Reporter’s diary

Press, 27 December 1985, Page 2

Reporter’s diary

Cruising THE Merino Express shipment of live sheep to Mexico is on the high seas after a low-key protest in Timaru. A man in Amberley who has been following developments sent us a cartoon that appeared in “The Land,” a rural weekly newspaper in New South Wales. The cartoon was in an August edition of the Australian newspaper. The North Canterbury man said it made him wonder how the sheep really felt about their voyage. Strangers

THE FIRST sheep imported to New Zealand in 12 years are just now getting used to the great outdoors. For 165 exotic lambs which came to this country mainly as em-

bryos, grass is a foreign substance and sheep nuts are things they would rather eat from a bucket or human hand than search out in a paddock. The lambs have been transferred from the Somes Island quarantine station, where they were born and reared. They are at the Ministry of Agriculture’s quarantine farm at Hopuhopu. To prevent the possibility of introduced diseases even now, only their offspring will ever leave that farm. The lambs are behaving like pets. They are unconcerned by the presence of humans, and are curious about everything. According to farm staff, their first contact witj[ a

dog was more disconcerting for the dog than the sheep. The lambs chased after the dog to find out what it was. Greenhouse A MASSIVE new greenhouse is being built at Kew Gardens in London. It will create the. environments of 10 different tropical habitats over an area of 4500 square metres, from desert to mangrove swamp. Some of:the world’s rarest plants will be housed in the conservatory. The hottest zone will simulate conditions in Africa’s Namib Desert. Because of energy-saving features in the greenhouse design, the desert will have to be artificially heated to

only 15 degrees Centrigrade. The sun’s rays will do the rest.

Tree preference NOW THAT we are thinking about disposing of our drying-out Christmas pines, we hear that the British are getting more variety in their choice of seasonal trees. For many years, the Norway spruce has been used in many British homes. Because of a thriving Christmas tree growing industry, the Noble fir, Caucasian fir and Scots pine will be more readily available in coming years. According to a survey, about a third of British . households have a real trhfc, this year. Another

third have a plastic tree, or some other imitation. Those who have no tree at all abstain for a variety of reasons, including religious. Some fear that their pets could injure themselves on the needles. Band appeal

SIX bands will perform at The Beat Club on Sunday evening to help carry on the Band Aid relief work for African drought victims. The club’s proprietor, Frances Quainoo, is an African himself and recently visited his homeland. He has become convinced that long-term recovery and development projects are the only way to prevent a chronic state of emergency. All takings from the Christchurch concert will go to the Christmas Appeal, through the National Council of Churches. The bands are Rise, Le Club, Louie and the Hot Sticks, Milky Bars Band, Bad Habits and Grande Illusion. —Stan Darling