Our Loving, Living Friends, 

 the Trees 



[REES are almost human, staunch and loyal, but do 

 you appreciate them as you should? Are you as 

 loyal to them as they are to you? 



When you were a child, doubtless every tree 

 about the old home was as much a thing of person- 

 ality as the horses and dogs you loved— the boys and girls you 

 trudged to school with. 



Perhaps to each tree you gave a name— the sturdy old oak 

 close by the road ; the trusty and faithful elm that towered high 

 above the roof-peak of the house ; and the weeping willow in the 

 fence-corner close by the driveway. 



Possibly you were told the legend of how mother's mother, 

 when but a girl in her teens, returned one day from a ride and 

 threw her riding whip in the corner— a mere slip of willow that 

 she had found that afternoon ; how days passed and tlie slip took 

 root ; how years passed and it became the weeping willow that 



you knew. - 1-i u 



Still other years have passed, and the struggles of lite have 

 caused you to forget, maybe, the tree-friends of your childhood. 

 The old oak was wounded, had not proper care and died, A 

 mighty storm lacerated the mammoth elm; it was neglected, 

 and to-day it is a mere wreck of its former self. Only a dying 

 trunk stands to remind you of the legend of the weeping willow. 



The lives of these trees might have been preserved, had you 

 not forgotten to love and care for them as you did of old. All 

 the trees are your friends-entities indeed; worthy of every 

 token of tenderness and care you can bestow upon them. They 

 cannot complain to you, and may appear healthy, while dying 

 within. Let your watchfulness supply their lack of voice! 



5] 



