NATURE—AND MAN

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 77, Issue 208, 3 September 1934, Page 8

NATURE—AND MAN

THE BATTLE FOR BEAUTY. VICTORY IN SIGHT. (Edited by Leo Fanning.) While I laboured with a pen To write a lyric that- would sing, A lark with ease inscribed a rhyme Upon the sky with circling wing. 1 searched for beauty in the grass, Where tiny creatures were content To point out in humility The secret way that beauty went. I shaped a metre with such care That music measured where J wrote; Yet all 1 fashioned, and far more, Sounded in one bird’s careless note. —Eleanor Chaffee in the Chrisitian Science Monitor. A solid majority in Parliament seems to be assured for the Native Plants Protection Bill which should be passed this session. A few selfish persons may scheme against the measure, but the Government has the definite assurance that the necessary legislation has the whole-hearted support of New Zealand’s people in the mass. If it were possible to “count heads” on the question, the tally would probably show all the young folk and some hundreds of thousands of adults in favour of the proposals, and only a few hundreds—perhaps only a few score—against. When the Bill becomes law, it \.ill need strong courageous enforcement. During many years there has been much raiding of public and privaite forests. From one district alone—the native bush at the back of Paraparaumu and Paokakariki, 'Wellington Provinces—thousands of young rimu (red pine) trees have been stolen. Roads Through Forests. Whenever stern necessity requires the cutting of a road through native forest in New Zealand, the utmost care should be taken to minimise the damage, for this country’s woods are particularly sensitive. In north America, where the trees are not so easily shocked, the making of roads through realms of nature is done sympathetically. “Conservation of the inherent beauty of the forest is the most vital consideration in locating and constructing essential forest roads,” remarks Emerson Knight in American Forests. “When recreation is the prime objective, the routine of the woodland course should be conducive to the fullest enjoyment of its scenery. But when any road built either for fast or slow travel is so teated as to destroy in any marked degree the primeval forest in its original state, the resulting highway will tend to defeat its purpose. When a road passes through private holdings it is important to secure a right-of-way wide enough to ensure a lasting forest picture on both sides, even after the adjoining private timber is felled. Scenic easements might aid in solving such problems.” “Mongrelism” in Plantations. Mr. Will Appleton, a well-known business man of Wellington, where he is a member of the City Council, gave some helpful impressions of a world tour to members of the Ratepayers’ Association recently. ‘‘Parks and leserves were developed in Great Britain along native lines,” he said. “AMore could be done in this way in Wellington.” That remark could apply also to plenty of other places in New Zealand. However, probably Wellington is the chief offender against Nature. Consider, for example the Botapie Gardens. Here Nature has some beautiful stands of native trees and shrubs in several gullies. Man saw what- Nature could do in this locality, but what did he (io? He splodged the landscape with gloomy alien firs and pine-s mingled haphazardly with “natives”—in an unsightly higgledy-piggledy. Other black blots of pines mar flanks and ridges ol hills which would have given comfortable homes to pohuitukawa (the noble “Christmas-tree” which flashes into crimson in high-summer) and the graceful kowhai, whose pendants of honeyed gold are beloved by bell-birds and tuts. Trapping of Kiwis. A cur respondent of the Native Bird (and Forest) Protection SoeieHy again reports the fatal trapping of many kiwis by opossum hunters in forests of the West Coast, South Island. What a curse, in varioj® ways, those foreign opossums are proving! They are a nuisance to trees and birds (particularly during the nesting season) and trapping time brings other mischief. In view of some persons (seeking profit), the native forests are merely ideal “opossum farms,’’ but that notion is utterly against national welfare. Unless effective measures are taken promptly against these pests they will get beyond control. Penalties of Progress. Pollution of the sea by oil. which causes a lingering death for many birds, is one of the penalties of progress' in invention, which also has spread ugliness over many landscapes and has fouled many rivers. New Zealand has legislation prohibiting the release of oil waste in territorial waters, but experience has proved that the “three-mile-limit’’ does not save the coastal waters from poisonous messes. Therefore the New Zealand Harbour Board’s Association is requesting that the scope of the Act should extend to 50 miles from the coasts. The reasonablness of this plea is supported by the fact that America’s ban against oil reaches to a line 100 miles from the coasts. A Noble Bird-Lover. Dr. Axel Munthe, whose beautiful words of bird-lore have touched many thousands of hearts in many countries, was worthily honoured recently in London at a luncheon of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Here is one report of the gathering: — “It was announced that Dr. Munthe, who is almost blind and has suffered severely from insomnia for the past five months, would not be subjected to the ordeal of addressing the audience of more than 1000 persons, including such celebrities as George Bernard Shaw, E. V. Lucas, Walter de la Mare and James Stephens. Dr. Munthe was so moved, by the tributes paid to him for his establishing of a bird sanctuary on the island of Capri and for otherwise aiding in the preservation of bird life that he rose—a frail, boarded figure wearing dark glasses—and spoke graciously for a few minutes. He characterised the gathering as ‘soldiers fighting a holy war against ignorance and cruelty.’ “Mr. Shaw hailed Dr. Munthe as one of the few persons who had made themselves speak for the conscience of mankind. He declared that IDr.