ARBOR DAY

Yes! Today is Arbor Day in New York State! And our environmental conservation friends tell us it's a good day to plant a tree.

The state's Department of Environmental Conservation says the holiday, first celebrated in 1872, was created to encourage farmers and settlers to plant trees for shade and lumber. For us today, it's a good time to help our environment by adding to the tree population.

And it's also a good time to look at some of the Bullis "tree books" to get ideas about the kind to plant as well as how to identify and care for those that may be currently growing in and around our neighborhoods.

So we invite you to stop by the Bullis Room and look through some of these "oldie but goody" books. And then, we can all get out our shovels, dig a hole, and plant a tree.

Here's a list of some of the "tree books" you can find in the Bullis Room:

Our Native Trees and How to Identify Them

Author: Harriet Louise Keeler

Publisher: C. Scribner Sons, 1900

A Guide to Trees

Author: Alice Lounsberry

Publisher: F. A. Stokes, 1900

What May Be Learned From a Tree

Author: Harland Coultas

Publisher: Appleton, 1860

Handbook of the Trees of the Northern States and Canada, 

East of the Rocky Mountains

Author: Romeyn Beck

Publisher: R.B. Hough, 1924, C1907

Familiar Trees and Their Leaves, Described and Illustrated

Author: Ferdinand Schuyler Matthews

Publisher: Appleton, 1911

Manual of Cultivated Trees and Shrubs,  Hardy in North America

Author: Alfred Rehden

Publisher: Macmillan, 1934

Oh - one more thing - a trivia question!  What is New York's state tree?

WHAT MAY BE LEARNED FROM A TREE

Since today is Arbor Day, we scrolled through the collection's data base for books on trees, and stopped when we saw the entry "What May Be Learned From a Tree."  Wow, what a neat book!  The author, Harland Coultas, copyrighted the book in 1855 and it went into several printings. The Bullis copy was published in 1860 by D. Appleton.

Mr. Coultas began his book with the history of trees and followed up with discussions of tree anatomy, physiology, growth, community, and death.  Interweaved throughout is the author's purpose "...to show that the tree may be regarded as a vast community of phytons, or plants, which co-operate in its construction and are mutually dependent on and subservient to each other." (Introduction, page 11)

He concludes his introduction with, "Reader, whoever you are, may this book prove to you a friend, may you be induced by its pages to look on the Tree with a new interest; and obtaining from its noble form a clear and truthful view of your own position and duty in life, become, by the perusal of this volume, a wiser man and a better citizen." (Introduction, page 12)

Many trees are visible through the Bullis Room window. Some were here long before us and will be here long after we are gone, making their contributions (individually and collectively) to our planet. Let's do what we can to help them live out their purpose.

Note: You can read Mr. Coulas's book online, or here in the Bullis Room.