252 Transactions. — Botany. 



sky is often cloudy, and mist accompanies the northerly 

 winds, especially in spring. The winter is the wettest season 

 of the year, and in consequence of the wet nature of the 

 ground, even in dry weather, much water lies about in flat 

 places and hollows during that season. The wind is always 

 blowing from some quarter or another, and often with con- 

 siderable violence. The air, in part owing to the wet nature 

 of the ground, must contain a great deal of moisture. 

 Thunder-storms occur occasionally, after which there is 

 nearly always a week or more of unsettled weather. 



A good deal can be learnt about the climate of any district 

 by observing the plants which are cultivated in gardens or 

 fields. In Chatham Island all the ordinary vegetables grow 

 very well indeed ; potatoes especially succeed so well that in 

 the early days they were to some extent a source of revenue. 

 The first early potatoes are dug at the end of October or the 

 beginning of November. Cereals are not much cultivated, 

 oats alone being grown to any extent. These are sown in 

 xAugust or September and reaped in February, yielding, when 

 grown on good ground, 40 or 50 bushels to the acre. Wheat 

 is not now grown ; neither the climate nor the soil is espe- 

 cially suitable, but probably the chief reason for its exclusion 

 is that flour can be more cheaply imported than produced on 

 the island. Certain plants growing in Mr. Cox's garden 

 testify to the mildness of the climate. Amongst these are 

 greenhouse Pelargoniums forming large bushes, greenhouse 

 Fuchsias of a similar size, Scmpervivum arborcum, and an 

 arborescent species of Aloe not hardy in Canterbury gardens. 

 Growing side by side with the above are most of the indigen- 

 ous Olearias and Veronicas, two or three species of New Zea- 

 land subalpine Veronicas, and a most magnificent specimen of 

 Olearia lyallii from the Snares, a plant very difficult to culti- 

 vate in many parts of New Zealand. All the ordinary hardy 

 fruit-trees thrive and bear fruit abundantly. At Te \Yhakaru, 

 only a few metres above high-water mark, is one of the 

 orchards planted more than fifty years ago by the mission- 

 aries. The trees at the time of my visit were almost break- 

 ing under the weight of fruit. But the most interesting 

 fact about this orchard is that it is quite free from all those 

 kinds of animal and vegetable pests now so common on New 

 Zealand fruit-trees. 



History of Man on Chatham Island. 



The mfluence of man through the disturbing factors, which 

 in direct proportion to his degree of civilisation he has intro- 

 duced into the vegetation of all inhabited lands, is a matter of 

 very great interest and importance. It therefore seems neces- 

 sary, before discussing the plant-formations in detail, to give 



