A BUSH PARADISE

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 153, 24 March 1920, Page 8

A BUSH PARADISE

" CITY'S. TREASURE AT DAY'S BAY

PROTECTION FROM FIRE

"Wellington people do not know what a paradise they have here!" Tho re- ;■ mark,.was -inade yesterday on the top "'of"tho ridge a thousand feet above sea level at the back of Day's, Bay. Truly ,it.3vaC.a .:'.magnificent • sight, a fare panorama of earth, sky and sea. Not one-per cent., perhaps, of tho ptople who visit Day's Bay are awaro of the j-rgr'andeiiT'oi'-tlie scene from tho li'ioun-j?tam-.ridgO!dt the back, otherwiso Hie path to tho top would show signs of more frequent use. Let, the visitors take the' bush- track that goes hillward ; at/ the.■■,'.entrance to tho tenuis courts, - f and,.wait' steadily .upwards, say, for twenty or thirty minutes. . They w,ill then begin to icaliso the treasure tho Empire city possesses in Williams " Park. "On the lower slopes, paths go - through-groviea of stately - Ired birch, ' reaching forty to fifty feet into the air; but. higher. up the bush. becomes.. mora dense'and tho redfbirch gives place to ■the more sombre black birch. Before the topmost ridgo is reached there is a .patch of open, clothed in light manuka 'Bbrub and fern;-where a firo has swept "lip the.-faco of the hill. -•This:opening gives a curiously interesting illustration.' Mr. J. M'Kenzio, tho City.Council's Director of Eeser.ves, pointed out yesterday how inimicallarge openings are to tho standing bush. On ' the southern side of the open area the bush commences again, but for a chain or so into it tho trees are either dead or dying. The director stated autborl- ■'■■ -tatively that'it was absolutely fatal to '■"allow the wind to get into a birch forest -—the Williams Park bush is a birch • forest; ' The natural protection to wind- ' wardof such a forest is manuka, which 'may grow to a height of loft, or 20ft. Clear out that manuka, and let the -wind get into the biroli forest, and at ■'. once the effect is seen, • Further-'on • and higher up, tlfo bush again encanopies /the track. The trees'-grow to larger dimensions and the undergrowth becomes mainly a maze of tiny birches. If such i bush was opened out, and stock of any kind were allowed to traverse it, a good deal of the undergrowth would be ' destroyed, and tho destruction of under-; 1 growth is one sure and certain way ot killing bush in New Zealand. ' What is of especial interest in the Williams Park bush is ' the effort that . •• is being made to protect the scenic aTca from destruction by- fire. Some • three' years ago, a : chain-wide break was made along tho top of tho ridge, and though this- is now overgrown with fern a couple of feet in height, •' it serves as a distinct taeak in the continuity o;" the bush at a point where it is likely ■to be most effective. - That fire-break ' 'Is to be continued along the top of the -ridge. In addition to that the whole L of the property, which consists' of -856 ••■ acres (216 acres of which are leased from the Government) is being outlined by a chaia-wide fire-break, which is' to include a ten-foot track cut down to the ' subsoil and kept absolutely, clear,of all " growth.'. Tho danger from" fire _ in a bush'suoh-as that at 'tho Bay. is«not perhaps from open flames above ground, but from, a smouldering "creep" under the fibrous growth and leaves that cover the wretchedly poor soil on these, hills.' , Bnoh a fire might exist for days- without manifesting itself, then catching :' a draught blow up into a flame, and so cause a lot of damage. To prevent that the well-cleared track and fire-. ' break are expected- to servo as an effective barrier. Williams Park was only surveyed in-May last, andiuritil tho boundaries were outlined little could be done, -~ but now the surveyors have finished the work is being pushed ahead. - Looking up the face of the hill-above York- Bay • tho start of the northern fire-break- and track can be seen traversing the hill .laterally,,abeve the beach Toad, anA.the.n ■' shooting dead cast to the top of, tho Mil. Thleiibo the boundary takes a lino down ■. into tho valley, returns sharply .up again'for a couple of chains, and then shoots-in ai sraight line for 40 chains to tho Gollan's Valley Stream; then it returns west over the {mountain to the boundary mark on tho main road rdst' before it > turns into, Bona - Bay. ■- -The distance from point to point following thorboundary line from one^side ' of "the Bay', to the- other 'is nearly five miles—to' walk it, it- sdems fifty. ■• Another idea of Mr. M'Kenzie's is to

plant' jJl'along the firebreak konini . and'karaka 'trees—the two native trees A that are fire resistant. One may keep a block of konini behind an pperi fire all the winter, and then it will perrhaps only be charred to a depth of a' quarter, of an inch; and knraka is not "encouraging as a firewood. '■': Mr. MTLcnzio has a willing and capable agent in charge of > Williams Park-in Mf.,W.'Dick, whose knowlodgo : of wood-lore''is" extensive.'.Mr. Dick keeps watch'and ward over the property ; of the corporation night and day, and at the.'first' sign of smoke ho is out on horse, and' as.he can" get right round the block in an hour, .he is never long i-ihi locating, the "site of the fire. His ; task will be made much easierwhen the

-newr.-boundaryfire-break is completed, Hie 'old one continued southward and the two connected by interlacing breaks.''