The Daily News. TUESDAY, MAY 6, 1913. OUR PARK.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 295, 6 May 1913, Page 4

The Daily News. TUESDAY, MAY 6, 1913. OUR PARK.

The annual report of the Pukekura Park Board, which is published elsewhere, makes interesting, if not altogether enheartening reading. The Park, with its beautiful walks and avenues, its magnificent native bush, and its dimpling lakes ■ I and chuckling rivulets, is admittedly the j finest public reserve South of the Line. But it is being starved, and it is really a matter for wonder that so much has been done with the slender resources at the disposal of the Board. The public, by voluntary subscription, provides about £l5O a year, the Borough Council subsidises this by another £150,' there is a revenue from rental.? of about £4O, and occasionally theve is a casual windfall in the way of a donation or a legacy. This is a little better than it was some two years ago, before an , organised effort was made to obtain support from the public, but it is still quite insufficient for the proper upkeep of the

grounds. The chairman, in his report, grows quite enthusiastic anent the beauties, of the Park and its surround- , ings, and he is only echoing the verdict '. of the many visitors who leave its : charming confines impressed with its limitless possibilities as well as with its delightful achievements. We entirely agree with the chairman when he urges that the upkeep of the Park should be a ■ h charge upon the borough funds, even if it means a small addition to the rates. If it were physically possible to transplant the Park as it stands there are dozens of communities that would he eager to bid for the privilege of owning it.! The Board deserves every credit for what it has done, and is doing, for every member is an enthusiast and a voluntary enthusiast at that. Had they not been true lovers of Nature and worshippers of what Browning has called ''the good gigantic smile of the brown old earth," ! we could never have got the results that I have been attained. But with them it | has been literally a "labor of love." I But this cannot continue indefinitely. At present, so far as the grounds.are concerned, they are taken charge of by the curator and a youth, with assistance of casual labor from time to time. The gardens require a staff of at least two laborers, in addition to the curator. Beautiful as they are, the grounds arc susceptible of still further improvement, | and attractive as they are to the visitor they could be made even more attractive »by the expenditure of a.little more time and a little- more money. In this con- , neetion a very warm tribute of praise ' must be.paid to Mr. W. W. Smith, the curator of the Park, who is something infinitely more than a gardener. He is a botanist, a scientist, a scholar and a lover of Nature; whose, heart is wholly in his work, and who loves the-Park and its surroundings as though it was his child. The town is fortunate in possessing a man of his calibre;and realising .this it should be prepared to give him the financial assistance necessary for the proper completion of his work. He should be entirely relieved of all manual labor and allowed to devote his exceptional talents to the supervision of the beautification of the grounds. The chairman has presented a concise but illuminative report upon the condition of the Park, which says neither too much nor too little, and for the untiring efforts of himself and the Board the town has every occasion to be deeply grateful. The Park is one of our most magnificent | assets, and the sooner this is generally I realised the more safety will there be of i its retaining its premier position in Australasia as the most charming and perfect resort of its kind in the colonies.