156 ARBOR DAY 



THE APPEAL OF THE TREES 



BY J. HORACE McFARLAND 



From Getting Acquainted with the Trees 

 A TREE is never without interest to those whose 

 eyes have been opened to some of the wonders and 

 perfections of Nature. Nevertheless, there is a time 

 in the year's round when each tree makes its special 

 appeal. It may be in the winter, when every twig 

 is outlined sharply against the cold sky, and the 

 snow reflects light into the innermost crevices of its 

 structure, that the elm is most admirable. When 

 the dogwood has on its white robe in May and 

 June, it then sings its song of the year. The laden 

 apple-tree has a pure glory of the blossoms, and 

 another warmer, riper glory of the burden of fruit, 

 but we think most kindly of its flowering time. 



Some trees maintain such a continuous show of 

 interest and beauty that it is difficult to say on any 

 day, "Now is this tulip or this oak at its very finest!" 



A BALLAD OF TREES AND THE MASTER* 



BY SIDNEY LANIER 



INTO the woods my Master went, 

 Clean forspent, forspent. 



* From "The Poems of Sidney Lanier," copyright 1884, 1891, 

 by Mary D. Lanier, published by Charles Scribner's Sons. 



