of New York 17 



TREES ARE OUR FRIENDS 



TREES LIVE TO GIVE. Whenever we look at a tree we 

 should think it has some gifts for us. If the gifts are 

 not wood or food, shade or shelter, they may be one of a 

 long list of other good things we need in our everyday life. 

 Trees are such commonplace things that we often overlook 

 their full service to us. Let us pause just long enough to list 

 a few of the things our tree friends do for, us: 



Trees make a great contribution to the world's beauty. 

 They pay beauty dividends every day. No place is complete 

 without them. A home without trees is charmless. A road 

 without trees is shadeless. A park without trees is purpose- 

 less. A town without trees is cheerless. A country without 

 trees is hopeless. 



Trees give us shade and shelter. Beneath their friendly 

 branches man has found refuge from the scorching sun and 

 the angry winds. Today, as in ages past, man seeks the 

 shade of friendly trees to write and enjoy what others have 

 written. Some of the world's greatest thoughts were born 

 in the soft shades of friendly trees. Wherever I see trees 

 shading occupants of benches in our city parks as they shel- 

 ter the lambs that gather at their feet in the pasture, I think 

 of their friendliness. 



Trees help purify the atmosphere. They give out enor- 

 mous quantities of oxygen through the tiny openings in 

 their leaves. In this way they help make and maintain the 

 pure air we need to keep us alive. 



Trees help supply us with wholesome water. The best 

 drinking water comes from the springs that flow from tree- 

 covered watersheds. The pure water that trickles out from 

 among the roots of trees is a great factor in maintaining the 

 health of our people. 



Trees safeguard us against drought and protect us against 

 raging floods. They increase the low water runoff in sum- 

 mer and decrease the high water runoff in early spring. 



Trees feed, shelter, and give homes to the wild animals 

 of the forest, particularly the birds. 



