PLANTING AND CARE OF TREES 63 



tions of the various states and the ultimate result should be what 

 may be called a national park system. Such a system would unite 

 the great natural wonders of America, with Niagara Falls as the 

 central figure. Among the hundreds of special features of this 

 great national park may be mentioned the gigantic forests of 

 California, Yellow Stone geysers of Wyoming, the Grand canon 

 of Colorado, the wheat fields of Kansas, the Mammoth Cave of 

 Kentucky, the vineyards of New York and Pennsylvania, the 

 Green Mountains of Vermont, the famous elms and peach orchards 

 of Connecticut, the apple orchards of Virginia, and the palm 

 groves of Florida. The railway companies must necessarily take an 

 active part in such a movement, and many of them have already 

 made a start in this direction. The traveling public has done 

 much to encourage development in this respect and can do much 

 more by patronizing the companies that offer the most attractive 

 routes. 



The Sign-Boards Must Go — There will be no place in the 

 great national park system for the hideous sign-board so commonly 

 found along railway lines and public highways. This method 

 of advertising should be discouraged. How to get rid of this 

 objectionable feature of the landscape seems like a difficult problem, 

 but it is believed that the offenders will eventually realize the 

 advisability of protecting the welfare of the public. There is a 

 growing sentiment in opposition to the sign-board nuisance. Many 

 people, by their refusal to use any of the products that they know 

 to be advertised in this way, have asserted their feelings in a 

 most effective manner. If their children should "cry for Castoria" 

 they will endeavor to soothe them with some brand that has been 

 advertised in a more legitimate fashion. 



Arousing Interest — The greatest progress and the most en- 

 during results in any direction must come through education. 

 We hear a great deal in these days about the necessity for some 

 kind of instruction that will fit the child to his environment. 

 The study of the landscape, of which trees form the chief element, 

 will go a long way toward developing in the child a love for the 

 beautiful and eventually bring him in harmony with his surround- 

 ings. It seems advisable, therefore, that a campaign for the 

 conservation and improvement of rural scenery should start with 

 the schools. 



