PLANTING TREES.

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20906, 13 July 1933, Page 10

PLANTING TREES.

AN ARBOR MONTH SUGGESTED. HOUSEHOLDERS' OPPORTUNITY. The suggestion that an arbor month would be more valuable than an arbor day was made yesterday by Mr J. A. McPherson, Curator of the Christchurch Botanic Gardens. If one month in the year, say July, was known as arbor month, said Mr McPherson, the planting could be carried out at times suiting the needs of each particular locality. Restricting the celebration to a single day was, he thought, rather too hard and fast a rule. The Minister for Internal Affairs (the Hon. J. A. Young) has lately adopted the proposal of the Institute of Horticulture that arbor day should be observed everywhere on the third Wednesday in July instead of on the fixed date of July 23. Arbor day has had no official status, and the custom of keeping it on a fixed date has led to difficulties on account of the vagaries of the calendar. July 23 this year falls on a Sunday; hence the successful effort to have it removed to a day of the week that will be convenient to everybody. Private Planting. It has been suggested that the value of the day would be greatly increased if householders, as well as public bodies and schools, could be induced to observe it with some keenness. Much is heard nowadays of commercial tree-planting, but many people do not realise that "putting in a tree" is one of the best aesthetic investments a private citizen can make. The cost is only a few shillings; and once planted, a tree asks little more than to be left alone. Few local bodies neglect the planting of trees in streets and reserves, but even in some of the bestregulated towns in New Zealand large areas of public land still wait to be beautified m this way. It is the private property-owner, however, who chiefly fails to realise how greatly his home surroundings can be improved with beautiful trees. In Christchurch, for instance, there are large stretches of land with scarcely a patch of greenery to break the expanse of red-painted iron roofs. A Wide Variety. The difficulty of finding space for trees on small sections is admitted, but it is stated that a little thought, aided by good advice, will often enable the householder definitely to improve his surroundings. Trees differ widely in habit and rate of growth. There are deciduous trees and evergreens; some shoot upwards and others spread their branches wide. With so many varieties to choose from, a tree can be found to suit almost any corner. . Planting of trees and shrubs is being carried out now in all parts of New Zealand, and it is considered that much good would result if special emphasis were given to July as the "arbor" month of the year. Private tree planting would also be encouraged if every town had in one of its parks something m the nature of an arboretum, containing labelled specimens of trees easily grown in the locality. If the date of planting was set out in each case, the visitor would have some guide to the individual rates of growth. '