UP IN THE MOUNTAINS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9115, 21 December 1907, Page 7

UP IN THE MOUNTAINS.

SELECTING A BOTANICAL STATION. • '^:f l ROMANTIC SITE NEAR WMWt|gte RIVER. Dr Cockayne and Mr R. Sp«tfiS spent two days this week looking for a site for the botanical station, „wMo£ the Board of Governors of CantwMry; College has decided to establish . fatithe use of students. They went up iri'Site mountains, and feed upon" a beauij|ul and romantic spot on the Board's Cfaigieburn Estate near Broken Jfebra*; where the Midland Railway ifljrUJwminates.. . ;;f ; The site is in the very heart of the) mountain range which, separatee jQan,terbury from Westland. It feet above sea level. It is an imffifdyi basin, several hundred acres in area, with hills rising all around it.;,-; '".€W.' one side there is a deep but narrow! gorge, through Which a rapid creek runs down into tlie WaJmakariru Most of the basin has been cleared of Jsgjeß, and is covered with snow grass^-fU^* tussock and plants that grow in nvnsfi places and in bogs. Across the; creek and all along one end of the baflitt, there is & splendid beech fore^^ia its natural state. There is a'Sfrgft piece of flat land ; awd the hills sent down into the basin many spurs, wiich give many varieties of conditions undei which plants will grow. There ana several good sites for a cottage. ;Eadb> of these is well sheltered, first by {fib hills, and then by the beech forests. Many streamlets run down the sided of the basin to the creek at the bottom, and -aware will be qw> difficulty in- ob> taining sapplies off pure water. ,< Tb« camping-places aT© dry, -and froiS tbotti it will be easy to visit any part M^tiid forests or other interesting placed ifli the locality. One of the principal xw* commendations of the site, is that it fa quite "close to the Broken Rirsr railjKij; station. It can be reached from tha station in about half ari' hour. % V TS^» route is easy. It runs over a small saddle, across an ancient glaeieT Sedand up a gently sloping hill, thenltlown into the basm, which, it is suggested, should be the scene of practical botanical and other studies, , The basin, and the whole district in fact, is rich in botanicalv treasures. The_ most conspicuous plant of course, is tjie mountain beech. There arViaji» numbers of forests of that handaomo tree close by. Some are small" "and some are large, but all are virgin typical and instructive. The juvenile forms grow side by side with those, that have reached maturity, and the yourtg and the old, the strong and the weak, the living and the dead, are* seen- elasr tered together. In the river-beds,' the valleys, the bogs and the meadows, there are many kinds of planfs^liying mostly as Nature intended they should, and as their ancestors lived before them for ages. New Zealand blue-bells, are present in hundreds of thousands. #h©y are tiny, whitish-blue, bellwshaped Bow.ers, which grow at the end of %iry' brown stems. «.. They nod in the breeigM ; that come racing over -tie tills ,• aria meadows, and all day long they see*s to be ringing a silent but mighty peaai. of praise to all -creation. New Zetf* land's white geranium keeps them comV pany, and in boggy places on the 614 glacier bed the ground is bespangled with the starry pratia, which emulates in snowy purity Cunningham's >; -whitia violet. There are silvery .patches o? wavy snow-grass. Here and there the; spear-grass raises its bead abater the) tussocks, and in many dusters^ thex* are exceptionally good specimens of ? tf a 1 ceftnisia, which is now coming 1 " inro full bloom. White is the prerailina colour. White and yellow, jfttfejm are practically the only colours— tnan catch the eye at first, as the bltfeb|pi* are more white than blue, and, lissome} cases, are almost white. This ' : is -4P? peculiarity of New Zealand's 'AinjjUt flora. It led Dr Heim, the^sSpp geologist, to compare the New Zsl&sJ mountains to graveyards, but there awj many people who will feel tha&£=tfetit modesty and purity of the tiny blnev bell ringing its silent paean amongst the) tussocks, is more charming blue forget-me-not or the pinJc^priafc. roses of the Old World's Alps.-~*i3Btafr scented mistletoe is the only plant uqfc' Broken River which captivates %»w tention with its brilliance. Thi&beaf* fcifr*. parasite clings on to beech tree4i but it is present only in small quaniss ties. The flower of the beech isi re 3, but it is obscure, and if visitors are looking for more colours they will firwJ them in the. blue veronica andiipinii brilliant purple throat "of the N6v^ r Zealand musk, " "■■■••";-_.. Dr Cockayne is satisfied that the site could hardly be improved upon from a! botanical point of view. He -says 'that' every kind of position required by ; high mountain plants can be obtained*/ Mr Speight says that the. basin is -an. ex- 1 cellent place for studying field geology. Geological processes can be tracedv^ori the. hillsides/ and. in the valleyiS£3a*ftl [ the station will make a base for studying the geology, of the surrounding ! country, with its ancient lak^beds, .moraines, canons and* river terraces, ■". | The station will be available for mucibi I -study in other directions. Ip. flrti forests there are bell-birds, wekas, I green wrens, quail-hawks, and otfcffl? birds. Insect life is very plentiful. Entomologists wiL. find a nokc^§e^ for investigation at the station^ •■"- Mir. ; J. H. Lewis, the engineer in chargm of the Midland Railway, who has hi* headquarters at Broken River, is ani enthusiast in this branch of science, and he has already made many cotlections and noted many peculiarities of. habits. It is' suggested that thY student who has no work^ to do natural history, but who wishes f quiet place to study in, will find H , at the station, which might be madq available when it is sot used f<sr t3ii purpose for which it is intended. " It is proposed to fence in only -nl small space for an alpine garden, but to have the whole of the basin an^l many acres of forest land declared 'tit 'botanical reserve. If that is don*;, there will be no interference with tkii sheep that are running on the estate, and a piece of splendid forest will, b«* kept intact. The cottage will "Be •% small one. It is expected that tiw cost of erection will be very; smaDL There will be no diflloulty in .gt^ii!^ material to the spot. At firgiT'.'tip? Cockayne and Mr «>eight thought tifaf the cottage should be erected" '- on ':'-\M piece of High, sloping grouncTin 7tjj» basin, l'o reach that site, however, b) heavy bog would have to be crossed, end another 6ite was selected^ neax<e* the railway station, a'hey suggest tlyiii the cottage should be erected^ and that students who use it M^bwricl ' make it their, headquarters, and froni it visit the centres of interest; they will find. They will make tneir-*©* coimnendations to _Mr G-. W. Rugse^ ohaimnan^of the Board of Govemorf, who will probably make a personal visit to the site .before it is finally selected*