The Republican journal., 1906-05-03

Arbor Day. The wise purpose of this
law is to promote the planting of trees
vines and shrubs for adOrnment and
grateful shade. and in accordance with
It's nroyisions | hereby designate Fri
dav the fourth day of May, as Arbor
Day and recommend its observance to
orr peOple generally, and urge that the
teachers and children of our schools
make special effort to- broaden this
beautiful and necessary custom.
WILLIAM T. COBB.
Arbor Day was instituted in Nebras-
ka in 1872 by Hon. J. Sterling Morton,
afterwards Secretary of Agriculture,
and has since made its way from State
to State until provision for its obser-
vance exists in almost every State and
Territory.
The central idea Of Arbor Day is the
| intelligent and appreciative planting of
| trees by school children. The planting
is usually accompanied by exercises,
which are intended to impress upon the
children the beauty and usefulness of
| trees and thus to lend to the work the
| value of bit of nature study. Arbor
! Day has undoubtedly done much to in
culcate love of trees, and has given
added impetus to the general move
melit for the better knowledge and the
wiser use of forests.
Yet there is no question that Arbor
Day can be made more practical than
it has been: that it can be brought into
closer touch with forestry by being
made the opportunity for carrying out
simple steps in forest work. The per-
manent results OF Arbor Day from the
standpoint of successful planting have
frequently been disappointing. Too
often species entirely unsuited for
either economic or ornamental planting
have been used. Still more common
causes of failure have been the lack of
sufficient care i'll doing the work, and
neglect of the trees after they are
planted. In this way much of the edu-
cational value of the work is lost. By
leaving the trees unprotected from
animals, insects, and other destructive
agencies the intended good example is
turned, for want of little care, into
negative one.
But even when the planting has been
well conceived and wisely carried out,
there is often lacking, in work of this
nature, all reference to the larger
aspect Of forest planting. The ultimate
aim of the day might we'll be to prompt
and encourage not SO much sentiment
for trees as sentiment for the forest.
Yet the practice has been to plant in
dividual trees rather than groves, and
the relation of the single tree to the
forest has not been pointed out. Talks
on Arbor Day have not dwelt enough
upon the economic side of forestry, or
have tended to give a wrong impress
sion of the whole subject by lamenting
all cutting of trees. The effect OF this
has been actually opposed to the for
ester's teachings.
Arbor Day is the time for disseminat-
ing sound, practical knowledge regard
ing forestry in its broader aspect. The
mere act of setting few trees, with
out reference to the commercial utility
and the protective value of forests, is
but small part of the work of the day.
The proper season for planting is not
everywhere the same. South OF the
thirty-seventh parallel, especially in
the more humid regions, fall planting is
perhaps preferable, but north of this
the winter comes on so quickly that the
trees have scarcely time to develop
roots strong enough to support them
until spring, and spring planting is
therefore more advisable. The right
time to plant in spring is when the
ground has ceased to freeze and before
budding begins. Evergreens may be
planted somewhat later than hard
woods. The day to plant is almost as
important as the season. Sunny, windy
weather is very unfavora bic; cool,
damp days are the best. For this rea-
son it is well to leave the date for
Arbor Day unfixed, so that the best OPP
portunity may be chosen. Such eXer-
cises as are desired can follow when the
planting is done.
The careful selection of trees for a
specific use and situation is essential to
success, and proper planting is equally
important. Though less fastidious than
agricultural crops in their demands up
on the soil, trees can not be set in a
rough soil at random and then expect
ed to flourish. They should be planted
without allowing their roots time to
dry out from exposure to the air. When
delay between procuring the trees and
their planting can not be avoided, the
roots must be kept moist by standing
them in puddle" made of earth and
water mixed to the consistency of
cream, or ''heeled- in" by nearly burying
them in fresh earth. In setting the
trees it is important to place them about
three inches deeper than they stood
originally, and to spread out the roots
and pack the soil firmly about them.
Two inches of soil at the top should be
left very loose, to act as a mulch to re-
tain the moisture.
Large trees are by no means always
the best to plant. Small seedlings may
be secured easily and cheaply, and are
much more likely to live. If these are
set out in good numbers after the
pattern of commercial plantation
they will become in due time a true
forest on small scale.
If only few trees are planted, as is
usually the case, it is still possible to
make plain the true relation of such
work to forestry. No matter how few
the trees, they may be made to illus
trate planting for commercial or pro-
tectiye use.
The scope of Arbor Day planting may
sometimes be broadened by securing per
mission from some philosophical citi-
zen or near by farmer for the children to
plant small block of trees on his land.
This could be made a practical demon
stration of how such work is done on a
large scale.
Outside the scope of the actual plant
ing, it is we'll to bear in mind that
Arbor Day is not the only day on which
trees deserve the Intelligent thought OF
h y1rvlN