THE GENERAL CELEBRATION.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XIII, Issue 2738, 5 August 1892, Page 3

THE GENERAL CELEBRATION.

The school children having assembled at the Union Bank corner were forced into procession, and headed by the Brass Band'marcnsd to the Domain. The procession halted at the reservo'?, by the side of which a small platform had been erected for the speakers and a fairly well grown young oa£ prepared planting. There a yery c.o.n?iderable. gatering of popple," uiclu.ding many of the chief citizens, Mr H. M. Jones, of the Borough Council Domain Committee, who had made most of the arrangements for the gathering, was Chairman and the first speaker. He qai^ they were gathered, t}sre. m response po m inptatio*} D 7 IW nel^ asking them to inaugurate'Arbo> Day which was iq be a day aep apart fsyery year for the planting of trees around their residences Snd m their public groupcta. Jf c did not ieauire p, fcejl them of the advantages of We« to t|ibsg b,r6ft'4 plains; of ou.rs, Ue goul^ recollept the time when there were but few trees to be seen on the plains, and there were many people present «vho had travelled weary miles m the early times —not so very long Ago—when there were no trees to relieve the monotony of the scene, the only variation being the line of telegraph poles along the railway. Thanks to the County Council and the Plantation Board, a large n^mbey °l {••serves m f.ha Coqnty were now thipkly planted, and sellers everywjiere hfs planted trees which were now well grown a^id avoiding shade and shelter. They owed much to the County Council for what that body had done m tfye of plantingj and "for the benefits that the rpe'sj gonferped; Fur h^d tfee people of the toip been neglected I.' Tliey Iliad only \,o look round" the 4 Domain m which they were then gathered to see what had been done. Only a few years ago the Domain was a wilderness with no trees m it at all, but now they had quite a forest of tall and stately trees affording shade and shelter. The djnion,stratioi* had been Wpinged more m the internets of the young

f people, to interest f h«»m if possible m the plant ing and care for trees, and he hoped that Ihe instruction and kindly advice that had been given to the youn*» people on this subject by teachers and fiends would not be lost. The study of vegetable life was beneficial to all who engaged m it, but it seemed to be inhuman nature to take a delight m destroying trees and shrubs. He warned the young people I against such destruction. He would be I glad to see the Horticultural Society giving prizes for plants grown by. children. A commenorafcive tree would|now be planted 'by the Mayor and the tree chosen was an oak, one of England's best ar.4 noblest forest trees. The Mayor said Mr Jones had fully explained to them what Arbor Day meant. He himself had come from a place m the Old Country where there were plenty of woods, and, not accustomed to bare plains, he did not take kindly to the bareness of Ashburton at first, the only trees about then being afewnear Saunders' 1 mill. All that has been changed now, and there are trees everywhere. There was something m knowing what kind of trees to plant, The Borough Council were now paying for cutting down some of theirs (Laughter.) In future years he hoped Arbor Day would be celebrated all over the county, and that every waste place m it would be planted. The Mayor then proceeded to plant the memorial tree. MrE. G. Wright, M.R.K.. said he had taken such interest m planting m Canterbury that ho had much pleasure m being present at a gathering of that kind; He was hardly ,at one with Mr Jones that human nature delighted m the destruction of trees and shrubs. He had found that the majority of peqplo were anxiouu to preserve them. Speaking for himself, it was with the utmost regret that he cut down a tree, and if the tendency towards tree destruction had been great among Ash burton people the Domain -would not now have the shady bowers by its flowing streams m place of the wilderness of a few years ago. Fifteen or twenty years ago the district had a reputation for boisterous winds, but the climate had changed very much since then and the change was to be attributed to the extensive plantations of thecountry; m a minor degree to the water races by which the air was kept cooler, and to the destruction of the tussock and the substitution for it of green pasture. Those three agencies had done so much to temper the climate that now few places could be found m the habitable globe that could Doaat of a better climate than Ashburton. Ha hoped efforts would be made to culti- J vaqe more-of the deciduous tree*, these were slow growers, and m the earlier days attention had almost wholly been given to pines and macrocarpa, which were calculated to provide the shade and shelter wanted m a shorter cpace of time. In the North Island there had been wholesale destruction of forest that it would take centuries to replace,—valuable timber like totara, for instance had been recklessly cut down. He thought it would be wise before country was thrown open that some qualified officer should inspect the timber and put an embargo on trees that ought not to be cut down totara and other similar native trees were like the cedars of Lebanon that were slow of growth. He was glad that this movement had been inaugurated and he trusted it would have the effect of extending plantations m this part of the colony, (applause.) Dr Tweed was pleased to see the young people coming out to te'ebrate Arbor Day. In Grsytown m the North Island the people had planted three or four miles of the road way, and he was pleased to know that both the totara and black pine trees were being carefully preserved. The doctor paid a high compliment to Mr Jones for the energy he had displayed m arranging for this gathering, and moved a vote of thanks to lum, to the band, to the nurserymen, and to the men who had dug holes for the trees. Mr R. M. Cuthbertson seconded ihe motion which was carried with cheers. The National Anthem,'led by the band, and conducted by Mr H. A Gate?, was then sung by those present, and the proceedings closed.