interesting thing he saw in Sicily. Our word library is from the Latin liber, bark of a tree. Thus literature is traceable in the growth of trees, and was originally written on leaves and wooden tablets. The West responds to the East in associating great writers with groups of trees, and a grateful posterity will appreciate the poetry of this idea as well while it enjoys the shade and beauty which the schools are securing for it.

SPRING CLEANING

BY SAM WALTER FOSS

From The Yankee Blade

YES, clean yer house, an' clean yer shed,
An' clean yer barn in every part;
But brush the cobwebs from yer head,

An' sweep the snowbank from yer heart;
Jes' w'en spring cleanin' comes aroun'
Bring forth the duster an' the broom,
But rake your fogy notions down,
An' sweep yer dusty soul of gloom.

Sweep ol' ideas out with the dust,

An' dress the soul in newer style,
Scrape from yer min' its wornout crust,
An' dump it in the rubbish pile;
Sweep out the dates that burn an' smart,

Bring in new loves serene an' pure,

Aroun' the hearthstone of the heart

Place modern styles of furniture.

Clean out yer moril cubby-holes,

Sweep out the dirt, scrape off the slum! 'Tis cleaning time for healthy souls;

Get up and dust! The spring hez come! Clean out the corners of the brain,

Bear down with scrubbin' brush and soap,

And dump ol' Fear into the rain,

An' dust a cozy chair for Hope.

Clean out the brain's deep rubbish hole,
Soak every cranny, great an' small,
An' in the front room of the soul

Hang pootier pictures on the wall.
Scrub up the winders of the mind,
Clean up, an' let the spring begin;
Swing open wide the dusty blind,
An' let the April sunshine in.

Plant flowers in the soul's front yard,
Set out new shade and blossom trees,
An' let the soul once froze and hard
Sprout crocuses of new idees.
Yes, clean yer house an' clean yer shed,
An clean yer barn in ev'ry part;
But brush the cobwebs from yer head

An' sweep the snowbanks from yer heart.

A UNIQUE CELEBRATION

From Journal of Education

THE most unique celebration of Arbor Day, probably, is that which occurs at Eynsford, England, where some remarkable commemorative tree-planting has taken place. The observance began in 1897, during Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee, when shade trees were planted in acrostic form, and an orchard of apple trees was set out. During the South African war the shade trees commemorated the defense of Kimberly, Ladysmith, and Mafeking. In 1902, four years after Queen Victoria's death, trees were planted along the main road as a memorial in acrostic form, expressing Lord Tennyson's line:

She wrought her people lasting good.

Since then a quarter of a mile of trees have been planted whose initial letters spell out two lines from Robert Browning's "Rabbi Ben Ezra":

The best is yet to be:

The last of life for which the first was made.

In this way the people are drawn to learn the names of many different varieties of trees, so as to identify them at sight and read the couplets from the fifty-two initial letters, for themselves.

ARBOR DAY SONG

BY MARY A. HEERMANS

OF NATURE broad and free,
Of grass and flower and tree,
Sing we to-day.

God hath pronounced it good,
So we, His creatures would
Offer to field and wood
Our heartfelt lay.

To all that meets the eye,
In earth, or air, or sky,
Tribute we bring.

Barren this world would be,
Bereft of shrub and tree;

Now gracious Lord to Thee
Praises we sing.

May we Thy hand behold,
As bud and leaf unfold,
See but Thy thought;
Nor heedlessly destroy,
Nor pass unnoticed by;
But be our constant joy
All Thou has wrought.

As each small bud and flower
Speaks of the Maker's power,
Tells of His love;

So we, Thy children dear,
Would live from year to year,
Show forth Thy goodness here,
And then above.

CELEBRATING ARBOR DAY

BY WALTER E. RANGER

From Rhode Island Arbor Day Annual, 1907 BY AN excursion into the woods pupils may learn, under the direction of their teacher, to identify the most common kinds of trees and gain a more intimate acquaintance with trees. Such an excursion, when practicable, would not be an unfitting feature of Arbor Day observance, and would not necessarily preclude other customary exercises both within and without the schoolroom.

The State Forester has made the following interesting suggestion: "It would seem to me expedient for some of the schools to reserve a shaded corner of the grounds for a small forest nursery a bed about four feet wide and any convenient length in which to raise nursery stock for planting shade and forest trees on Arbor Day. Such a nursery could be started on Arbor Day by putting into this bed some tiny seedlings such as may be found at that time under some of the mature trees of beech, maple, oak, ash, pine, and chestnut. Later the