ROUND THE RESERVES

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2954, 18 December 1916, Page 8

ROUND THE RESERVES

COMMITTEE'S YEAR-END REVIEW On Friday afternoon tlio members o? the Reserves Committee of' iho City. Council paid a vikit to tho various City reserves for the purpose ol having a year-end look round, or stock-taking. There were present: Councillors George Frost (chairman), W. 11. P. Barber, T. Bush, W. J. Thompson, tho City Engineer (Mr. W. 11. Morton), and Mr. ' George Remington (of the Rose and Carnation Club). In tw& motor-cars tho party was conveyed first of all to Central Park, the reserve that lies between the City and . Brooklyn, which already promises to bo one of the finest and most central beauty spots in tho City. Tho line ornamental iron gates at the entrance to tho park (presented by the Mayor) were admired, and it was seen that the Blundell fountain, which makes a handsome ornamental feature just inside the main oiitrauce, is rapidly approactimg completion. 'J lie most strnong arboreal feature at tho park just'now is tli6 rose bank. Hundreds of Dorothy Perkins, Hiawatha, and other climbing roses have been planted along tue bank made by the tramway cutting t tho east of ihe playing area, and just now it is a perfect blaze of beautiful blooms, which scent the air for hundreds of yards round, and look very pretty. Tie effect will be even better next year. From Central Park the party went to Oriental Bay, where tho new lay-out of tho long-neglected reserve was admired. Tho whole of that little resting-place lias been turfed, re-pathed, and amply, provided with garden seats, whilst little stump rock-walls have just the right effect to mark the sectional divisions. At the Basin Reserve was shown what had been done ■ at the north-western; corner, where a faded old shrubbery; had been replaced bv a Jinely-graded' turfed bank, which not only lrade room for a better entrance (from Buckle Street) but also made extra Vantage ground for s6me thousands of people.. On the eastern and southern side were "the ruins of Pompeii," as one member of- the party named the series of. concrete pillars that pe going to form part of the new interior fence that will supplant tho existing one. The present aspect certainly resembles in stateliness of design and solidity in structure some of the views of defunct cities of,old. The completion of the scheme, which includes .the lowering of the Molesworth fountain to the level of the reserve, will make a great change faille better in the "Cinderella of the Reserves."

At tlio Zoo, the new curator's cot-" tage, the new feed-house, and. , gatekeeper's shelter, wero all inspected. With half-a-dozen overpqweringly tig ostriches, the committee has had to provide a two-acre run at the." top of the hill, which block drains quickly, and is quite suitable . for the purpose. . Tho birds are all. doing well. This week the Zoo has been presented by Captain Hooper, of H.M.S. Amokura, with two sea-lions, .eight crested penguins, and one king penguin, from .the Southern Islands. The rosary is an attractive feature at the Zoo. Here a ragged willow-grown gully has been transformed "into a place of beauty through the energies of the Rose and Carnation Club. The rosary has passed its best as far as blooms are concerned, but there is still a good show of very lovely, roses—aristocrats every one, of them. At the entrance the keeper' has been given a new shelter and up-to-date steel registering turnstiles have been install'Within the tramway loop the 300 native shrubs given by Messrs. F. Cooper and Sons are doing splendidly. Coming to town again, the party paid a visit to the Town Belt at the end of Mein Street,: where 1 municipal croquet lawns are being formed. All llio levelling has been done,'-'arid the-area will be top-dressed in the autumn. Tho council has established a fine nursery, on the lower slopes of tho Town Belt at Kilbirnie, and fliero mav at present be seen some 80,000 seedlings doinn surprisingly well, ■which promises well for "treeless Wellington," as the City is so often called. A run wad taken up to Hataitai, whero some planting has beendone on tho section known as tho Town Hall reserve, 'which has improved the neighbourhood. Tho party had not the time to visit Day's Bay, whore some £1400 is being spent on improvements and alterations to the pavilion. New conveniences are being provided, and alterations are leing. made to the caretaker's cottagc.