“…Arbor Day, launched April 22, 1875, by J. Sterling Morton of Nebraska as part of a campaign to get people to plant trees on the bare prairie. Within a dozen years, 40 states had named April 22 an official holiday, and 600 million newly planted trees adorned the nation’s plains.”
~ Prelude to the Century: 1870-1900 by the Editors of Time-Life Books p 76
.
.
But the first Arbor Day was apparently earlier than 1875

From The History of Arbor Day, https://www.arborday.org/celebrate/history.cfm

From The History of Arbor Day, https://www.arborday.org/celebrate/history.cfm
.
Planting Trees
.
.
Arbor Day as a Holiday
.
Straight Rows

The Topeka Daily Capital, 22 April, 1896.
.
An Arbor Day Article from 1896

Arbor Day, Part 1. The Topeka Daily Capital of Topeka, Kansas on 22 April, 1896.

Arbor Day, Part 2. The Topeka Daily Capital of Topeka, Kansas, on 22 April, 1896.

Arbor Day, Part 3. The Topeka Daily Capital of Topeka, Kansas on 22 April, 1896.

Arbor Day, Part 4. The Topeka Daily Capital of Topeka, Kansas on 22 April, 1896.

Arbor Day, Part 5. The Topeka Daily Capital of Topeka, Kansas on 22 April, 1896.

Arbor Day, Part 6. The Topeka Daily Capital of Topeka, Kansas on 22 April, 1896.

Arbor Day, Part 7. The Topeka Daily Capital of Topeka, Kansas on 22 April, 1896.

Arbor Day, Part 8. The Topeka Daily Capital of Topeka, Kansas on 22 April, 1896.
.
.
Arbor Day Images of Days Gone By

Planting of trees, Arbor Day, N.Y. Public School #4, 173rd St. & Fulton Ave., New York, image: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ggb2004000388/
![Group of children and adults outside Rata School on Arbor Day, 1 August 1894, Ohingaiti district (Rangitikei). Taken by Edward George Child. Alexander Turnbull Library ref. ID: 1/1-011003-G. [source]](http://www.kristinholt.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/New-Zeland-Arbor-Day-large-1024x766.jpg)
Group of children and adults outside Rata School on Arbor Day, 1 August 1894, Ohingaiti district (Rangitikei). Taken by Edward George Child. Alexander Turnbull Library ref. ID: 1/1-011003-G. [source]

Photograph, Theodore Roosevelt replanting a Bahai orange tree, 1903
Record Group 54
Series: Photographs of Fruits, Nuts, and Vegetables, 1883-1941
Still Pictures Identifier: 54-F-79C-9041
Rediscovery Identifier: 22419 [source]

Image Credit: From The History of Arbor Day, https://www.arborday.org/celebrate/history.cfm
.
Articles about Victorian Observation of Holidays:
May Day Oddities in the Victorian United States Victorian America and Easter Eggs Victorian Americans and Mardi Gras Victorian Americans Observed Groundhog Day? Victorian Letters to Santa Victorian America Celebrates Halloween Victorian Americans Celebrate Oktoberfest Victorian America Celebrates Labor Day Pioneer Day: Utah’s Victorian History Victorian America Celebrates Independence Day Victorian America Observes Flag Day Victorian America Observes Memorial Day Victorian America Observes Mother’s Day–on Sweet Americana Sweethearts Victorian America Celebrates Arbor Day Victorian America Celebrates Easter Victorian America & April Fool’s Day–on Sweet Americana Sweethearts Victorian America Celebrates St. Patrick’s Day Victorian Leap Year Traditions, Part 1 Victorian Leap-Year Traditions, Part 2 Leap Into Love– The Victorian Way: Sweet Americana Sweethearts Victorian Era Valentine’s Day Victorian New Year Celebrations, on Sweet Americana Sweethearts A Victorian Menu for New Year’s Day, 1892 American Victorian Era Christmas Celebrations Victorian Era Thanksgiving Celebrations Happy Birthday, United States!
.
.
Copyright © 2016 Kristin Holt, LC