Go to National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa
Volume 4, 1871
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– 368 –

(Abstract.)

This garden is situated at about five chains from the foot of St. John's Bush, a wooded cliff some 90 feet in height, bounding the town of Wanganui on the north-west. The garden is, from its situation, exposed to almost the whole of the sun's warmth, and is also completely sheltered by the cliff from the prevailing wind—the north-west. Besides this natural protection, the north-western boundary of the garden is screened by a hawthorn hedge extending along its whole length, and averaging in height about 28 feet. Behind the hedge is a running stream, the percolation from the Virginia Lake, by which the whole of the garden can be irrigated. The spot on which the nursery is laid out was formerly the old bed of the Wanganui River, and subsequently an ancient forest. On the surface, therefore, is an average of from 3 to 4 feet, in many places deepening to 6 feet, of decayed vegetable matter, while the subsoil is a rich alluvial deposit. Its extent is five acres, of which about two and a half are orchard, one devoted to nursery stock, and the remainder to specimen trees and shrubs.

The following table will give some idea of the luxuriant growth of the plants in this garden, to place which on record is the object of this communication:—

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Age (from Nursery Stock.) Names. Height. Spread of Branches. Trunk at Base.
ft. in. ft. in. ft. in.
3 Cupressus goviniana 17 0 14 0 2 1½
3 " torulosa 7 8 7 0 1 4
3 " lawsonii 9 1 8 0 2 0
4 " benthamii 19 3 20 0 2 11½
3 " pendula 7 0 6 0 0 7½
2 " knightii 7 9 6 0 0 6
3 " sempervirens stricta 15 0 3 6 1 1
4 " macrocarpa 24 10 22 6 3 1
3 " ditto (denser in habit) 18 4 20 6 2 10
3 " corneyana 9 2 12 0 1 0
2 " schubertia (from seed) 4 6 4 6 0 4½
3 " sempervirens 9 0 8 0 0 10½
3 " craigiana 10 0 10 0 1 0
5 Oyster Bay Pine 11 0 14 0 1 9
3 Cryptomeria lobbii 15 0 8 6 1 6
2 " elegans 7 6 6 0 0 9
3 Pinus insignis 22 0 10 6 3 0
4 " sylvestris 11 6 10 0 1 10
3 " canariensis 11 0 4 0 1 4
3 " maritima (from seed) 10 6 9 0 1 2½
3 " austriaca 8 9 7 0 1 4
3 " strobus 5 9 6 0 0 9
3 " coulterii 8 6 7 6 1 5
3 " longifolia 4 9 4 0 1 1
– 369 –

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Age (from Nursery Stock.) Names. Height. Spread of Branches. Trunk at Base.
ft. in. ft. in. ft. in.
3 Biotia aurea 3 6 3 6 1 8
3 Cedrus deodara 8 0 7 0 0 11
3 " atlantica 6 0 6 0 0 8½
3 Araucaria imbricata 4 1½ 4 0 0 6
3 " bidwellii 4 6 5 6 0 6
3 Wellingtonia gigantea 12 8 8 0 2 7
" do. (last year's growth) 6 8 — — 0 8½
5 Taxus baccata 8 4 8 0 1 6
3 Quercus ilex 14 6 8 0 1 2
5 " robur (from seed) 17 6 10 0 1 5
4 Magnolia grandiflora 12 0 12 0 1 0
5 Betula alba (from seed) 20 0 16 0 2 0
3 Arbutus 12 4 10 0 1 11½
3 Laurestinus (Hedge) 8 0 6 (base of hedge)
4 Laurus nobilis 12 0 6 0 1 10
3 Taxodium sempervirens 9 0 9 10 1 1
3 Fraxinus excelsior (from seed) 10 3 — — 0 7
3 Abies excelsior 8 4 — — 0 11
3 Cratœgus crus galli 9 0 6 0 — —
3 Oxycedrus juniperis 6 0 8 0 1 0

The above measurements were taken by me personally, and I consider them, in the main, correct.—Francis Williamson, Proprietor.

I was present when the above measurements were taken, and I consider that they are generally correct.—Henry T. Pycroft.

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