COLONIAL GRAPES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 252, 24 October 1932, Page 8

COLONIAL GRAPES.

WORK OF JAMES BUSBY. OLD WINE-MAKING HISTORY. VINEYARD ON ONE TREE HILL. Writing in the London "Times" recently, Mr. Hal Williams, grandson of Mr. James Busby, the first representative of the British Crown in New Zealand, just before Hobson arrived at the Bay of Islands, tells how his grandfather took to Sydney between 500 and 600 cuttings of 100 varieties of grape vines that he had collected in the South of France and Spain. Busby had gone Home from Sydney in 1831, and had taken with him ten gallons of wine made in Sydney, and even at that early date Australian wine was well thought of by connoisseurs. Very few people realise that wine has been made in Australia for so many years. The vintners over there claim that it has been made for at least 110 years. The cuttings Busby took out to Australia in 1832, when he returned to the colony, were packed in sand and earth, in cases ITned with double-oiled paper, a suggestion made by a vigneron of Tarascon, the native town of Tartarin, of joyous memory. These carefullypacked cuttings were sent out in a convict ship, and in spite of the long journey they arrived in excellent condition, not ten out of the lot failing. Busby was a very public-spirited man, and he personally bore the expense of collecting and transporting these, vines to Australia. Early New Zealand Grapes. Mr. Williams does not say anything about his grandfather taking vines to New Zealand when he was appointed British Resident and took up his residence at Waitangi, but it is quite possible such a keen viticulturist would bring some cuttings over with him. Wine-making people are rather doubtful as to the earliest known varieties that were used in New Zealand, but as far as can be gathered the earliest grape used in the North of Auckland was the Isabella, which is suspected, from the taste of the wine, to have had an Ameri-

can origin. Since wine-making became established in the Dominion, hundreds of varieties have been introduced from the Old World, most of them by the Government. The Isabella, like many other varieties, was not a complete success as a wine-maker, but it is interesting to know that it was a sport from the Isabella that is now the most abundant out-door table grape—the Albany Surprise. Some of the old varieties were found to be subject to disease, and a considerable amount of research work has been done in New Zealand, eome of the most successful kinds now used being the result of new kinds propagated here. The largest vineyard in New Zealand at the present time is that owned by Mr. Corban, at Henderson, who has 30 acres in cultivation. He grows fully fifty different varieties, including the leading European kinds, and others propagated in the Dominion as the result of experience and experiments. An early experiment in grape growing in the vicinity of Auckland was made by the late Sir John Logan Campbell. He was very fond of travelling in Italy, and while there was often struck by the similarity of the climate to that of his adopted land. He introduced several of the staple growths of Italy to Auckland, including the olive and the grape. Few people realise that the dull-grey trees that are growing on the slopes of One Tree Hill, alongside the Infirmary, are olives. Sir John's idea was to cultivate the tree commercially, but unfortunately he did not get quite the right variety, and his dreams were never realised. People who are familiar with the olive in other lands say that the One Tree Hill grove is not so bad as some imagine, but point out that the trees require cultivation. Sir John also brought out a number of vine cuttings, and at one time he had about four acres growing at One Tree Hill. His original intention was to build himself a home on the terrace where now stands the tea kiosk, and that explains the drive of macrocarpa and other exotics that used to line the drive from where his statue stands facing Manukau Road ricrht up to the tea kiosk. The old trees got so decrepit that the lower part of the avenue had to be cut down and fresh varieties planted, but at the upper end some of the original ones are still standing, and have developed into real old patriarchs. But the vineyard has long since vanished, and few people know that it ever existed.