206 ARBOR DA Y MANUAL. 



Written for the " ARBOR DAY MANVAL." 



SONG TO THE MAPLE TREE.* 



"TMS the tree of the State, and most wisely selected, 



1 To emblem the progress her children have made; 

 Henceforth by our care shall its right be protected 



To gather the weary to bask in its shade. 

 CHORUS Maple tree ! Maple tree ! none can compare with thee ! 



Sipping earth's nectar, to sweetness impart. 

 Sweeter thy loving care, sweeter thy shadows are ; 

 Sweeter thy songsters that gladden the heart. 



The tribes of the air for their nesting most choose it,* 

 Their billing and cooing heard most in its groves; 



Why then should our youthful affections refuse it ? 

 This fitting abode for the gods and their loves ? 

 CHORUS Maple tree, etc. 



The ever-green foliage may tower from our mountains, 

 'Neath the pine and the hemlock the wild tribes abide ; 



But majestic o'er landscape, by sweet sparkling fountains, 



The silver-leaved maple of man is the pride. 

 CHORUS Maple tree, etc. 



Soft fragrance and balm, in the dew of the morning, 

 Exhale on the breeze with the songster's sweet lay ; 



Its green arching plumes all our pathway adorning, 



A shield and defense from the sun's scorching ray. 

 CHORUS Maple tree, etc. 



Then plant ye the maple so young and so slender ; 



And grow with its growth as the years shall roll by ; 

 While tow'rd manhood, ye vie with the tree in its splendor, 



Each measure made full from great nature's supply. 

 CHORUS Maple tree, etc. 

 Watertown, N. Y. E. A. HOLBROOK. 



THE BIRDS CHOOSE THE MAPLE. 



There is another fact which strikes one in looking at these nests about the 

 village; the birds of different feathers show a very marked preference for 

 building in maples. It is true these trees are more numerous than others about 

 our streets, but there are also elms, locusts, and sumachs mingled with them, 

 enough, at least, to decide the question very clearly. This afternoon we counted 

 the nests in the different trees as we passed them, with a view to this particu- 

 lar point, and the result was as follows : The first we came to were in a clump 



* By a vote of those who participated in the Arbor Day exercises of 1889, in New York State, the Maple 

 was chosen as the State Tree. See also, the selection at the foot of this page. 



