Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1905-07-29
GOOD USE OF TREES
SEEDING ELMS USED IN TRANSFOR ORM-
ING AN OKLAHOMA TOWN.
How wkleNwake business Mnn
Improved the square tntn II Is
Now N Park Increasing In beauty.
what Useful Citizens Can Do.

"O" " hutH"ake buAtncsS hnn
Improved the square untn II Is
Now Park IncrensinE In Benuty.
What Useful Citizens Can Do.
1t Is not the man with vast wealth
and inclination to found libraries or
colleges who IS the only useful citizen
IIclpfulncss in building up commune
~ and making II town or city good to
live in springs from the worth of the
individualS character rather than from
his poCkctbuok. An incident reported
from II thriving little town In Oklaho-
ma Is In point. says the independent:
ON the opening of the new lands
there was laid out In tn" midst of the
town an open square In It's center
was the courthouse, and around it
were built the struggling stores of the
fl tier. The prairie winds swept the
sandy soil bare in spots, and the only
vegetation was here and there spot
of bunch grass or Il struggling group of
sunhowers. The people of the town
seemed not to care, and the uukcmpt
waste was for ten years neglected and
forsaken. The town uncOnSciouSly fol
lowed its example, and the lawns and
streets boastcd only occasionally II
tree, usually IL ragged cottonwood with
out promise of beauty or attractive
ness
one day Il young business man went
to the municipal officers and made an
odd proposal: Il have not money
enough to do it myself but If you will
pay the expense | will give my time to-
ward improving the square. | Will
oversee the work and look after 1t as If
1t were my own property. The otli-
cinls after some deliberation decided to
risk 1t and told him to go ahead.
He had the square plowed and har-
rowed as for ii crop; he sent for several
thousand elm seedlings, tiny bits of
tree that seemed scarcely more than
strAws, SO small We're they. These he
set In rows like corn and cultivated as
he would have done with maize.
Through the hot summer days-nnd
Oklahoma summer days are very tor
rid-he kept up the cultivation while
the townSmen looked on and smiled.
The trees grew rapidly. In year
they were two feet high; In another
year they were five feet high-thou-
sands of them. The square looked like
young nursery. The superintendent
notified the citizens that they could
buy the promising trees at low price,
and ns the necessary thinning Went on
he sold enough to pay all the expense
incurred in preparing, planting and
caring for the square, Now the trees
are seven to ten feet high, thrifty and
vigorous, making OF the square park,
increasing in beauty daily and in sum
mcr the delight of children and family
parties for miles around. Another five
or ten years, and 1t will be Il beautiful
grove, the shelter of the leaves making
1t possible to seed the ground to blue
grass and clover
That was not all. The thousands of
trees sold not only paid the actual ex-
pcnScs of the park, but the buyers set
them out along the streets and In the
front Yards Of the town. All over the
little town are growing these clmS, and
in decade or two the dwellings will
seem to be set in n forest while the
highways will be lined with graceful
shade. Many country school districts
have taken the lesson to heart and pur
chased the clms with which to bcauti
fy the school grounds, promising shade
and comfort for the rising generation.
A tree planting fashion has spread over
the country, with an Influence for posi-
tive advancement that can scarcely be
overeStlmatcd.
The bringing about Of this transfer
nation did not cost Its originator any
thing but little time. He simply
proved his right to the title of useful
citizen by his willingness to use In the
welfare of the town the same intelli-
gence and energy That he expended in
the management of his own business.
Not all of us can plant trees. Even
in the west, where communities are
new and conditions offer large oppOrtu-
nifty for beginning plans Alright there
cannot be a repetition in every town of
the Oklahoman's pleasing example. But
towns need other things besides trees.
These needs are usually attainable
through unselflsh effort rather than
through wealth. 1he uSetul citizen can
assist in obtaining them to rs great
degree as the rich benefactor and often
with "A wider influence for good on the
community Probably the most patent
duty lies In the Improvement Of the
towns physical appearance, and here
Is where the useful citizen who does
things rather than stands around and
talks about them can most exploit his
usefulness 1t was not the thousand
men bemoanlng the unkemptness OF the
square who corrected the evil and set
the town toward higher ldeals-it was
the one man who quietly thought out a
plan and then carried 1t to completion.
bar to Prosperity.
In far too many towns the streets are