25 
Zealand people planted their gardens with 
nothing but ‘‘imported’’ bushes. Mr Hart 
mentioned this conversation to Mr H. Dar- 
ton, and these gentlemen decided to work 
together to see what could be done to 
create a more general interest in our native 
flora. They felt, also, that if something 
were not done soon many varieties of the 
New Zealand plants would disappear owing 
to the ravages of fire and their destruc- 
tion by sheep and rabbits. The Govern- 
ment of New Zealand had made extensive 
arrangements for the conservation of New 
Zeaiand fauna by setting aside large areas 
for its preservation. Why might not some- 
thing be done in a similar manner for our 
native flora? They felt that with a little 
extra care and trouble most of the New 
Zealand genera could be transplanted from 
their natural habitat, and grown more or less 
successfully in a new environment. ‘The 
genus selected by them for a trial was the 
VERONICA, owing to the fact that it is by 
far the largest genus of our flowering 
plants. They procured a copy of Mr T. F. 
Cheeseman’s ‘“* Manual of the New Zealand 
Flora’’ and set to work, and the result of 
their labours, extending over seven years, 
is now in evidence at Wetherstones, where 
almost all the species mentioned in the 
Manual can be seen settled down in their 
new homes, and growing, with hardly an 
exception, quite luxuriantly. It was known 
to them that a fair number of species were 
growing in several of the public gardens, 
and a ready response by the curators at 
@ueenstown, ‘Timaru, Oamaru, Dunedin, 
Invereargill, Christchurch, Wellington, and 
Gore was made to their request for cut- 
tings of these. As a matter of fact, the 
first cuttings for their collection came from 
the curator of the Christchurch Gardens. 
Of course, many of these were unnamed, or 
wrongly named, but a specimen of each in 
flower and seed was sent on to the original 
collectors for their identification, and F. G. 
Gibbs, W. Townson, H. Hill, Dr Petrie, 
Dr L Cockayne, and T. F. Cheeseman 
assisted them materially. Then a visit 
from Dr Cockayne to the plantation at 
Wetherstones cleared up many doubts as 
to the correctness of the classification. 
