It may be said that the measure of attention given to trees
indicates the condition of agriculture and civilization of a
country.

--MAHE.

_Eighth pupil._

I said I will not walk with men to-day,
But I will go among the blessed trees,--
Among the forest trees I'll take my way,
And they shall say to me what words they please.

And when I came among the trees of God,
With all their million voices sweet and blest,
They gave me welcome. So I slowly trod
Their arched and lofty aisles, with heart at rest.

_Ninth pupil._

Forests can flourish independent of agriculture; but
agriculture cannot prosper without forests.

_Tenth pupil._

The man who builds does a work which begins to decay as soon
as he has done, but the work of the man who plants trees
grows better and better, year after year, for generations.

_Eleventh pupil._

Of all man's works of art a cathedral is greatest. A vast
and majestic tree is greater than that.

--H.W. BEECHER.

_Twelfth pupil._

In an agricultural country the preservation or destruction
of forests must determine the decision of Hamlet's
alternative: "to be or not to be." An animal flayed or a
tree stripped of its bark does not perish more surely than a
land deprived of the trees.

--FELIX L. OSWALD.

_Thirteenth pupil._

By their fruit ye shall know them. Do men gather grapes of
thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree
bringeth forth good fruit; but the corrupt tree bringeth
forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit,
neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Therefore
by their fruits ye shall know them.

=8. DECLAMATION.=

A FOREST SONG.

A song for the beautiful trees!
A song for the forest grand,
The garden of God's Own land,
The pride of His centuries.
Hurrah! for the kingly oak,
For the maple, the sylvan queen,
For the lords of the emerald cloak,
For the ladies in living green.

So long as the rivers flow,
So long as the mountains rise,
May the forest sing to the skies,
And shelter the earth below.
Hurrah! for the beautiful trees,
Hurrah! for the forest grand,
The pride of His centuries,
The garden of God's own land.

--W.H. VENABLE.

=9. ADDRESS.= (BY TEACHER OR SO