WAITARA HARBOR BOARD.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 281, 30 April 1914, Page 6

WAITARA HARBOR BOARD.

A CORRECTION. (To iho Editor.) Sir, —A sniiili error crept in the printing of my letter re the above. In the lust sentence 1 wrote that Mr: Hine was one of those who did give material assistance to.the successful carrying of the Waitara Harbor Bill. The word "not" inadvertently got into type in error. Trusting that y'ou will make this correction in fairness to -Mr. Hine.—l am. "SQUARE DEAL." ' SCENIC RESERVES, RIVER EROSION, BLACKBERRIES, AND PUBLIC SPIRITED MEN (?). Sir, —In writing under the above heading (and I hope you will let it go intact), I would like to draw the attention of the public to the four articles mentioned. We have it dinned in our ears by those interested in the Everett Reserve petition that the main reason >s because it is a hot-bed of blackberries and other weeds, and a consequent menace to the land adjacent, notwithstanding the fact that blackberries will not come to maturity in the dense bush. In reply to that argument, we are toid that patches burnt in the bush are infested with blackberry, and that tile edges of the reserve carry blackberry and ragwort—is there no other country around then; that lias both and lwd them before they showed On the Enserve? It is only logical that the powers controlling the reserve should complain about the weed-infected country adjacent to the Reserve spreading sends pn to it, as to hear the argument brought forward "by the ghouls who cannot see one bit of beauty in Nature unless it backed up by a certain amount of the ; yellow god, Now, one of the most important reasons why the river reserve should be left untouched, in fact should be protected in every way by planta- ! tions, has not as yet been put before the ! public (that is, independent of its scenic | j attractions). I know a great many resi- . dents of Waitul and Kaimata districts view with alarm the spread of blackberry, but as the Everett district is now the only black spot, why should it bn made the scapegoat? Has the question of river erosion as affecting the big concrete bridge, not so long erected after J a big struggle, ever been connected with ! the scenic reserve despoliation? If it has not been considered 1 would recommend the settlers interested in the bridge to study the matter from that standpoint. Any person who has devoted a little thought to the matter. of river erosion cannot help admitting that by cutting up tile Everett rvserve and elms -killing the green trees and letting the sun into the banks incalculable damage will be done in a few years, especially when roots begin to rot', and 20 or ,10 chains is nothing, to a river like the Manganui \>;hen once the. at present, tied Op soil gets on the shift. It may do. for some to scoff, but, Mr. Editor, I hope you will put on record the thoughts expressed, and if any person desirous of interesting optical information will ■ but pay a visit to my place, he can feast 'himself on geological facts as to formation of country and river erosion to the utmost. The residents of the district named should see to it that annual pilgrimages were made to the Everett reserve in order to plant out trees from the reserve to the bridge, and the l'esidents of Waitara, to whom the matter of river erosion is of serious import. should do likewise. On the bank of the Manganui, opposite the reserve, can be seen a lovely piece of tawa bush interspersed with ferns. ett\, and reserved by a private owner, and which, of course, stands in danger of being destroyed by fire from the cut-up sections of the Everett reserve, and which will cause the high' banks in years to come to crumble! away through the action of the river. How is it that the settlers have suddenly awakened to the danger of the reserve'being a hot-bed of weeds? Let me tell the public on the whole that for years about 1000 acres on tin! top of Norfolk road sections with small clearings on and which had been thrown up by selectors because of the want of cash to work them (no Advances to Settlers then) was tied up for sawmilling purposes, and blackberry iUid ragwort had supreme sway over the clearod places, a menace to the whnle district, and at the present time is in a surprisingly bad state as nothing was done to give permanent check to the growth. The peregrinations of birds and their seed-carrying capabilities arc well known, but yet the public-spirited men wanting the Everett reserve cut up because of a menace to the community, did not a few years ago. nor do they at the present, think it their duty to see that the Norfolk road nursery is attended to, and if they would but recognise that their properties can be supplied from the place mentioned, and that it is yearly becoming' worse, and divert their energies towards getting the nuisance abated, they would find a whole army of willing workers. Thousands of ■'l'd-, we itrc told, nest in the reserve. W ell and good, leave the seed droppings to the dark, damp, sunless depths of the bush, for it will be God help the poor beggars who try that land, fell the bush, etc., for the seeds carried from the adjacent land and lying 1 dormant, will be allowed to germinate and in the end ruin and hunt the settlers off the land. Hut as to the cry that more land would be available for milk production and thereby benefit the community, will those PUBLIC SPIRITED MEN (capitals please, Mr. Editor) please publicly state how many, hundred acres are at present in the hands of speculators and graziers, and if it would not be better to see a, policy inaugurated whereby that land should he doiuir something' for the community and tlnis leave the billions of seeds sleeping in the dark on the Everett reserve still sleep on I for ever?—l am, etc.. j JOE 8.. SIMPSON. \