NATURE—AND MAN

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 170, 20 July 1936, Page 3

NATURE—AND MAN

Planning for Tree Years A MINISTERIAL LEAD (Edited by Leo Fanning.) True to popular anticipation—based on several statements—the Minister of Internal Affairs, the Hon. W. E. Parry, is keenly interested in the promotion of a successful Arbor Day (which should be known as Tree Day). All his life he has found heartfelt joy in Nature. He can say with Wordsworth:— “I bounded o'er the mountains, by the sides Of the deep rivers, and the lonely streams Wherever Nature led Therefore 1 am still A lover of the meadows and the woods And mountains, and of all that we behold From this green earth; of all the mighty world, Of eye and ear. . . .” The Minister desires something bigger than a formal celebration of Arbor Day. He is whole-heartedly in favour of the objectives of the new English league known as “Men of the Trees”—the creation of a “universal tree sense’ 'and the “encouragement, of all to plant, protect and love trees everywhere.” Happily, in this treeloving attitude, the Minister of Lands and Forests, who has taken a truly national view of forest-conservation and propagation. As they both have the goodwill of the Prime Minister in this field, some notable progress can be expected. Indeed, Mr. Savage has invited tree-lovers to make the pace, for his Ministers. People of the Trees That name, “Men of the Trees,” has a wide appeal to many men in Great Britain—but what about women? Ini New Zealand the Forest and Bird: Protection Society welcomes the membership of women as well as men, girls as well as boys. The ideal Is “People of the Trees,” one big national family for national welfare, which cannot be maintained without strict adherence to basic principles of forestry. The society’s portals are as wide as the horizon. It has only one policy—New Zealand—for this generation and posterity. Too often have the rights of posterity been flouted. There has been an occasional tendency to make a joke of the word “posterity”—but it simply means our children, and our children’s children, on and on—the nation to come. Have they not an intimate right to be well considered in the making and working of policies. “Money”—And Realities The other day my gaze was arrested by these headlines over a newspaper article: ‘ * oney is needed to fight farm pests. Scientific research slowed down by the depression.” Those words reminded me of a passage in an article, “Scenic Reserves and National Parks,” by Mr. E. Phil-lips-Turner (formerly Director of the State Forest Service) in the Journal of the New Zealand Institute of Horticulture. He referred to one of the false economies of the Great War period. “After the outbreak of the Great War there was no funds available for scenery preservation,” he wrote. Ponder on that statement. As the preservation of woodland scenery in some cases meant the safeguarding of farmlands on the lower levels, the restriction of the protective policy was against national welfare. This comment could apply also to the position of scientific research, of which the importance is surely emphasised by a severe depression. Happily, there is a new view in this field; the “goslow” stage has passed. New Zealanders, who have any intelligent interest in their country, may fervently hope and pray that the country’s progress should never again be checked by muddled notions of “money” as distinct from real wealth—the actual necessities of life. A Freeman —And a Prisoner The other afternoon—in the tonic sunshine of winter—l was free to see a football match. On the way I halted by a prison—a little round wire cage, in which a lonely canary stood in sil ent yearning for liberty, the joy of flashing golden wings under the blue dome of the sky. With an eye trained by amateur carpentry, I estimated the width of the cage as about eight or nine inches and the depth as about twelve or thirteen inches. There was barely enough space for the bird to turn around without touching the wire. I managed lignt whistle—the canary word for “sX oct” —and the bird perked up. The bright little eyes peered in all directions, hoping to see another bird for a friendly chat. Next came an answering “sweet” from the prisoner—a sadsweet note which made me muse sor rowfully on the narrowness of the cage. “Born in captivity!” Yes—but still a bird with a right to space enough for at least a fluttering of wings, if not for flight. Here is a case v here the State authorities should make regulations to ensure better coalitions of imprisonment for canaries and j arrots. Another Kea Story Here is another good story of playful keas, seen by Mr. A. P. Hacper at an Alpine camp. The previous chronicle mentioned that the birds liked dancing on the top stone of his openair fire-place. They were even unwilling to stop their fun when hunger obliged him to light the fire. When the match was struck (he wrote) they were most excited, and they craned forward to see the result. Then the smoke began to curl up the stone, and heads were drawn back, beaks were buried in feathers, and eyes shut until it became too thick to stand any longer— and they one by one hoppeu off the stove, sneezing, blinking and rubbing their beaks on the ground, all except one obstinate old dancer, who refused to give in. Suddenly, 1 am sorry to say, a flame shot up and before he could move it had singed ris head .leaving him bald and dirty as he fluttered off and sat on a nearby rock, looking very sorry for himself—blinking and sneezing. His mates, however, saw the humour, even if he did not, for they danced round him and shrieked “Ke-a.” I may be wrong in thinking one can tell what these noises mean, but I’ll eat my hat if those birds were not saying “Hullo old Bald Head,” at which he would make a

short rush at his tormentors who again shrieked “Ke-e-e-a,” plainly saying “Keep your hair (feathers) on.” But, joking apart, there is no doubt that they were all chaffing biin and getting the keenest amusement out of his comical appearance. Mr. Harper states that the Right Hon. L. S. Amery, who visited Ne v Zealand during his term as Secretary of State for the Dominion, was “intensely amused and interested in the few keas we saw.” Of course, anybody who sees those merry-making parrots in their Alpine playground likes them. A very strong plea on their behalf was made by a distinguished bird-lover, Mr. Sidney Porter, in the Avicultural Magazine, published by the English Avicultural Society. “I think the fascination of the kea,” he wrote, “lies in the fact that it has such a human element in its nature. I could have spent months watching them and their curious habits. I have often wondered whether, if only their persecutors knew them as intimately as I did, they would have the heart to massacre them as they do.”