PUBLIC APPEAL.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 68, 22 March 1938, Page 9

PUBLIC APPEAL.

CONSERVING FOREST.

MR. PARRY'S INTEREST.

OVERSEAS VISITOR QUOTED,

As the time for tree planting approaches there is a revival of interest in the schemes for bush preservation and roadside beautification which the Government, in conjunction with horticultural and kindred societies, promoted last year. A considerable quantity of information of value in the undertaking was collected as a result of a conference, representative of State Departments, the various societies and interested citizens, held in the middle of last year under the chairmanship of his Excellency the Governor-General, Lord Galway. The Minister of Internal Affairs, the Hon. W. E. Parry, stated to-day that the information obtained had been collated, and much of it considered ready for further action. The reports published of the enthusiasm of New Zealanders to save from destruction areas of beautiful native bush had made a remarkable appeal to the people of the Dominion and to many overseas visitors who had enthused over the grandeur of the country's native forests. One overseas fisherman, an ardent admirer of the Dominion's bush scenery, had written the Minister enthusiastically about the areas which the Minister of Lands, the Hon. F. Langstone, had recommended the Government to preserve, and also concerning the schemes for planting trees and shrubs along the bare parts of the highways. "New Zealand," the fisherman wrote, "has native trees, the various green tints of which are to be seen nowhere else in the world —and I have travelled in most countries. Whatever the cost, these trees should be kept intact for nil to see and admire as I have done so rapturously. "Your lakes and rivers are •wonderful, but think of the beauty they would lose with the trees surrounding them gone. Preserve and conserve all vou can; it is a great thing to me to see the Government taking heed of this advice. "I took my hat off in salute when I read of the scheme to beautify the railway t»acks and motor roads with native trees. Even your flax and cabbage trees are beautiful to tourists. They like to see trees growing on the wayside. They give them charm and peace. . . . Good luck to you in this great work."