d . . . ■■jyW 
' ^ '^Vv 
^Cer\tei|i]ikl Wee* Plkr(tii|g. 
1776 . 1876 . 1976 . 
This historic y^ar. suggests special duties and opportunities to the teachers and 
youth of Connecticut. American History, too much neglected An our schools, 
should now enlist greater interest and attention. These 'centennial anniversaries 
* and celebrations can be made to foster a historic^epirit and give to this important 
study greater vividness, apd, honor, and value. But while studying the annals 
% of the past,, our pupils should nb encouraged to do something for the fftfcure. There 
is no betted way to honor ^he herofes of 1176 than Tby some good cleeds whose 
f rfms may survi ve 1976. .One way in which smy boy apav ^a^ gomplish this result 
is by. planting a thrifty elm or oak. 
Tree-planting is fitted to give a lesson of forethought to the juvenile mind- v 
Living solely in the present and for the present, too many youth will * so W. ohlv * 
where they can shortly reap. A meager crop, soon in hand, outweighs a golden 
harvest long in maturing. As short-sightedness is the danger of youtn, they should 
learn that forecasting the future is the condition of wisdom. Arboriculture is a- 
discipline in foresight, for it is always planting for the future and often for the 
distant future. To do something in this centennial year which may live on in 
1976, will be a healthful a spirahon ta any youth. ^Washington Irving well says 
of tree-planting, “There is a grande^of thought connected with this heroic line 
of husbandry. It is worthy of lihrf^ and freedjbrn and ^spiring men. He who 
plants an oak looks forward to future feges nnd plants for posterity, exulting in the 
idea that the acorn which he ha sJ buried in the ejrth* shall grow up into a lofty 
pile and shall keep on flourishinf and Ancreasin Jfand benefitting mankind long- 
after he has ceased to tread his paternal fields,” It win Id be a grand achievement for 
this centennial year, if a genuine inte^e^t in arboriculfcre dan be awakened in all our 
towns. To this end our- pupils should observe all th\ opmmon trees so as readily 
to recognize them by any one of the six most distinctive marks. If fit lessons were 
early given on the varieties and value, the beauty and grandeur of our majestic 
trees, our youth could hardly fml to admire and enjoy them, and then to plant and 
protect them. The planting of one hundred thousand trees by the wayside (and 
that would be forty thousand less than one for each pupil and teacher) would 
ultimately make the roads and streets of Connecticut by far the most beautiful in 
America. If private taste, publih spirit, town pride and the sentiment of 
patriotism to our State could be duly enlisted in connection with the certainty of 
pecuniary profit and the manifold personal advantage of every citizen, our streets 
would become bowers of beauty and verdure. Nothing can add so great a charm to 
our country roads or village streets, as long and magnificent avenues of stately 
elms and maples, such as may already be seen in many beautif ul towns in Connecticut. 
But there remain some desolate, neglected, repulsive, leafless villages, where 
taste and trees, and shrubbery, hedges, creeping vines and a park or green, 
would make the wilderness blossom as the rose. 
BOTAN ICAL 
cm copyright reserved Garden 
