Arbor day manual. An aid in preparing programs for Arbor day exercises

Front matter

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Introduction

THIS book had its inspiration in an acknowledged reverence for Nature, an admiration for trees and forests, an interest in the establishment and development of Arbor Day and its purposes, and a desire to furnish teachers and others with suitable material, carefully selected, in convenient form for the preparation ' of programs for Arbor Day exercises. Such exercises very properly accompany the planting of trees.

One cannot engage in the preparation of such a work without constantly growing more and more in touch with Nature and the great lessons which she teaches. Interest and reverence go together. One is also' deeply impressed through it all with the earnestness and tenderness of the beautiful thoughts which authors in all ages, and especially American authors, have given our literature in their studies of Nature as revealed in trees, forests, flowers, birds and children.

We are carried back in memory by studies like these, to the careless days of youth, to enjoy again the unselfish companionship of the trees, the silent sentinels about the old home, in whose leaves we have tried to read our fortunes. We recall the handsome butternuts which clasped hands across the roadway near the homestead, the graceful maples in the grove, the orchards and the forests, associated with all of which are so many of the truest joys of life. The stately elm too, which still stands on the hill, a guide for miles around, the pride of the community, is remembered with all the associations which are inseparable from it.

Arbor Day is rapidly becoming one of the most interesting and one of the most extensively observed of school holidays. Originating in Nebraska in 1872, it is now observed with more or less enthusiasm in nearly every State of the Union, and many millions of trees have been planted. It\ cannot be expected that all that can be done on Arbor Day in this direction } will counteract in a great degree the waste constantly going on in our forests, but it is hoped that the observance of the day will do something to excite a reverence for Nature in the study of her great works. Wanton destruction of trees may be prevented, or stayed, and children may learn, by simple exercises, some of the uses and beauties of trees, and of the value of v j INTRODUCTION.

the study of tree-planting, in its economic phases, and something can at least be done, through such influences, to beautify the school grounds of our country.

Acknowledgments.

If it were possible, it would be a pleasure to make acknowledgment by name of all friends who have aided in the preparation of this volume. To those who have contributed original productions to its pages, and to those who have kindly permitted the use of carefully-arranged programs, special acknowledgment is made.

Mention is particularly made of the following publishers, from whose publications numerous beautiful and appropriate selections have been taken : Harper & Brothers, New York ; D. Appleton & Co., New York ; A. S. Barnes & Co., New York ; Ivison, Blakeman & Co., New York ; Sheldon & Co., New York; Taintor Brothers & Co., New York; E. H. Butler & Co., Philadelphia; The J. B. Lippincott Co., Philadelphia; Cowperthwait & Co., Philadelphia; Van Antwerp, Bragg &: Co., Cincinnati; Ginn & Co., Boston.

Selections from the American poets, Longfellow, Whittier, Holmes, Lowell, Emerson and others are used by permission of and by special arrangement with Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., of Boston, owners of the copyrights, and publishers of the Household Editions of the poets which form a valuable poetical library in themselves. Quotations from the works of Bryant are used by permission of Mr. Parke Godwin of New York.

For the use of the music given, special acknowledgment is made to Harper & Brothers, New York, publishers of the Franklin Square Song Collection ; D. Appleton & Co., New York, publishers of the "Song Wave"; Ivison, Blakeman & Co., New York, publishers of the " Progressive Glee and Chorus Book" ; Biglow & Main, New York ; Ginn & Co., Boston, publishers of "The Coda"; The W. W. Whitney Co., Toledo, publishers of the "Song Prize."

Contents

PAGE.

Selections 1

How Arbor Day is Observed in Various States 329

Specimen Programs 337

How to Plant Trees — What to Plant 353

Arbor Day Music 381