The Wanganui Chronicle SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1936. TREES

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 222, 19 September 1936, Page 8

The Wanganui Chronicle SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1936. TREES

IX in. sprmgtime ;i sane man’s fancy lighlly turns Io thoughts of trees. T'rom the first intrusion of the warmer weather the eye turns upwards, first to gauge the strength of the sun, and secondly to notice its registration in the swelling buds which point their gummed tips heavenwards. The bare branches of the chestnuts otter a good signpost of the oncoming of the new season. for the buds swell and then take on a glow as a red, gummy substance exudes over the surface covering. Very soon the leaves emerge, unfolding gradually and cautiously. Hut it is not the chestnuts which claim the attention for very long. There are those riots of colour which I lie wattles provide. How joyously they' spread themselves! lieminders of the fact that spring conies early in their Australian home and that they, in their exile- have not forgotten that fact. There ia blataney about the wattle, a sort of Australian ‘ I. don’t care a hang what you think about me. I am enjoying myself” declaration. That sort of temper is precisely the temper which is making Australians the great adventurers they aspire lo be. Alter the wattles, however, come a much more sedate set of revellers: they are the flowering fruit trees. The Japanese have made a speciality of these trees, and llm reason lor this is not generally known: it arises out of the conditions of the weather in Japan. In that delightful land there is the glorious springtime, ami then soon after comes the monsoon, and all blossoms are compelled to battle against warm, wet and often windy weather. Consequently the Japanese, being artists, have taken the flowering cherry to themselves, ami made the best of lhese early-flowering heralds of the turn of the year, l-’or the same reason the Japanese have bestowed a tremendous attention lo the chrysanthemum, it coming late in the autumn when the late monsoons have ceased and there is a period of calm before the rigours of the winter invade Xippon from llm northern seas Tn X'ew Zealand the flowering trees move into notice as docs a modest bride, blushing because of the attention concentrated upon her. shrinking- at first, gradually lifting her face, then throwing back her veil she spreads }icr tresses lo be met by a shower of confetti. Trees have personality, but only those who become intimate with one or two trees can comprehend what that personality is in each ease. Trees- in their disposition are like gentlefolk, cautions of whom they permit into their intimate circle, but when once admitted revealing themselves gradually day by day. and in so doing laying hold of their friends with hooks of steel. It is not surprising, therefore, that in those lands where culture is finely developed there is a love of trees which amounts quite to a real reverence. The ancient Maoris had this reverence, the English have it still, and the Americans are acquiring it. When it has taken hold on Xew Zealanders it will be a sign that the pioneering period has passed forever. The wise man walks beneath his trees and feels that in so doing he is receiving a benediction from their outstretched arms. Only those whe feel thus may be accounted wise.