ARBOR DAY n 



or park, be inspired with the idea that trees are 

 one of the grandest products of God when they hear 

 that without them the earth could never have pro- 

 duced the necessaries of life, and that with their 

 destruction we could not keep up the sustained 

 growth of the plants that feed man and animals. 

 There is no more suitable subject for practical oral 

 lessons, now common in most of our schools, than 

 the nature of plants, and especially that of trees and 

 the value of tree-planting. Such lessons occupy 

 only a little time, taking the place of a part of the 

 "Reader." They tend to form the habits of 

 accurate observation of common things which are 

 of vast importance in practical life. These lessons 

 will lead our youth to admire and cherish trees, 

 thus rendering a substantial service to the State as 

 well as to the pupils by making them practical 

 arborists. 



Wherever the opportunity is given, children should 

 be encouraged to plant or help in planting a tree, 

 shrub or flower, actually practising what they have 

 learned in the study of the growth and habits of 

 plants. They will watch with pride the slow but 

 steady development of a young tree, and find a 

 peculiar pleasure in its parentage. Such work has 

 not only an educational effect upon the juvenile 

 mind, but its aesthetic influence cannot be over- 

 estimated. Tree planting is a good school for dis- 

 cipline in foresight, the regard for the future being 



