout the country. 



Some years of travel over the north-western plains, 

 many years ago, made me familiar with their widely dif- 

 ferent character and aspects in the different seasons. I 

 have enjoyed in summer their delightful weather, their 

 green seas of grass, and the grateful breeze, like that of 

 ocean, which belongs to them; and in winter I have 

 looked out over their treeless wastes with many a fore- 

 boding of disaster. It was upon them that I learned the 

 value of forest growth. It was that absence of timber 

 that made their dangerous character in winter, which 

 gave constant anxiety and required caution in travelers, 

 and which daily impressed upon my mind the value of 

 forests, and gave to their beauty and grandeur that one 

 great feature of surpassing value. 



This experience of travel which I have had enables me 

 to appreciate fully the great value to the country of the 

 work initiated and established by Mr. Morton. Working 

 in harmony with the efforts of nature, his work is imper- 

 ishable, and is of the kind which we should suppose a 

 good government would aid and foster and encourage. 

 For myself, I am glad to have the opportunity you have 



