The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1909-08-25
SHOULD TEACH ABOUT TREES
Chief Forester Asks Teachers to Lay
Special Stress on This Study
in School.

Chief Forester Clifford Pinchot be-
lieves that children can't begin too
early to know and care for trees
Trees are Mr.. Pinchot's specially and
his persistent and devoted work for
some years past to create public senti-
ment for the protection of the for
ests is in a large way responsible for
the conservation movement which
comes to a head in the first national
conservation congress to be held in Sc
attic the coming week.
Mr.. PinchOt believes that teachers
and mothers and fathers should pre-
pare themselves to answer the ques-
tons of their children about the diff
ferent kinds of trees and to teach
them to understand and love them.
To this end he has sent out circular
letter asking the teachers in the pub
lie schools to lay special stress on tree
study.
What kind of a tree is that, man.
MAJ" is one of the earliest questions of
the child who is beginning to observe,
and Mr.. Pinchot thinks that the intelli-
gent mother ought to be ashamed if
she cannot answer the simple question,
Yakima Has Variety.
For desert country Yakima has a
fairly wide range of tree growth. The
fruit trees the children learn almost
uncOnsciOusly, since orchards are ever
in the public eye, and the family with
out at least a few fruit trees the ex-
ceptiOn.
The commonest tree here is, of
course, the locust. That it is so many
people think a matter of regret. The
foliage is attractive and the tree
shapely, but it is not as neat in it's
habits as some trees. The dead leaves
and beans hang on into the new sea-
son, even though the leaves begin to
fall early in August. 1t has the effect
of never being entirely dressed or UNI
dressed. When in their prime the To-
Gusts are lovely, and Naches avenue,
with it's double row down the street
center and along the curb presents as
pretty a street sight as one could find
anywhere. But in winter these same
trees look distinctly untidy, In the
early days when experiments in vege-
tation were being carried on here,
it was discovered that the locust was
adapted to local conditions, and this
variety was planted lavishly, whereas
now it is known that the maple or
some other of the more satisfactory
shade trees would have done as well.
Many COttOnwoOds.
There are some naples and a good
many cottonwoods. The latter tree,
which is very common west of the
Mississippi, is fairly rare in the New
England and middle Atlantic states,
whereas the elm. which isn't here at
all. is there the standard shade tree
Besides the maple, the box elder is a
not uncommon shade tree, while the
Lombardy poplar. though not afford
ing much shade. has picturesque eff
feet in the landscape. There used to
be number, and are still some along
the Ahtanum road, but gradually they
are becoming firewood. The catalpa
tree, with it's big heart-shaped leaves
of peculiar bright green, is seen
here and grows to greater height than
in the east. 1t is sometimes called the
cigar tree from the alleged use of the
long ripe pods as cigars. Boys of a
generation ago used to smoke the ca
talpa bean surreptitiously, but it is
from the Indians that the cigar tradi-
ton has come down.
Birds Like Mulberry.
The mulberry tree gives fine
shade and is a favorite nesting place
of the wild canary and other gentle
small birds, which like it's insipdly
sweet berries. There are some null
berries, as well as several big walnuts
and butternuts on the lower Mob Hill
road. The mountain ash, whose lovely
orange berries are sometimes known as
rowan berries" grow in town.
The quantity of sumach bushes
which grow along the river bank give
the name to Sumach park. There are
also cottonwoods, poplars and varie-