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Wairarapa Times-Age, 23 September 1939, Page 9

A critic of the illegal acts of tourists of dragging up ferns by the roots and leaving them at the foot of a “wishing tree" beside Hongi’s Track, on th.e way to Rotorua, states that this mischief is a reminder of the sad havoc caused in woodlands of England in preparation for Primrose Day (in memory of Benjamin Disraeli, th.e first Earl of Beaconsfield). This annual celebration was cursed by naturelovers, sorely grieved by the widespread raids on wild primroses in the woods and on the banks beside hedges. There arc still many provisions of New Zealand law which forbid the removal of ferns and other plants or the blossom of trees from native forests, whether publicly or privately owned unless a permit has been obtained for such removal. The continuous complaints about vandalism indicate that the administration of the Act is far from effective.