NATIONAL GARDEN

Southland Times, Issue 20396, 27 January 1928, Page 7

NATIONAL GARDEN

DR. HILL’S SUGGESTION. (Per United Press Association.) Wellington, January 26. A national botanical garden for New Zealand was favoured by Dr. A. W. Hill, director of the Kew Gardens, in a speech before the New Zealand Institute to-day. The matter was raised by Dr. J. Thomson, who said that he hoped that the establishment of such a garden would follow Dr. Hill’s visit to the Dominion. The word “national” raised some of the difficulties and jealousies of the position, said Dr. Hill. The position was indeed somewhat similar to that in South Africa, where rival gardens had been established by two cities, while a third place had a better herbarjium than either. It had struck him that a southern garden might be made in Dunedin or a northern garden in Auckland for in Dunedin things could be grown that would be impossible in Auckland and vice versa. There might be a scientific head of the whole and two first-class curators, one in each city. Whether these two gardens would meet the situation he did not know for he had not yet been in Christchurch and did not know the position, but Wellington was fortunate in its possession of the Otari Reserve. The flora of the Dominion was remarkable and the country was fortunate in getting a public which was becoming really interested in native plants. Already there was on foot in Auckland a movement to establish a botanic garden, said Professor F. P. Worley, of Auckland. He did not think that they aspired to having the finance provided by the country, however. _______