CORONATION ACORNS

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22003, 29 January 1937, Page 10

CORONATION ACORNS

SHIPMENT TO NEW ZEALAND

AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION'S CONSIGNMENT

Eight hundred acorns from the pick of English oak trees will be planted throughout the South Island during the next 12 months, this being the method of motorists' organisations of marking the Coronation of King George VI. The acorns will arrive at Lyttelton direct from London on February 16 by the Waipawa. Advice to this effect was received yesterday by the secretary of the South Island Motor Union, Mr P. Harvey, from Sir Stenson Cooke, secretary of the Automobile Association, Great Britain. The acorns, 800 for the South Island and 800 for'the North Island, were selected under the supervision of the head of Kew Gardens, and have been packed in tins, each containing 100. They are to be carried in cool storage, and when the South Island's quota arrives, one tin will be sent to each of the automobile associations for planting in the territory covered by the association. Sir Stenson forwarded advice from the superintendent of Kew Gardens, who suggested that it might be found advisable to keep the acorns in cool storage until the autumn. In any case, the advice of experts should be sought before the planting was undertaken. As the vessel on which the consignment was shipped will not arrive at Lyttelton until after the middle of next month, it is unlikely that any of the constituent associations will be ready to plant them before the autumn.

In Christchurch it is likely that the acorns will be handed over to Mr M. J. Barnett, superintendent of city parks and reserves, as it is requested by Sir Stenson Cooke that the planting be undertaken by an expert, and that the best possible locations be chosen.