108 



Therefore every tree that is planted contributes to the conservation 

 of water, restrains the denudation of the soil by floods, tempers and 

 improves the climate, enhances the beauty of the landscape, and 

 assists, above all, to provide for the constant need of every community 

 in the supply of timber for constructive purposes and for fuel, as well 

 as in bringing forth abundant fruit for man's enjoyment. Nothing 

 tends so much as trees to make the earth a pleasant abode for man. In 

 former days, particularly in North America, the vast expanse of wood 

 was an impediment to the progress of agriculture, and the clearence 

 of the forest for the purposes of cultivation became a prime necessity. 

 But the axe was laid at the roots of the trees with a vengance, and the 

 forests were felled without any regard to the future ; present necessity 

 was the sole thought in the minds of the early settlers, and they, like 

 multitudes who came after them, "held the cent so close to their eye as 

 to obscure the dollar bej^ond" ! Forest fires, kindled by accident or 

 carelessness, followed in the train of destruction, until in process of time 

 thoughtful and far-seeing citizens foresaw that the supply of timber 

 would be inadequate, and viewed the rapid depletion of the trees with 

 alarm. Measures of couse vation were then devised. A pioneer 

 settler, the Hon. J. Sterling Morton, in the treeless plains of Nebraska, 

 suggested the inauguration of an annual Arbor or Tree-planting day, 

 and eventually stimulated the popular feeling in the right direction. 

 The response was general ; the first observance in Nebraska State was 

 in 1872, and the first Arbor Day holiday occurred on April 22, of that 

 year. 



Other States and Territories followed this example — Tennessee, for 

 instance, in 1878— until at the present time nearly every State in 

 the Union has established the regular observance of Arbor Day as a 

 public institution, Delaware, Indian Territory, and Utah being the 

 only exceptions. It is said that in South Carolina a whole week 

 is devoted to tree-planting. Nebraska, once called the Great American 

 desert, is now significantly styled the " Tree-planter's State." 



Up to 1896 it was computed that the planting of 605,000,000 trees 

 in Nebraska was directly traceable to the Arbor Day movement, and so 

 extensively has the custom prevailed throughout the whole of the 

 United States that it is impossible to estimate the number of trees 

 planted through Arbor celebrations. From the first the idea was to 

 enlist the interest of children in the work and with such success has 

 this been done that the school authorities throughout the States have 

 been made the chief agents for the promotion of the national observance 

 of Arbor Day : some observe it in November and December, others in 

 January and February. In Nebraska it falls as late as April, and in 

 North Dakota as late as May 6. Washington's birthday, February 22, 

 is the date of its observance in Texas. 



Americans consider the custom conducive in a high degree to juve- 

 nile education, cultivating in the young the love of Nature and the 

 observance and interpretation of her wonderful laws. For instance, 

 the systematic care and attention to detail called forth by the plant- 

 ing and nurture of even one tree, and watching its growth and develop- 

 ment, cannot be without formative effect on character. Probabty the 

 introduction of youthful energies into the scheme in large measure ac- 

 counts for the marvellous success of the movement. Visitors to the 



