NEW ZEALAND TREES

Otago Witness, Issue 4041, 25 August 1931, Page 28

NEW ZEALAND TREES

PLANTED IN VICTORIA

(From Ove Own Correspondent ) SYDNEY, August 6

A sample of the New Zealand bush has been transplanted to the top of Mount Dandenong, in Victoria, where there is an aboretum. Those who took part in the ceremony on Arbor Day last week included members of the Victoria Tree Planters’ Association, prominent New Zealanders who live in Melbourne, and representatives of the Field Naturalists’ Club, and horticultural societies. Many coniferous trees and shrubs, all native of the Dominion, were planted. The aboretum, an area of 18 acres, already is a delightful place for tree lovers. Many countries are represented by sturdy young trees, but the recent additions' will give New Zealand a leading position among the assemblage of trees and shrubs that will increase every year. The area of the aboretum will shortly be enlarged, and there are plans to make it not only of much value to amateur horticulturists and foresters, but also one of the most beautiful resorts of the hills, where the living tree can be studied in comfort amid charming surroundings. The aboretum will be a school, as it were, for giving lessons in breeding new kinds of shrubs, lessons in planting and lessons in soil. The people of Victoria will be able to study the habits of trees and shrubs before selecting them for their own gardens or for street planting.

The trees and shrubs from New Zealand planted in this hill-top garden were selected with the greatest care and included a wide variety such as kauri, the beautiful red pine, the silver pine of Westland, the celery pine, japonica, the tall and stately totara, the white pine, the kakawa. An interesting descriptive list was prepared by Mr James Railton and distributed among those who attended the ceremony.