Two Forest Pictures

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21562, 5 August 1933, Page 4 (Supplement)

Two Forest Pictures

DEAR BOYS AND GIRLS, — So much good copy was sent in for our Trees and Gardens Page that it was necessary to hold a great deal over from last week, so we are having a special page for the tree# to-day. I think this subject has been one of the most popular we have ever run in " Boys and Girls," and we who have seen so much ruthless destruction of trees and forests during the past years rejoice to find that the children of the present day are developing a sense of responsibility and a pride in the natural beauty of their cpuntry. You will no doubt like to know that I received this week a delightful letter from one of the most notable authorities on trees and forests in New Zealand, v/ho says: " The Boys and Girls Page dealing with trees and gardens last Saturday was so excellent that I feel I must write and congratulate the Herald and its* young contributors. The conversion of grown-ups is difficult, and I think this education of young minds will have a most important influence in making our future citizens appreciate the beauty and elevating influence of trees, and the great national value of our glorious forests." Such a letter, from such an authority, is high praise indeed, and will no doubt give great encouragement to all those who are doing their best to make our " Save the Trees " effort something more than a mere temporary movement. Last week 1 told you something of the lovely wild gardens of California and the Southern Alps. To-day I would like to take you for a brief flight on the Magic Carpet to the land of the glorious redwoods. I lived quite near o/ie of the great national reserves, and often took a trip to " Big Trees," a station not far from Santa Cruz, where I lived. Some of the great trees were nearly 200 ft. in height, their beautiful, symmetrical trunks rising up like vast columns in a cathedral. The sun came slanting down in golden shafts, lighting up the little bluo and gold flowers nestling at the foot. The forests were not all tangled up with wild undergrowth like ours; there were tall ferns and flowers and shrubs, and one could look through the trees and down into long aisles of woodland beauty. The bark of the redwood trees is very deep and soft, and a dark red in colour, and the*foliage is of a lovely feathery, fern-like texture, dark green, but not sombre like the grey-green of our New Zealand forests. The most beautiful forests I have seen in New Zealand are Waipoua, the homo of the magnificent kauri, and those of South Westland and Fiordland. There is a magnificent view of the Westland forests that I shall always remember, one of ja hundred miles of unbroken forest and snow-clad mountains. This glorious panorama is obtained from the trig-station at little Okarito, one of the historic mining towns of the West Coast. It v>as a hard, hot scramble up through the bush, but the view from the summit, a sweeping panorama of ocean, forest, lake, glacier and snowy mountain, was ample reward. Those are just a couple of little pictures from my gallery of beautiful memories, dear boys and girls, and I hope that you, too, as you grow older, will learn to love and cherish similar memories of the natural beauties of your native land. _ Your friend.