Grow Your Own

From Fred Dunn, in Noumea The Rotary Club of New Caledonia has set itself the rather formidable task of in stilling a love of trees into the youth of the country. It has just inaugurated a programme of distributing tiny Cook pines (above) to any school child who wishes to plant one. Acceptance of the tree entails a promise by the child to care for it for at least a year. A specially printed folder with each tree explains how to look after it.

The young trees are being supplied by the Government Forests Department and the Rotary project comes at a time when the Department is under taking a huge tree planting programme. Manx thousands of trees of different kinds have been planted in the wastelands surrounding the lake of the Yate River hydro scheme.

The Rotary Club proposes next year to invite children to plant coconut palms.

About the only criticism that can be offered to the laudible Cook pine planting scheme is that the happy acquirer is per mitted to plant his tree wherever he sees fit. It may have been better to ask him to plant it along Noumea’s beaches or on the town’s denuded hills.

Certainly the Cook pine is not the sort of thing to put in your front garden. It is big and quick growing and some mothers may object to junior planting his tree in her dahlia patch.