Introduction. 



THIS book had its inspiration in an acknowledged reverence for Nature, 

 an admiration for trees and forests, an interest in the establishment 

 and development of Arbor Day and its purposes, and a desire to furnish 

 teachers and others with suitable material, carefully selected, in convenient 

 form for the preparation of programs for Arbor Day exercises. Such 

 exercises very properly accompany the planting of trees. 



One cannot engage in the preparation of such a work without constantly 

 growing more and more in touch with Nature and the great lessons which 

 she teaches. Interest and reverence go together. One is also deeply im- 

 pressed through it all with the earnestness and tenderness of the beautiful 

 thoughts which authors in all ages, and especially American authors, have 

 given our literature in their studies of Nature as revealed in trees, forests, 

 flowers, birds and children. 



We are carried back in memory by studies like these, to the careless days 

 of youth, to enjoy again the unselfish companionship of the trees, the silent 

 sentinels about the old home, in whose leaves we have tried to read our 

 fortunes. We recall the handsome butternuts which clasped hands across 

 the roadway near the homestead, the graceful maples in the grove, the 

 orchards and the forests, associated with all of which are so many of the 

 truest joys of life. The stately elm too, which still stands on the hill, a 

 guide for miles around, the pride of the community, is remembered with all 

 the associations which are inseparable from it. 



Arbor Day is rapidly becoming one of the most interesting and one of 

 the most extensively observed of school holidays. Originating in Nebraska 

 in 1872, it is now observed with more or less enthusiasm in nearly every 

 State of the Union, and many millions of trees have been planted. It 

 cannot be expected that all that can be done on Arbor Day in this direction 

 will counteract in a great degree the waste constantly going on in our 

 forests, but it is hoped that the observance of the day will do something to 

 excite a reverence for Nature in the study of her great works. Wanton 

 destruction of trees may be prevented, or stayed, and children may learn, by 

 simple exercises, some of the uses and beauties of trees, and of the value of 



