ARBOR DAY

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 55, Issue 3939, 13 August 1937, Page 4

ARBOR DAY

CEREMONY AT LOCAL SCHOOL. FOURTEEN NATIVE TREES PLANTED. In celebration of Arbor Day the children of Te Awamutu District High School were assembled in the pretty grounds on Wednesday to assist in the planting of fourteen native trees, including the following species:— Rimu, lacebark, koromiko, South Island beech, matipo, broadleaf, totara, red kowhai, and ngaio. The headmaster. Mr A. H. Woods, briefly explained the purport of the assembly, and read a message from Mr G. B. Melrose, chairman of the School Committee, in which he described Arbor Day as signifying that a duty was placed on the shoulders of everybody to provide food and shelter for the bird-life of New Zealand. He urged the planting of trees, and more trees at every suitable opportunity, and the need for respecting them and nurturing them. In fact, a good policy was that wherever a mature tree was cut down there two or more trees should be planted in its place. He appealed tor the children to study the trees, their growth, their value, and their beauty, and he was confident a love for Nature’s ornaments would be lasting and satisfying. Then Mr Woods stated that ten ot the trees would be planted by the children, one from each standard or form; the other four would be planted by adults, one by Miss Lehndorf, the senior mistress; one by himself as headmaster, one by Mr Andrew Brown on behalf of the Borough Council, and the other by Mr M. H. Williams on behalf of the Beautifying Society. Mr Brown said it was with much pleasure he participated in the ceremony. As a young man he had helped tc. cut down many thousands of beautiful native timber trees, and regretted now that lie had not been responsible for planting twice as many as were then cut down. New Zealand cannot have too many trees. He voiced an apology for absence of the Mayor, Mr G. Spinley, who was a keen advocate for beautifying Te Awamuau, and concluded with the remark that the ceremony that day should be an example and encouragement to tiie younger ones whose turn for planting one or more trees may come later.

Mr Williams said Arbor Day typified his idea of natural beauty. Trees, and especially the native trees of this Dominion, are constant reminders of a beautiful heritage, and succeeding generations would, he believed, bless the planters of this day for their foresightedness. As to their practical value, it had been computed that in twenty years’ time New Zealand would need a thousand million trees, so it could easily be seen how important it was to plant more and more trees every year. Without timber no country could progress. Then he referred to the beautiful grounds of Te Awamutu School, and paid a tribute to former headmasters for their keen enthusiasm in this connection. In his boyhood days there were no tree planting ceremonies at schools he attended. Nowadays efforts are made to make each school a real beauty spot, and Te Awamutu school had been held up as an example to other schools—to the glory of Te Awamutu school itself and of the town also.

The planting was then proceeded with, a scholar of form 5 planting a rimu, form 4 a lacebark, form 3 a South Island beech, form 3 (commercial division) a matipo, standard 6 a matipo, standard 5 a lacebark, standard 4 a koromiko, standard 3 a broad leal, standard 2 a red kowhai, and standard 1 a koromiko. Miss Lehndorf’s tree was a ngaio, Mr Woods’ a totara, Mr Brown’s and Mr Williams’ polycarpa from seeds obtained from historic trees grown at Ruakura State' Farm, propagated from trees introduced from the South of France in the earliest days of settlement in New Zealand.