The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1896-04-16
ARBoR DAY AT o. A. c.

Arbor Day was properly observed at the
State Agricultural College. Most Of the
students were present, and took an active
part in the singing and other exercises. The
o. A. G. Band dispensed some of the latest
music, ard DR.. Plummer made an interest
| ing extempore address. President Bloss'
| gave complete history Of the Arbor Day as
observed in America. A few extracts are
! given below:
"When our torefathers settled on the
! American continent vast forest wilderness
extended from the Atlantic ocean to tie
| Mississippi This forest was so dense that
for the first 800 years it impeded the progress
| Of civilization. Then, and during all that
| period, the success of civilization depended
on the destruction of this forest-s But, as
| civilization extended farther west, it Was
| found that the treeless prairies became
| greater obstacle to settlement than had the
forests of the east. 1t was on the great
| prairies that the value of the tree was first
realized. In Illinois and Iowa, previous to
1865, groves had been planted here and
there, by men who were regarded by their
neighbors as cranks. 1t remained for the
State Board Of Horticulture of the then tree
| less state of Nebraska, in 1872, through the
effort Of our present Secretary of Agricul-
ture, j. Sterling Morton, to invent the
thought and the word, 'Arbor Day This
board appointed an arbor day and offered a
reward Of Sl0O to that county agricultural
society which would plant the greatest num-
Der Of trees, and reward of a $25 library to
the individual who would plant the greatest
number of trees.
''Ths first Arbor Day was q Success, H.
600, QUO trees being planted. The next year
the same blans were introduced into Kansas,
Iowa, and Minnesota. In 1854, by the con-
tinuance Of this good beginning, Nebraska
hal planted l07 900 acres, Kansas 100000
acres, and altogether a million acres Of forest
trees had been planted on what was once
called the Great American Desert. Arbor
Day does not look backward-it looks to the
future. Those who planted the trees in 1872
did not expect to realize the benefit of the
forests thus planted. 1t was posterity whom
they expected would reap the reward. But
the thought was greater than they then con.
ceivol. Out of it grew tho American Con
1
of the government.
''Thcso all looked to the economic results.
The destruction Of the forests OF the eastern
statos was fast making these states as treelcss
as the great prairies of the wost. By ca!cu-
lation in 1884, it had been found that th=
timber used IN fuel and lumber equalcd in
amount which only under the most fhvora-
BILE circumstances could be grown on ,200,-
100000 acres, and that only 50O,00o,GoO
acres then remained in the United States.
Hence it was only question of time when
all forest trees must be destroyed. To meet
this great economic problem Arbor Day was
founded. Men of all ages had been prodi-
gal of the present and only under compul-
sion have they planned for results a hundred
years hence.
1.-The new idea of Arbor Day-.he arbor
day for the public sehools-the purpose being
to instil into the youthful mind the more
altruiStic notion Of planning results for the
/ distant future-was inauguratdt at Ci"cln-
natl, Ohio, under the direction of City Supt.
Pcaslee in 1885. when, with 10000 shildrsn
of the public schools he wcnEt to the>ni "
parks and planted thousands Of trees. In
1888, throu .h the State Superintendent OF
/ West Virginia, the whole state was aroused
and Arbor Day was kept in almost every
school district. The next year dozen
states through the agency of the schools
organized the work and sent out programs
: for carrying on the exercises. In 1892 at the
National Teachers Association it was re-
ported that 40 states had Arbor Day exer-
cises,- it Is unanimous.
''While til, work done in the public and
private school has looked Immediately to
esthetic results-thc adornment of the
grounds around the school house and the
homes-yet this work is the very best prepa-
ration for great economic thought out o
which it grew"
A tree was planted in honor Of the memory
of the late Robert Erwin who had been con.
nccted with the college since its reorganiza
ton.