ARBOR DAY AND FORESTRY LEAGUE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 2776, 26 August 1924, Page 2

ARBOR DAY AND FORESTRY LEAGUE.

SIJi .lAS. W 1 f.SOX'S address to

SCHOOL CHILDREN.

We believe it was in 1890 that Mv W. C. Nation, ilien proprietor of the “Wairnrnpa Standard" newspaper, in Oreyfown. initiated Arbor Day in New Zealand. It was subsequently taken iu> as a national movoij.eni and is harried out more or less in a perfnnetorv manner by the j imills .eboi.U tbr.illgbout the Dominion. Rv the way, the founder ~( the movement in this Dominion is -lili bale and lo nrly, despite his SO edd years and resides in Levin. Speaking at a school Arbor Day tune!ion at Marlon last Friday, ibe importance of tree planting in Yew Zealand was emphasised by Sir dames Wilson. Sir James said if v. a - (it line tlmt they should celebrate Arbor Day. Bacon bad said ••Bod lir.-u planted a garden and in very truth it is the greatest of all I.uman pleasures.'* Yo one could think of that without considering how beautiful the thought was. It was the duly of the older people to see that the children were surrounded with beautiful trees and flowers which would have an elevating influence on their minds. One of the features of older countries was the magnificence of their gardens, .but bo was not so sure but that the little country cottage gardens were not the most beautiful of all. There was such a garden in the old days on the coach route north from Wellington. Cottage gardens were very easily kept. Old English flowers, such as the Sweet William, Primrose and similar-varieties, if properly attended In, made a garden look beautiful. It was within the scope of every person to have such a garden and school children sho uld lie given an opportunity of learning the names and colours of (lie various flowers as well as having an opportunity of knowing how to tend them. When he arrived in New Zealand over 50 years ago from Australia, he was surprised to note the beautiful forests of New Zealand. lie went through i\e Wairarapn and whole country was covered with forests. Since then the whole of that forest area had gone. Palmerston North was surrounded with'trees, lmt they too had gone — (■veil to tiie extent that there was hardly enough for firewood. New Zealand required timber for iiousobuildine and other purposes and it v,as essential that something sho;!>i] di.tm to maintain the balance ~f the timber. With that object in -j.- •’ >-> 1 v.y. =irv League was for- ... a . i v '/ ..dand eventually led a tore>! service. We can grow I iiinln*r insi- as easily as a crop of wheal. It’ timber cutting were carout .-.cieiiiiiicad\ a certain mim- -.- , ...mid left 10 develop. ; . \ p;!.:ce they had one of the finest timbers in the world the kauri. Tie had a friend who »,,,a••-■d a ii ce with a circumference of lili feet. That meant that it yeas a sapling when William the Conqueror went to England. and it was probably a fair-sized tree v,lien the Battle of Bannockburn v. us fousylit to 1 .TL-t. They bad also in New Zealand the puriri which gave magnificent hardwood timber. When he came to New Zealand very few people thought about trees and neglected to plant them. They now • - ih. ,-i mo of their ways.