Botany Division To Have Headquarters At Lincoln

Press, Volume XCVI, Issue 28435, 15 November 1957, Page 9

Botany Division To Have Headquarters At Lincoln

Cabinet approval for the erec< tion at Lincoln of new buildings for the Botany Division with sub-stations for the Entomology and Grasslands Division was announced by the Minister in charge of Scientific and Industrial Research (Mr R. M. Algie) in Christchurch yesterday afternoon. The site will be next to the Crop Research Division which lies midway between the township of Lincoln and Canterbury Agricultural College.

The new premises would be built in three main units—a twostoreyed laboratory wing, a herb-j arium, and a library—of fair-faced reinforced concrete and these would be linked by a singlestoreyed unit in brick veneer, Mr Algie said.

The two-storeyed wing, 120 ft long, will provide laboratory and office accommodation for the Botany Division and also for the grasslands and entomology substations. The herbarium, 54ft by 43ft, will contain about 100,000 dried plant specimens, some of which date back to 1770. These will be stored in cases and filed in steel cabinets, special care being taken in the plan <o minimise fire risk. Wide windows on the south will provide abundant natural lighting. Valuable Collections

The library, 46ft by 30ft, will have open lattice girder trusses supporting the roof. It will house the valuable collections of both the Botany Division and the nearby Crop Research Division. The surrounding site will be landscaped with lawns, shrubs, and trees. “The new buildings will thus provide all modern facilities to enable research and other work to be carried on in the most favourable condtions.” the Minister said. IThe Botany Division is at present housed in a two-storeyed former residence on the corner of Latimer square and Hereford street.]

Although often handicapped by accommodation difficulties and lack of facilities, |he Botany Division had undertaken important research as survey work as well as valuable service in plant identification during the 20 years of existence, Mr Algie said. Lincoln would be the fourth headquarters. The division was first established at Palmerston North in 1937 as a small section of the Plant Research Bureau. It was moved to Wellington the next year and its status was raised to a division. In 1954 the move was made to Christchurch. Control of Noxious Weeds During the war, when manpower was scarce, the division played an important part in controlling the spread of noxious weeds. It devised a simple but effective means of dealing with ragwort by using sodium chlorate, research on hard fern helped bring it under control, and study of the breeding habits and ecology of nassella tussock enabled the rapid spread of this plant to be checked in North Canterbury and Marlborough.

The division played an important part in rehabilitating the flax industry and, with other divisions, found the cause of yellow leaf disease which was threaten-

ing the industry. It also helped in the establishment of the linen flax industry. Research on seaweeds revealed species rich in agar for medical and industrial uses and an important local industry has developed. Medicinal plants and those poisonous to humans and animals have been surveyed. A survey is now being made of the breeding and ecology of the main indigenous grass species and vegetational changes in South Island tussock grasslands are being observed to provide information on regeneration.

The Botany Division’s work interested other divisions and departments assisting primary industries, Mr Algie sad. Being housed at Lincoln in the same building as the grasslands and entomology sub-stations and next door to the Crop Reserach Division, it would in future be ideally placed for this co-operation.