PARK AND CEMETERY. 
27 
ive and carefully arranged programme of exercises 
for the children of the public schools, containing 
the history of the origin of Arbor Day, its cause 
and reason, and some beautiful quotations from the 
poets and writers endorsing the objects to be at- 
tained. 
Governor Tanner of Illinois says: “The impor- 
tance of tree planting here cannot be overestimated. 
Let every household plant a fruit tree, whose fruit 
shall refresh children yet unborn; let every farmer 
plant a shade tree in his pasture for the benefit of 
his horses and his cattle; plant trees to commemor- 
ate the birth of offspring; plant them by the graves 
of the dead; plant them along the roads and high- 
ways; plant them in the yards of your schools and 
houses. ” 
Dates set for the observation of Arbor Day: 
Connecticut — May 7. 
Illinois — April 20. 
Idaho — May 7 . 
Kansas — Proclamation not yet issued. Kansas has no 
statute recognizing the day, but it has become a custom 
of the people and the governor issues a proclamation ac- 
cordingly. 
Kentucky — The governor issues a proclamation in the 
Fall calling attention to Arbor Day. 
Maryland — April 14.. Maryland designates the day as 
Arbor and Highway Day. 
Massachusetts — By statute for the last Saturday in April. 
Michigan — April 30. Michigan passed its laws recogniz- 
Arbor Day in 1885. 
Minnesota — April 30. 
Montana — Proclamation not yet issued. 
Nebraska — April 22. 
New Hampshire— May 1. 
New Jersey — April 30. 
North Dakota — May 7. North Dakota has no law on the 
subject, but a custom has been established. 
Ohio — Proclamation not yet issued. 
Pennsylvania — Owing to differences in seasons in the state 
two days are designated, April 9 and April 23. 
Rhode Island — By statute set for second Friday in May. 
Texas— February 22. 
Vermont — Day will probably be set for May 7. 
Wisconsin — April 30. Wisconsin makes the day Arbor 
and Bird Day. 
The foregoing extracts from current proclama- 
tions will give an idea of the ground desired to be 
covered by the observance of Arbor Day in the 
economy of the nation. There might be added to 
these the desirability of planting memorial trees in 
church yards and cemeteries. Trees make beauti- 
ful memorials, provided a judicious selection is made 
of the kind most suitable for the climate and ruling 
conditions, and care be taken in the planting and 
establishing. In the planting of trees and shrub- 
bery for the more decorative purposes, as suggested 
in many of the proclamations, careful consideration 
should be given to the matter beforehand, and com- 
petent advice sought for the work of arrangement 
and grouping, so that not only the best results may 
be obtained so far as success in healthy growth is 
concerned, but that the best effects either in regard 
to the immediate vicinity or to the general landscape 
may be of a certainty secured. In connection with the 
fast growing interest in landscape art, and the ad- 
advantages of surrounding ourselves with nature’s 
choicest offerings, Arbor Day will serve as a yearly 
renewal of activity in this direction and hasten the 
proper development of refinement in our homes and 
country. 
GARDEN AND PARK IMPROVEMENT. 
There has been an immense improvement in va- 
rious directions during the last quarter of the nine- 
teenth century, especially in the production of 
florists’ flowers, and in the establishment of public 
grounds. In villa gardens, too, there begins to be 
some improvement, and the disposition to revert to 
the herbaceous and mixed gardening of long ago 
will, if properly taken in hand, immensely vary the 
possibilities, improve the appearance, and intensify 
the interest in the country. 
The methods by which the roads and villages 
may be made more attractive are many and various, 
but the simplest, cheapest, most obvious and direct, 
is to plant something and cover the bare places 
with sightliness and verdure. Individual effort can 
do much, but the combined effort of the village so- 
cieties will surely be the means through which the 
most telling and effective reforms will be effected. 
And it will pay, depend upon it, to render the vil- 
lages restful and beautiful. The bicycle in this con- 
nection will play its part and bring summer resi- 
dents from the cities to the most attractive places; 
this may not always be an unmixed advantage, but 
if properly taken into consideration, the greater fa- 
cility of travel cannot be other than a progress. 
Many of the readers of PARK AND CEMETERY 
will desire to know how to proceed, and as few 
things can encourage the beginner more than hav- 
ing something new and attractive for the admira- 
tion of his neighbors, we recommend the study of 
the best catalogues in connection with the series of 
papers appearing in our issues on the Geography of 
Plants. It will be seen that the great bulk of our 
northern ornamental trees, shrubs and plants are 
from the cold temperate regions of the northern 
hemisphere, while those which can be grown at the 
south and the Pacific coast are from the warm tem- 
perate regions and the tropical mountains — not only 
of the northern, but often of the southern hemisphere, 
while hundreds of tropical annuals are yet un- 
touched. Many of our readers will thus be able to 
write to friends in the missionary field or in the 
consular service for seeds of the finer plants not al- 
ready found in the catalogues, for although it is 
