little children, as they plant it, be taught to revere the name of him, who by his sword carved victory out of defeat, and opened the way to peace, to his distracted country. So shall "The Grant Tree" be to them a perpetual reminder of the debt they owe, not alone to him, but to the humblest Union Soldier, who sleeps in an unknown but not unhonored grave. The truest incentives to patriotism are found in the lives of the Nation's heroic dead. HENRY SABIN,

Superintendent of Public Instruction.

PLANT TREES.

BY GOVERNOR WILLIAM LARRABEE.

Plant trees and care for them. Like friends they will always be to you objects of interest and attachment. They will repay you for many years to come in fruit and nuts and flowers; and will afford protection for man, beast and bird against the piercing rays of old Sol in summer and the fierce blasts of rude Boreas in winter. Plant trees.

TREE PLANTING.

BY HON. C. F. CLARKSON.

Tree planting is the true language of the heart's love of Nature. It is the outward show of the religion of the soul, for, in the morning of years, the grove was the sanctuary where man communed with his Maker. Plant trees in your youth, so that in your manhood you may have a refreshing shade at the noontide hour, and in the fullness of age you can rest under their kind boughs, and enjoy a sweet retreat from the toils, the strife, and the anxieties of life's hot days of battle.

Besides the eulogy paid to Gen. Grant, the annual contained a tribute to the children's friend, Louisa M. Alcott, and presented selections in prose and poetry about sunshine, trees, children, birds and flowers. Greetings and letters of thanks received at the department, proved how very welcome this annual visitor had become, and defnite records as to the number of trees planted and in good condition on school-house grounds, were obtained for the report of 1888.

The third circular, April 30, 1889, bore the inscription, "The Loyal Leaflet," and comprised in its contents an address to the teachers and pupils of the schools of Iowa; appropriate articles in memory of George Washington and other leaders who shaped the destinies of our country during the first century under a constitution; patriotic songs set to music; "Lyrics of our Land," from our most eminent poets; "Lays for the Little Ones," and a choice

poem, entitled "The Marriage of the Flowers," by an Iowa author, Adjutant S. H. M. Byers.

Over 17,000 copies of the Leaflet were sent to secretaries of school boards, and from the hearty response made to this call it is evident that arbor day programs are regularly established, and every succeeding year will bring its round of interesting exercises. to add to the treasured recollections of the days that are no more.