70 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



and the fruit grower alike, besides, the knowledge of plant life would 

 always he a source ot pleasure and satisfaction to its possessor. 



ARBOH DAY AND ITS OBSERVANCE. 



I like very much the idea of an Arbor Day in Maine, not that I 

 have any great fear from the depletion of our forests during the 

 present generation. For, aside from their destruction by fire, I 

 think there is no great depletion in them not fully made good by 

 growth from year to year. It may be that in our southern counties 

 it is not true ; it may not be true in Aroostook County, but in most 

 others 1 think it is. The doctrine of protection here, however, is a 

 good one, and I believe there should be no unnecessary waste of our 

 forest trees. Arbor Day, however, has immediately rather to do with 

 the beautifying of our homes and our public places, and as such 

 ought to be generally observed. Suppose our school teachers should 

 plan for Arbor Day, and set a few trees about the play grounds. 

 The old school-houses would not look quite so lonely, and the new 

 ones would be less conspicuous in their nakedness. A very interest- 

 ing programme could be made up, giving all the boys and girls a 

 chance to take some part. A little care should be exercised in set- 

 ting the trees so as to secure the best effects possible. The outlook, 

 if there happens to be one from the school-room, should not be ob- 

 structed. A clump of evergreens in the corners, and sometimes 

 elsewhere about the premises, is far more beautiful than long rows 

 of deciduous trees. They should not be planted so as to shut out 

 the sunlight, for this we all need to make our rooms light, pleasant 

 and healthful. There is one tree we rarely see in Maine as an orna- 

 mental tree, and yet there is none more graceful or more easily 

 grown. It bears pruning well and may be grown successfully singly, 

 in clumps or in hedges. The hemlock, Tsuga Canadensis, deserves a 

 place among our ornamental shade trees, and we are glad to notice 

 that gardeners are using it more. Its beauty is not alone during the 

 summer months, but all the year. The poet says : 



'•'O hemlock tree! O hemlock tree I faitliful are thy branches I 

 Green not alone in summer time. 

 But in the winter's frost and rime I" 



There is a custom here of which I do not know the origin, but 1 

 think it is entirely wrong. Before setting out the sugar maple, which 

 is one of the best shade trees, the top is cut back and only the side 

 branches are allowed to grow. These limbs grow rapidly and in a few 



