WAIKATO TOWNSHIPS.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2167, 29 May 1886, Page 3

WAIKATO TOWNSHIPS.

TO THE EMTOU. Sil, — Whenever I am in the Waikato it always occurs to me that it is a pity the many pretty townships there are not made more use of as health and pleasure re sorts. Ngaruawahia, Hamilton, Cambridge, Alexandra, Te Awamutu, and Kihikihi, have all featuies of inteie^t, and could offer pleasant resting places to those requiring a change, or homes to those having small incomes and wishing to live cheaply and quietly. My object in writing is to suggest to those in authority the great desirability of doing everything that can be done to increase the natural beauty of these towns. Street planting might be carried out to a much larger extent with great advantage. The public re*er\e<s also oughtto.bcat once taken in hand and planted and beautified as fast as means will permit. When last in Cambridge I spent a inoimng in minutely examining the very beautiful park belonging to that town. It would be hard to find a spot more capable of adornment if dealt with by an artistic landscape gardener ; but the san-e error appears to have been made there as elsewhere. Why is it that we persist in planting so many of the gloomy looking pines, and neglecting our own beautiful native trees? What we all ought to strive to do is to make this Auckland province attractive to strangers, in short to make it a health and pleasure resort. How much more attractive the Cambridge park would be if the bulk of the trees in it were native ones. I cannot remember that I saw any Puriri, Karaka, Pohutukawa, Rimu, Totara, or any of the other numerous beautiful trees indigenous t<» the country. We should bear in mind that visitors come to see New Zealand, not Europe and America badly reproduced, which is what we appear to aim at. I would suggest to the Cambridge authorities the desirability of planting a considerable portion of their park in close imitation of a native forest, keeping the walks only clear, and allowing the undergrowth to accumulate as in the bush. In street planting it is necessary to bear in mind that only those trees that have tnp roots are suitable ; surface roots break up the footpaths and impede traffic ; but for our parks we might certainly with advantage rely chiefly on our own forests. — I am, yours faithfully, Samuel Vaile. The Avenue, Auckland, May 24th.