NATURE—AND MAN

Grey River Argus, 6 December 1932, Page 6

NATURE—AND MAN

OPEN DOOR FOR MUDDLE. SI'OII.IXO sYI.VAX RANCTI.'AIiIES. i l E: I i I 1 I> v I .<■>) E:i n u i '! A road in the sun with the winds for play, .\ lilt in my heart L» Hi r tune of the day, The blue of the sky and the green of tin* sea, Through the roll of the years sing delight to ni'’. A wood depth, skirting the open way. The lam chuid dashing mv fare with 'Th- gleam of 1 hr sea and the gloom of the sky, Sing the song uf the y<‘ar.s as they pass me by. Shadows a-swing at the n ooii of tin' A .'hininirr of stars on the darkling I hr <-ry of th..' winds to a Iraping s p <L M.nkr ihr sum of th.- years doled out I <• me. — Mary Lowell’s “Rond Song.” Again the Depart men I of Internal Affairs has hern reipirslrd to arrange a better i h -ek on i lie operations or depredations df rollri-t<>rs t<> whom per mils are issued for the killing of native birds, and again il has side-stepped the birds ’ friends, who are also wu’king e or the g n era ] public. The s.-inie kind uf d is:t ppoi n I inenl comes wheh ;i n effort is mud to get n common-sense policy for the Dornin ion’s “wild life.” The great trouble is that the Department of Internal .Affairs has rather . |< rical role in this matter, ami leaves the administration mainly to Acclimatisation Societies. Some of these may act on principles of national welfare, but, some do not. In any case th're is an element oif hap hazardness, and thi- national interest may take second phaeef a very bad second to sectional interest. A DEPARTMENTAL “DUMP.” Boor old .Internal Affairs Depart iw nt| What a camel's back it has for the '■last straws” of other Departmeins. 1 A few years ago. the late Mr .lames Hislop, when Secretary for In ternal Affairs, made a humorous statem in about its multifarious activities and responsibilities. “It will not come as a surprise La .'earn,'' lie said, “that i|. has become a practice where no other Department is particularly com- rn l d, to refer ques lions to Inlermil Affairs, and an cn deavour is always made to supply the. information asked for, wheth(*r or not the question at issue may directly af’iect the Dcpartnwnt. ... A former Minister in Charge o f the Depart m<‘ut on one ocarsion stated that liefo e he bccaui ■ Minister of Internal Af l iirs bp wmndered what tho duties of that Minister could be, but after a* sliming ol’lice he wondered what duties could possibly be left to aii\- other Minister. ’' Stretched on such a wide front o’* routine, and concerned with all manner of Acts and Regulations, it is rather hopeless to expect the Department to have e'ear vision in the field of ‘‘wild life,’’ .and in puch eiroumstances ' h,. national nit' r -st inevitably suffers. How could il he otherwise in th-- circ u mstn iiecs .’ FLEA AGAINST VANDALISM. Luvcis of the native forest have been so porturb. d by th' 1 raids of persons who snatch away big ferns and other beautiful glow th 'for the decora tion of halls and other places that they are requesting the Government to legislate against this deplorable vandalism. Other gross offenders are the picnickers who leave an ugly litter of fruit skins, cigarette packets, meat tins and bottles by forest ways. That kind of pest has given much bother in England, but happily a strong public, opinion has been made, and the desecraTors arc being checked. A few years ago I saw a full page in “ Punch ” on that matter. The artist showed fat man, snoringly asKep against the trunk o’,' a tree. He had evidently dined and wined well, and the relics of the feast were strewn about him. A pixie, perched on a bough above the vandal, was taking revenue by letting a spider down on to the sleeper’s bald head. I n the centre, of the page were I these verses:— If you go a-pie.nicking and throw your scrap's about You’ll never see the little folk go running in and out. And if you leave your orang e peel all littered on the grass You’ll n ever go to Fairy Land or see the Fairies pass. For empty tins and tangled strings And paper bags ar e not the things To scatter where a linnet sings, So if you go a-picnicking remember you’re a gu p st Of all the tiny people, aud you’ll really find it best To leave their ball-room tidy and to clear away the mess, And perhaps you’ll see a fairy in her newest dancin,g dress. * But paper bags and broken combs Will really wreck the pixie homes I Ami .frighten all tho tiny gnomes. BIRDS TO SAVE THE FORESTS. A very important tribute to the immeasurable value of native birds for the preservation of New Zealand’s forests was made by a distinguished entomologist, Dr. David Miller, in a bulletin on “Forest and Timber Insects of Now Zealand. ’ “Of the several naturnl agencies influencing insect-develop nr r-t,” he wrote, “birds and insectfeeding insects ca n be brought more or less under human control and utilised for th n purpose of holding in check insects injurious to (forests. The native birds are intimately associated with the forests, and responsible in part for keeping the inffeet balance. “The great reduction of these birds,;

through altered environment, lias been responsible for the increase of several insects. Ther e is ample evidence to show that the native insectivorous birds are essential to the success of the indigenous forests, and in many eases to the development of exotic trees: and t' h p’oservation and increase of native birds should be a n outstanding (feature of forest development. “The utility of the bird factor is w n ll illustrated in an account from Germany. In two forests separated by a road one suffered from complete defoliation by moth-caterpillars, while the other, which was an established bird sanctuary, was undamaged, and j the swarms oif moths that migrated to it from th n infested ar p a were devour- J ed by the flocks of birds/ 1