Commemoration Trees

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 189, 7 May 1937, Page 13

Commemoration Trees

Sir—Lord Bledisloe oif one occasion when talking about trees said he thought New Zealanders bad a "Piuus insigne-' complex," so fond were they of .flaming that particular tree iu every possible situation. Whether this be so or not, it does seem as though people in thU- country do not appreciate their own native trees as they should do. For instance, it seems to be an almost universal practice to plant English oaks to commemorate any special event, and the coming Coronation is no exception to this rule; and a very foolish one it is. The climate of New Zealand is not suitable for growing oak trees, being too warm for them to grow as hardy as they do at Home; and what is worse, out here t’ ey are' liable to a disease which in their native country they escape; and to this disease they succumb sooner or later. Evidence of this could be seen some years ago at Maraekakapo and other places known to the writer. Why not plant totara as memorial trees? They make fine specimen trees with branches to the ground if they are given room to develop as they should, and being indigenous to the country and typical of its flora are much more suitable for this purpose than oaks or any other exotie could be.—l am, ete.. AGUR. Waipawa, H. 8., May 5.