PRECIOUS TREES

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 23, 27 July 1934, Page 14

PRECIOUS TREES

VALUED BY MAORIS

REPAIRING THE WASTE

The reasons for the reinstitution of Arbor Day next Wednesday, August 1, ■when all schools iv the Wellington district will plant trees, was explained in an-address which Mr. W. W. Bird delivered at the Miraniar South School. The Maoris, he said, valued their trees very highly. They used them for making implements: they made their spades and paddles from kauri and the manuka, and their/ canoes from the kauri or the totara. From the rimu and the miro and the kahikatea they ■got food in the shape of berries, and these were the trees to which the pigeons came. From the ake-ake they made, the weapon called the taiaha. They used the rata vines for "giant strides" or. swings. • The pur.iri was used for palisades, for their pas, and these were so strong that the British artillery at Ohaeawai could not break them down. From other trees like the hinau, the tawa, and the karaka, they got berries which were used for food. Hinau bread was made by soaking tho berries and crushing them and adding wild honey to form . a kind of cake which they carried on their war expeditions. There is an old Maori saying, "If you want me to rise out of bed in the morning, you must offer me some bread made from the hinau berry. " There are other trees, the makomako, the mahoe, and the pukatea, which they used for fire sticks. FOBEST-CLAD HELLS. In the old aays the Maoris did not destroy the forests, and the hills around Wellington's harbour were ' clothed with heavy bush to the water's edge. Mount Victoria and Mount Crawford, and the hills above Brooklyn, must have been covered in forest, and even now there are places where trees are sacred, or "tapu" to the Maoris. But when the pakeha came he had no respect for the children of Tanemahuta: he wanted timber for his houses and pasture land for his stock, and so the forests were laid low with axe and fire. "Nor did he concern himself with replacing them. The giant kauris, which had taken more than a thousand years to grow, fell before the axe and were sawn ,up into timber for building houses and ships. The totara, which the Maoris had valued for making canoes and carved houses, were used for piles and-building blocks, and the beautiful pohutukawas were used for ribs for ships and boats, the rimu and matai for buildings, and the kahikatea for butter boxes, while the smaller timbers were destroyed in the bush fires. And the struggle between the god of the winds and the god of the forests still goes on, and exposed trees are smashed down by the god- of the winds, while the god of the storms maintains ceaseless war with both and pours down his rain upon the land, sweeping the remnants of the children of Tanemahuta from the hillsides into the valleys below, causing great floods with landslips and consequent raising of • river-beds, resulting in tremendous loss to the pakeha who removed the protecting forests." Mr. Bird went on to point out that now the result of the destruction of our forests was efforts were being made to rep rair_sonie of tte .damage.. ' ATTEMPTS TO REPAIR DAMAGE. When the result of the destruction of our forests is realised, efforts are being made to repair some of the damage. In various places there were reserves where the bush wa_s' protected. Especi-' ally was thisneeessary.in.'.jarts which j

serve as catchment areas for water. The bush at Orongorongb, where Wellington, gets its water supply, was carefully preserved, and the City Council had planted trees on the Karori catchment reserve. In the north of Auckland we hud still left a kauri forest at Waipoua where visitors could see some of our forest giants, while on the West' Coast of the South Island there were still some splendid forests of rimu and kahikatea.- But in many other places shelter trees have had to be planted and plantations formed consisting mostly of bluegum, pinus insignis) or macrocarpa, more rapid in growth than, the original Maori trees but nothinglike the native trees in beauty or utility. • It was to encourage boys and girls in their love for trees and in their appreciation of their beauty and use to man that Arbor Day had been instituted. "If you say," said the speaker, " 'What shall I plant?' I would say, 'Plant a native tree if you can, a pohutukawa or a ngaio, a karaka, or a lace bark, a totara, kowhai, or manuka.' If you do it now, you will enjoy watchinij' them grow-; when they flower, you will love their blossom, and when you are older you will appreciate their shade. But, you may say, 'What is the good of planting a tree? I may go to another place to live and may never see the tree when it has grown up.' To that I would say, 'Well, first you have some pleasure in planting the tree and next you will feel glad that whoever follows you will have pleasure in finding a beautiful tree on his land and will appreciate your work,' for one of the greatest joys in life is to do something for others."

Frenchmen are. growing taller, the military conscripts. of the 1934 class bem* l%in taller and 2%1b heavier than the average. Greater interest in sport among the youth oE France is credited with this improvement.