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Arbor Day
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Arbor Day is a holiday celebrated in the United States, China and other countries, that encourages the planting and care of trees. In Commonwealth countries the spelling is Arbour Day. The Japanese celebrate the similarly-themed Greenery Day.
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Arbor Day was established by J. Sterling Morton of Nebraska City, Nebraska in 1872.
J. Sterling Morton and his wife moved from Detroit, Michigan to the Nebraska Territory in 1854, where he was the editor of Nebraska's first newspaper. His influence as a journalist led to his involvement in politics, and he became a promoter of the settlement of Nebraska. The lack of trees, however, was an obstacle.
The Great Plains had been described as the "Great American Desert." The tallgrass prairie that covered much of Nebraska at that time could provide rich farmland, but without wood for building houses or for fuel to heat homes, few found it convenient to settle there. Even the allotment of free land by the Homestead Act failed to entice sufficient numbers of families to relocate to Nebraska.
Morton proposed Arbor Day as a tree planting holiday in 1872 at a meeting of the Nebraska State Board of Agriculture. On the first Arbor Day, prizes were offered to counties and to individuals for properly planting the largest number of trees. It was claimed that more than 1 million trees were planted in Nebraska on that day.
During the course of the 1870s, several other states passed legislation to observe Arbor Day. Schools began to adopt the tradition beginning in 1882. By 1894, Arbor Day was celebrated in each state of the United States.
Morton's home in Nebraska City, Arbor Lodge, is a state historical park, which includes an arboretum and extensive landscaped grounds. Adjacent to the public park, Morton's farm, now called Arbor Day Farm, is run by the National Arbor Day Foundation.
International Day of Treeplanting is celebrated in Flanders on or around 21 March as a theme-day/educational-day/observance, not as public holidays. Tree planting is sometimes combined with awareness campaigns of the fight against cancer: Kom Op Tegen Kanker.
Since conference and of the Food and Agriculture Organization's publication World Festival of Trees, and a resolution of the United Nations in 1954: "The Conference, recognising the need of arousing mass consciousness of the aesthetic, physical and economic value of trees, recommends a World Festival of Trees to be celebrated annually in each member country on a date suited to local conditions"; it has been adopted by the Netherlands. In 1957 the National Committee Day of Planting Trees/Foundation of National Festival of Trees (Nationale Boomplantdag/Nationale Boomfeestdag) was created.
On or around 21 March (the first day of Spring) or sometimes on or around 21 September (the first day of Autumn), threequarters of city school-children and others plant trees.
In 2007 the 50th anniversairy will be celebrates with special golden jubilee-activities.
Arbor Day (Singmogil, 식목일) was a public holiday in South Korea on April 5 until 2005. The day is stil celebrated, though. On non-leap years, the day coincides with Hansik.
Arbor Day (植樹節) is a public holiday in the Republic of China (Taiwan) on March 12. It commemorates the passing of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the Father of the Republic of China, in 1925.
The national holiday is celebrated every year on the last Friday in April; it is a civic holiday in Nebraska. Each state celebrates its own state holiday. The customary observance is to plant a tree.
