TREES AS MEMORIALS.

Matamata Record, Volume II, Issue 111, 19 December 1918, Page 1

TREES AS MEMORIALS.

The idea promulgated by Dr. Douglas, of Oamaru, of planting trees as memorials to the local heroes who have fallen in the great war is an admirable one, and one likely to meet with i almost universal approval (says a recent issue of the Otago ‘ Daily Times ’)• He proposes that along the sides of roads single trees or small groups of trees should be planted at intervals of a mile, and that each tree should have affixed to the necessary protecting fence a plate or tablet with the name of thefallen soldier,and,further, that the tree to be selected should be be the British oak. When the tree had attained sufficient size for the fence to be dispensed with the tablet would be affixed to the tree. Such a living monument would do far more to keep green the memory of those who have given their lives in defence of our Empire and liberties than any erection supplied from some monumental mason’s yard. No doubt in the larger centres costly war memorials will be erected when the longed for peace, now rapidly approaching, arrives, but the proposal of Dr Douglas would enable the country districts to have numerous memorials spread broadcast throughout their borders. The Waitaki County council has unanimously approved of the proposal, and appointed a j committee to consider the best course of action to be adopted. It is to be hoped that every county council in Otago will do likewise. The planting of memorial trees is no new thing, even in our midst, for we have in our Botanic Gardens an oak which commemorates the marriage of our late sovereign King Edward, whilst the whole of the trees in Jubilee Park were planted in commemoration of the Jubilee of Queen Victoria, an oak grove being added on the occasion of the Diamond Jubilee. In America the Arbor Day planting frequently takes the form of planting a tree consecrated to the memory of some distinguished citizen. Already in Victoria an avenue has been planted, each tree dedicated to a soldier who has fallen in the present war, and having a suitable tablet, as suggested by Dr Douglas. Apart from the desirability of the project as a means of perpetuating the memory of those who have fallen, its aesthetic value would be great. If the scheme be generally adopted it could be modified in different localities to suit local conditions. To plant the trees a mile apart would not be suitable everywhere, and an avenue leading into some centre of population would be more effective than the same number of trees at long distances from each other. Whilst probably the oak, as proposed, would generally be the most suitable tree to select, it might be desirable in some places to choose other kinds which would prove more suitable to the soil and other local conditions. For example, in the Vincent County, with its shingly soil, the beech, the Spanish Chestnut, or the walnut might grow better than the oak. If this be so it behoves any county council taking up the project to lose no time in taking steps to mature its plans and to secure expert advice thereon, for it would be a mistake to risk possible failure. It will be desirable to interest the children in the scheme, and they should, as far as practicable, be associated with the planting, so that the trees might be sacrosanct in the eyes of the most mischievous of boys. While the universal date unfortunately fixed as Arbor Day throughout the Dominion, notwithstanding its varied climates in its widely distant latitudes, is not suitable everywhere, the different counties could select their own time for what should be an interesting ceremony.