"THE OAK TREE WAS AN ACORN ONCE."

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 52, 2 March 1929, Page 8

"THE OAK TREE WAS AN ACORN ONCE."

Here in New Zealand, where trees grow so quickly, so luxuriantly, we seem to have a mania f6r slaying them, rather than planting them. Thanks to our pioneers, we hare some glorious Homeland beauties, which they in their homesickness plafated, just to have "a little bit t>f England." In all the damps of war of olden days fine groups of these English trees stand as living witnesses of those. »vho came across the seas to us, who fought arid died for us, who fought and lived, and fought again the hardships of breaking in this glorious land for us. In Otahuhu, HoWick, MaketUj Tauranga, Russell, and in innumerable places, stately beautiful trees of England, ever reaching to the sky, give us a sense Of stability, solidity, in our semi-tropical surroundings. Christchureh has perhaps the dklest and finest collection of all, but then Chrlstchurch has wilfully lost its colonial identity; it is more English than England; so as a staunch colonial, proud and proud of our heritage, 1 am not going unduly praise Christchureh trees. has some magnificent trees, and at the did mission statiOh oii the "c&mp'' are splendid elms. Plane trfeeS, chestnuts, walnuts, and oaks of several varieties beautify almost every street. Near the cemetery is a thing of beauty, a hedge of green and crimson oaks, planted alternately; in autumii its gorgeousnfess would make dumb lipS break ilito song. Unlike Christchurch, here miich attention has been paid to the planting of native trees; already pohutukawa trees have bloOinisd in some of the What will he don© with these trees 50 years liehce one hafd|y cares to think; certainly tliey don't stand pfunihg well, and certainly at their present growth they and the street and nearby houses will Quarrel. In the old military cemetery are Several fine old cabbage trees, simply because they happened there, and were allowed to remain; otherwise no one seems to dream of beautifying bare spaces With them. Yet they are wonderfully h&fdy, and iiiost picturesque. Karaka aiid ngaio are of wonderful beauty* will weather the fiercest sea winds, can be had for the mere trouble of digging them Up, and yet in many I seaside townfe are not much in evidence. Mount Maunganui is dh exception in this respect. lii the children's playground and in the sports grounds the residents have planted delightful groups of ngaio trees. But even here the karaka ).aS not been planted as it might. Nature has been bountiful in this respect, but there is room for hundreds more. When visiting there last week, the writer was eharfned by the ■ karaka trees laden With their orange-coloured wrries, and each day gathered dozens off the ground to take on various walks, to plant where karaka trees were hot. There is nothing 60 easy to grow as a karaka berry, and in spots where cows can't get at them, nor rats run off with them, they multiply in downs beneath the parent stem; Being such a large, heavy berry, it can never be planted by the birds; therefore surely it behoves ail ti>ee lovers, when karaka berries are ripe, to carry a few to throw into likely spots. Talking of planting trees, I was told of a man who was managing a large Sheep rdri in the South Island; he was a tree lover, and each morning before going out on his large rounds he Would fill his pockets with all manner of seeds of trees, even walnuts and chestnuts, and these he wmild plant near and far. This was many years ago, and to-day the place is a Veritable eye feast for lovers of trees. It i« a fine sehsatidfi to go hick after many years to find the tiny seed you planted making a glorious beauty Spot in the land. All my life I have been planting trees, and leaving them behind, yet this i« the first plice in Which I hate found a shady tree planted for me. And now I have it in full measure, "pressed down and running over," for 100 years ago or more there were planted two pdhtitukawas, now giants of gorgeous beautv and shade. EDITH BURTON. '