NOTED BOTANIST

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 271, 6 February 1928, Page 11

NOTED BOTANIST

DR. A. W. HILL ARRIVES VISIT TO THE WAITAKERES "Citizens of Auckland should be i very proud of their noble kauri trees. ■ They are a unique possession and ! every provision should be made at i once for their preservation." Dr. A. W. Hill, F.L.S., S.R.S., the noted botanist and director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, spoke in enthusiastic terms of his impression of the kauri forest forming part of the City Council preserve in the Waitakere Ranges. He arrived from Wellington yesterday morning and was conducted on a visit of inspection of the orchard district of Henderson and of the native bush on the ranges by members of the council and locaL botanists. Dr. Hill, who is engaged on a world tour at the instance of the Imperial Government, hopes by meeting horticulturists and botanists of the Empire, to encourage a closer co-operation with the headquarters of the science at Kew. He was invited by the New Zealand Government to visit the Dominion with the view to making a report to the Department of Agricultural Research and the Colonial Office on horticultural problems as he sees them in this country. The visitor is being conducted on his Dominion tour by Dr. L. Cockayne, F.R.S., the wellknown New Zealand botanist. v INSPECTION OF ORCHARDS Included in the party which accompanied the visiting botanist on his first trip in the city were: Representing the City Council, the Mayor, Mr. G. Baildon, and Mr. J. B. Paterson, acting-chairman Parks Committee; Auckland Institute and Museum, Messrs. H. E. Vaile, president, and G. Archey, curator; Auckland branch of the New Zealand Horticultural Society, Professor H. H. Corbin, president, Messrs. N. R. W. Thomas, secretary, J. Hunter, native plant section, and G. Mills, member and ex-Kewite; Dr. Cockayne. A call was made first at Dr. R. 11. Makgill’s orchards at Henderson. Private experiments being carried out in an endeavour to determine what foreign fruits could be successfully acclimatised were brought under D.r. Hill’s notice. He was also shown methods of combating brown rot in | stone fruits. An innovation of particular interest was the parasite pladygaster, which is proving effective in destroying the pear leaf rolling midge. The citrus fruit plantation of Mr. C. E. Scott, president of the Henderson Fruitgrowers’ Association, was next inspected. The healthy state of this and other orchards was the subject of comment by Dr. Hill. Leaving the fruit lands the party motored to the foot Of Pukematekeo, the highest point on the Waitakere Ranges. The summit was gained after half an hour's strenuous climbing, and a splendid view of the neighbouring hills obtained. The visitor was greatly impressed by the fine bush clothing hillsides and valleys. "It is a grand thing that these magnificent trees should be so close to your city,’’ he observed to the Mayor. On th© long descent through luxuriant vegetation to the cascades kauri forest, Dr. Hill and Dr. Cockayne, with the rest of the company, found treasures of absorbing interest on every hand. BOTANIC LANGUAGE Manifesting tho keenest enthusiasm in their observations the two distinguished botanists discussed the origin and characteristics of the many varieties of vegetation in ultra-scientific terms that amazed and amused their listeners. Latin names that must have required extraordinary efforts of memory were apportioned out to this tree and that and went rolling down the hills in startling volleys. Agathis Australis impressed Dr. Hill by its sturdy majesty and dacrydium cupressinum charmed him with its simple grace. To the layman the trees are known respectively as kauri and rimu and, with these unassuming labels he will no doubt remain content. A long time was spent among the magnificent columns of the cascade kauris. Dr. Hill here made his first acquaintance with the tree in its natural surroundings. • He says there is a kauri 40ft high growing under glass at Kew and some small specimens flourish out of doors in south-west England. After lunch at the cottage of the council’s ranger at the foot of the cascades the party discarded coats and vests to climb the steep ascent of the kauri-covex’ed hills. Specimens of the tree from young "rickers” to giants 10ft and more in diameter were viewed by Dr. Hill during t|ie long walk through the council’s reserves. "The City Council carried out a very fine public-spirited work in setting aside this magnificent area of bush for the citizens of Auckland,” said Dr. Hill. He expressed some concern as to the safety of the forest and urged that effective measures should be taken at once to protect the trees from the menace of fire. "SAVE THE TREES” "The United States and Canada are alive to the necessity of conserving their redwood forests and in California a ‘Save the Redwood League’ has been formed. Something after this lead might well be followed in New Zealand. You should be proud of your noble kauris and the cost of securing such reserves is little compared with their value to this country and the world as a whole," said Dr. Hill. A public welcome to Dr. Hill will be tendered by the Mayor at a gathering at the University College this evening. Dr. Cockayne will also deliver a short address. Dr. Hill w r ill leave for Rotorua to-morrow. RANGITOTO INSPECTED THIS MORNING’S TOUR Dr. Hill was taken around the Auckland reserves this morning by members of the New Zealand Institute of Horticulture. The party included Dr. L. Cockayne, Mr. Phillips Turner (Forestry Department), Prof. Corbin (Auckland University College), Mr. W. S. Hill, agricultural expert at the Auckland Technical School, and several local botanists. Mr. T. Walsh, of the Rangitoto Island Domain Board, accompanied the party. The Auckland Harbour Board placed a launch at the disposal of the party, which first visited Chelsea to inspect the Loxsonia fern, the discovery of which revolutionised classification of ferns. The next point of call was Rangitoto Island, which is famous in the scientific world, as the plant life there contradicts many botanical theories.

The Ellerslie racecourse and the vol canic peaks were also inspected.