OUR NATIONAL FLOWER
Sir, —I have been intensely interested in the discussion going on as to what should be our national emblem. I do not think the proper flower has been mentioned yet. While willing to concede that the bloom of the manuka and the frond of the fern have each strong claims for support, yet 1 think our übiquitous gorse bloom lias a paramount, claim to the distinction of being our national emblem, Gorse has a rich yellow flower; it is found everywhere in New Zealand. Gorse gives more employment for labour than any other growth. When the relief workers were in the unemployment scheme, the party were set to work in the hard-labour gang. Manuka could be cleared for £7 per acre, while it took £lB per acre to clear gorse One for the gorse! Gorse is a vigorous fighter and a conqueror withal. All the world loves and admires a conqueror. Just allow a few gorse seeds to get root in an acre of manuka scrub, or a patch of fern, and see which lias the best of the struggle for existence and mastery. The gorse has had it every time, harmonising with the law of the survival of the fittest. G.S.W.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19341016.2.177.5
Bibliographic details
New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21932, 16 October 1934, Page 13
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205OUR NATIONAL FLOWER New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21932, 16 October 1934, Page 13
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