ARBOR DA Y MANUAL. 
209 
ten for the “Arbor Day Ma> 
THE BIRCH TREE. 
[Air—“ Auld Lang Syne.”] 
T HOUGH oak, ana elm, and maple 1 
Call forth our love and care, 
With tender buds, and opening leaves, 
They woo the soft May air. 
Let not the birch tree be forgot, 
For well I bear in mind 
Its spicy buds and fragrant bark, 
I searched the woods to find. 
South Sodus, N. V. 
Then plant the birch, the silvery birch. 
Near to the school-house door, 
For teachers used its pliant limbs, 
Full oft in days of yore. 
And though 'tis used for rods no more, 
’Twill please the children kind, 
Its spicy buds and fragrant bark, 
They search the woods to find. 
Mrs. Addie V. McMullen. 
THE SEED. 
T HE farmer planted a seed,— 
A little dry, black seed; 
And off he went to other work,— 
For the farmer never was known to shirk,— 
And cared for what had need. 
The night came with its dew,— 
The cool and silent dew; 
The dawn came, and the day, 
And the farmer worked away, 
At labors not a few. 
Home from his work one day,— 
One glowing summer day,— 
His children showed him a perfect flower; 
It had burst in bloom that very hour; 
How , I cannot say. 
But I know if the smallest seed 
In the soil of love be cast, 
Both day and night will do their part; 
And the sower who works with a patient heart, 
Will find the flower at last. 
Now blossom all the trees, and all the fields 
And all the woods their pomp of foliage wear, 
And nature’s fairest robe adorns the blooming year. 
14 
Beattie. 
