Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1905-04-14
ARBOR DAY OBSERVANCE.
TODAY'S PROGRAM AT THE
PUBLIC SCHOOL.
Tree Planting a Feature of The
Occasion-Many Parents
of The Children
Present..

Today was observed in all the pub
lie schools of the state, in accordance
with the Governor proclamation.
for the annual celebration of Arbor
and Bird Day, and in many schools
elaborate programs OF literary prodnc-
tion upon the significance of the day
were carried out. The felicitous sug-
gestions for fitly celebrating the day.
we're prepared sometime ago by
Mr.. NJ. Bates Stephens, superinten-
dent of public schools of the state.
In the Annapolis public school the
exercises began at IL 45 O'Clock and
were held in the large Assembly Hall
on the top floor of the school building
ON Green street. Many of the parents
of the children who took part in the
program were present. and several Of
the school trustees attended the exer-
cises. Children brought the teachers
sprng flowers, the desks andrecitation
rooms being profusely decorated in
arbutus. crocus, narcisus and Easter
flowers. The following program was
carried out:
Song" Columbia The Gem of The
Ocean,"
Recitation -''Who Loves the Trees
jefferson, Audrey Shipley, Frederick
Wilmer, Lillian Basil.
Recitation" Welcome to April, =
By George Carlson.
Song-M -Mendelssohn' "Spring Song. y
Recitation-"W When the Green Gets
Back on the Trees. by Myron Rull-
man.
Recitation--''A Spring Meeting.
by James Moss.
After the program the children
marched by classes to the school yard.
where tree was planted during the
singing of the Tree Planting Song !"
The tree was a silver maple and was
named of Eugene Watllen in honor of
the Superintendent of County Schools.
With each year the necessity that
prompts the observation of Arbor Day
becomes more apparent. and the prac-
tical value of instruction upon the
uses of trees and birds is easily shown
the school child by noticeable illustra-
tions. In such illustrations there can
be pointed out the dangers of sandy,
shifting coasts without trees, the ex.
periments of tree planting on Sable
Island TO lessen the dangers of .naviga-
tion, the deltas made solid by growth
of trees, and the great work done by
Presidents Cleveland and Roosevelt
to preserve the forests. The program
for the day may also advantageously
contain essays upon how to plant
trees, the proper time and manner of
planting, scientific facts about the
life of plants and trees, such as school
children can understand, and interest
ing poetry which will describe in a
condensed form some of the salient
facts.
No less important than the raising
of trees is to instill into the minds of
schoolchildren love of birds, which
are themselves friends to the trees.
No one agency is perhaps so valuable
to the agricuiturist as the presence
of birds to kill the vermin which
would otherwise destroy his crops.
and the\ value of these feathered
friends of man in lending to the rural
districts that attraetiveness that has
been extolled in prose and verse in
ages past cannot be overestimated No
sojourn in the country would be worth
the while were it not for the morning
concert of the song birds in field and
wood as the sun is rising. No efforts,
also, can be too strongly exerted by
schoolteachers to disoountenance the
indiscriminate robbing of BIRDS nests
by persons who are inspired by tenn
porary desireE TO sbecomes naturalists,
and the most feasible way. of arousing
a counter feeling TO this fad is to
enlist the schoolchildren as defenders
of the birds