The Waxahachie daily light. [volume] (Waxahachie, Tex.) 1894-current, 1908-02-22
SCOPE AND USE OF ARBOR DAY
Suggestions for Making the Planting
of Trees by School Children
an Exercise in Forest
Work.

Work.
Arbor Day was instituted in Ne
braska in 1872 by Hon. j. Sterling
Morton, afterwards secretary of ag-
riculture, and has since made its
way from state to state until provis-
ion for it's observance exists in al
most 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 beau
ty 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 inculcate
a love of trees, and has given added
for the better knowledge and the
wiser use of forests.
Yet there is no question that Ar
Dor Day can be made more practical
than it has been; that it can be
brought into closer touch with
forestry by being made the oppor-
tunity for carrying out simple steps
in forest work. The permanent re-
suits from Arbor Day form 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 in doing
the work, and neglect Of the trees
after they are planted. In this way
much of the educational value of the
work is lost. By leaving the trees
unprotected for animals, insects, and
other destructive agencies the in
tended good example is turned, for
want of a little care, into negative
one.
But even when the painting has
been well conceived and carried out,
there is often lacking, in work of
this nature, all reference to the larg
innate aim of the day might well be
/ to prompt and encourage not so
much sentiment for trees as a
sentiment for the forest. Yet the
practice has been to plant individual
trees rather than groves, and the re-
lation 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 i'm
preston of the whole subject by la
menting all cutting of trees. The eff
| feet of this has actually opposed to
the forester's teachings.
Arbor Day is the time for dissem-
mating sound, practical knowledge
regarding forestry in its broader
/ dopSSt' nc LleIt dCt VI SelliuS
| few trees, without reference to the
commercial utility and the prospect
i've 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, especi-
ally in the humid regions, fall
planting is perhaps preferable, but
north of this the winter comes on so
quickly that the trees have scarce
| ly 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 bud
ding begins. Evergreen may be
planted somewhat later than hard
woods. The day to plant is almost
as important as the season. Sunny,
windy weather is very unfavorable;
cool damp days are the best. For
this season it is well to leave the date
for Arbor Day unfixed, so that the
best opportunity may be chosen.
Such exercises as are desired can
follow when the planting is done.
The careful selection of trees for
a specific use and situation is essen
tial to success, and proper planting
is equally important. Though less
fastidious than agricultural crops
in their demands upon the soil,
trees can not be set in rough soil
at random and then expected 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
maist by standing them in puddle
made of earth and water mixed to
the consistency of cream, or 'heeled-
| i'm by nearly burying them in fresh