Nelson Association. 485 



Third Meeting. 2^th January, 1873. 

 Sir David Monro, President, in the chair. 

 The report and accounts of last year were read and adopted. 



Election of Officers tor 1873. — President — Sir David Monro; Vice- 

 President — The Bishop of Nelson ; Council — Hon. J. Kenwick, C. Hunter- 

 Brown, George Williams, M.D., B. Lee, J. Shephardj Hon. Treasurer — 

 J. G. Hollowayj Eon. Secretary — T. Mackay. 



The Secretary reported the receipt of new books from London, and a 

 further supply was ordered. 



The President suggested that a copy of Hooker's " New Zealand Flora " 

 should be ordered, and at the same time remarked that when a new edition of 

 this work was next published, it would add much to its value and usefulness 

 if it was illustrated. It was considered, therefore, that a suggestion to this 

 effect should be conveyed to the Board of the New Zealand Institute in order 

 that they may communicate with Dr. Hooker on the subject. 



A conversation arose on the question of the utilization of the Botanical 

 Gardens in Nelson. It was generally considered that, if the provincial funds 

 would allow of it, these gardens might be turned to good account in trying 

 experiments of "Economic Botany ;" for instance, in the proper cultivation of 

 sugar-beet, sugar-grass {Sorghum saccliaratuni), and other plants, as well as 

 trees, whose products might be suitable for local industries. 



1. " On the cultivation of Sugar-beet in New Zealand," by T. Mackay, C.E. 



(abstract.) 



As the cultivation of sugar-beet, and its manufacture into sugar, has been 

 occupying of late a considerable amount of attention in New Zealand, the 

 following information, gained principally from some practical acquaintance 

 with the subject, may not be uninteresting at the present time : — 



There are in cultivation four kinds of beet, viz. : 



1. The long red, or garden-beet, so much used as a salad. 



2. The white Silesian, or sugar-beet, with its sub-variety, the rose-coloured. 



3. The sea-beet, the leaves of which are well known as an excellent 

 substitute for spinach. 



4. The mangold-wurzel, or field-beet. Yon Thaer, a German writer on 

 agriculture, is of opinion that the field -beet is a hybrid betwixt the red garden- 

 beet and the white sugar-beet. Others say that it is the original stock, and 

 that the finer varieties have been produced from it by higher cultivation — a 

 more likely conjecture. 



Of the white sugar-beet {Beta alba) there are more than one species. It 

 has a pear-shaped root and light green top, green leaves with lighter-coloured 



