CHILDREN’S ESSAYS.

Patea Mail, Volume XLIX, 19 August 1927, Page 4

CHILDREN’S ESSAYS.

WOEK AT KAKAEAMEA SCHOOL,

The following essays on Arbor Day iwere supplied by the headmaster of the Kakaramea School (Mr. Harre), and show' the capabilities of the scholars at that school: —

I. Macdonald.—Arbor Day (or Tree Day) is a day set aside for the planting of trees. It was first thought of in Switzerland, where great snowslides would crash down the bare mountain sides, sometimes sweeping whole villages before them. To prevent this the Swiss people planted trees. New Zealand forests are fast disappearing, because man has cut and burnt to make room for fa-rmw. Palestine was once said to be a land "flowing with imilk and honey,”' but now it is a bare, barren land, Amocrc hardly anything will grow. This is because they destroyed all their forests. Another land that has suffered is China. When the rain conies pouring down on the hillsides that were once covered in beautiful forest it rushes down to the streams and floods them until they become raging torrents, laden with valuable soil. As these •torrents join a great river they cause a great flood, which might be the result of hundreds of deaths and millions of pounds’ of damage. To prevent the soil from being -all iwashed away 'the Chinee people have terraced the hill sides. Quito recently a great flood occurred an the Mississippi Valley as the result of the forests being cut away in the upper reaches of the river. It caused millions of pounds of damage and left thousands of people homeless. If we do not plant more trees there will be a famine of timber in a few years’ time.

Mildred Large.—Arbor Day is perhaps one of the most important days, in the year. Most schools celebrate Arbor Day by planting trees on the school grounds, for without trees the school would be open to the strong winds. Arbor Day was first started in Switzerland, because me Swiss needed trees to protect their land fnom the avalanches which slid down the mountainside destroying the land. Because United States of America had no trees to protect the land the rivers flooded and destroyed the people’s homes and killed many people. If the forest is chopped down the river rushes down to the sea, sweeping over the bare hillsides, and thus causing slips which block up river mouths and roads. Without trees man would not be able to live, 4s the trees provide him with homes and shelter ana food. Farmers have to plant trees for shelter for their cattle, as cattle need shade from the sun in summer and shelter from the cold blasts during winter. The ferns and mosses, which' grow underneath the spreading branches of the giant trees, act as a sponge to absorb the water, /which trickles down the leaves and falls on to the ground. Trccloycrs will never he content to observe one Arbor Day. For them every day is Arbor Day, and if they cannot plant trees they can at least study and admire them. If there were no trees there would be no birds, as the birds depend upon the forest for shelter and homes. The decaying of the dead leaves makes Lie soil riich and the foliage shades, the ground., and makes it moist. Some trees prefer the cold places, while others like to live in tropical regions. Other trees like to grow in the remote parts of the forest, while others like the open and the sunlight.