(Prionoplus reticularis).

This is the largest beetle found in New Zealand and is common throughout the country. It is about 35 mm long and has a pair of long, jointed antennae. The body is brown and the wing cases have a characteristic pattern of lighter brown markings giving the insect a crocodile skin appearance. It is readily attracted to light and so frequently enters houses at dusk or early evening. If incautiously handled, it is capable of giving a powerful nip with its mandibles, but apart from this it is a harmless insect.

The grub stage is the well-known huhu grub which lives in timber and does considerable damage to posts and dead or fallen trees. The introduced pine trees (Pinus spp.) are often severely damaged by this grub. It was a delicacy of the Maori. (See also Beetles.)

by Roy Alexander Harrison, D.SC., Senior Lecturer in Agricultural Zoology, Lincoln Agricultural College.

Howick is situated on the coast east of Auckland City and about 2 miles south-east of Tamaki Estuary. The surrounding country is undulating to hilly. The metropolitan centre of Auckland is 14 miles north-east by highway via Pakuranga, Panmure, and Ellerslie. Papatoetoe, the nearest station on the North Island Main Trunk railway, is 11 miles south-west by road.

The rural district which lies south and west of the town is devoted mainly to dairy farming, many of the farms supplying milk for the city of Auckland. Howick is a trade and servicing centre but in recent years has become an important dormitory suburb for Auckland City workers. The chief industries include food processing, welding and sheetmetal working, the manufacture of wrought iron products, and joinery. The housing development of greater Auckland progressively encroaches upon Howick from the northward and westward. Several nearby beaches have also become permanent residential areas in recent years.

Howick came into existence as a township in 1847 when it was settled by a company of the Royal New Zealand Fencibles, a pensioners' corps raised in England in accordance with Sir George Grey's scheme for the defence of Auckland. The site of Howick commanded one of the approaches to Auckland and was considered to be of strategic military importance. In 1863 a field work was constructed on what is now called Stockade Hill, for the purpose of defending Auckland from hostile Maoris who might advance overland from the south, or by canoes from the Firth of Thames. The original name of the locality is stated to be Waipaparoa. The name Howick is derived from a parish and village in Northumberland, the seat of Earl Grey who, as Secretary of State for the Colonies, approved the pensioner scheme for Auckland. In 1865 Howick became a road board district; in 1922 it was created an independent town district; and on 1 April 1952 it was constituted a borough.

POPULATION: 1951 census, 2,113; 1956census, 3,788; 1961 census, 6,394.

by Brian Newton Davis, M.A., Vicar, St. Philips, Karori West, Wellington and Edward Stewart Dollimore, Research Officer, Department of Lands and Survey, Wellington.

(c. 1350).

High priest and commander of Tainui canoe.

Hoturoa was born in Hawaiki, the son of Auauterangi and Kuotepo, and was distantly related to Tama te Kapua. According to Maori tradition Hoturoa was middle aged when he made the voyage to New Zealand. In Hawaiki he held his people aloof from the tribal skirmishes that preceded the migration, but when he learned that Turi and the others intended to leave the island, Hoturoa decided to follow suit. His canoe, Tainui, according to tribal tradition, made landfall at Whangaparaoa, near Cape Runaway. From there Tainui explored the coast northwards and sailed into Waitemata (Auckland) Harbour. He hauled the canoe across the isthmus to Manukau Harbour and then explored the west coast southwards. Some of the Tainui people settled at Whaingaroa (Raglan) Harbour, Kawhia, and at Mokau. The last party left on board – the Ngati Tara-pounamu – beached the Tainui at Te Waiiti. When he heard that the canoe had been abandoned, Hoturoa, who had settled at Kawhia, brought a party overland, refloated it, and sailed to Kawhia. There the Tainui was drawn up into a manuka grove below the shrine of Ahurei, and two stone pillars, set at either end, mark where it rested.

Hoturoa had two wives, Whakaoterangi and Marama, both of whom figure largely in the Tainui legend. The former is credited with beginning the cultivation of kumara in the new land.

Tainui tribes later spread over the area from the Mokau River to Manukau Harbour on the west coast and included the Waikato and King Country. Their boundary runs through Maungatautari (near Cambridge) to the Thames Valley and Coromandel Peninsula.

by Bernard John Foster, M.A., Research Officer, Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington.

• The Coming of the Maori, Buck, P. (1958)
• Tainui – the Story of Hoturoa and His Descendants, Kelly, L. G. (1949).

(1870–1943).

Newspaper proprietor.

A son of A. G. Horton, one of the early proprietors of the New Zealand Herald, Henry Horton was born on 14 May 1870, and was educated at Christ's College, Christchurch, and Auckland University College, graduating B.A. in 1892. Through the deaths of his father and the other two partners within a matter of months, he became in 1903 the executive head of the business, which he directed for the remainder of his life. Horton was active for many years in the Newspaper Proprietors' Association and the Empire Press Union. He was a member of the latter's New Zealand executive for over 30 years and was chairman from 1930 to 1942. He was knighted in 1935. Horton served on the executive of the Auckland Provincial Patriotic Association during the whole 26 years of its existence, from 1915 until it was wound up in 1942. He was a Government representative on the Auckland University College Council, 1931–38, and a member of the commandery of the Venerable Order of St. John. For 38 years he was a director of the New Zealand Insurance Co., and was chairman for three terms totalling four years. He was also for a long period a New Zealand director of the Colonial Sugar Refining Co. Through the newspapers which he controlled, Horton did much to promote the development of the Auckland Province, especially in road and rail communications and the utilisation of pumice lands.

In 1897, at Waiheke Island, Horton married Jessie Buchanan Thomson by whom he had two sons. He died on 19 July 1943.

by Alfred Fearon Grace, Journalist, Auckland.

• New Zealand Herald, 20 Jul 1943 (Obit).

(1842–1903).

Newspaper owner.

A new biography of Horton, Alfred George appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

Alfred George Horton was born and educated at Hull, and as a youth became a reporter on the Daily Express newspaper there. Leaving for New Zealand in 1861, he worked for a year or more on the Press, Christchurch. At the end of that time he purchased a small hand-printing plant, and at the age of only 21 took it to Timaru and started a weekly newspaper, the Timaru Herald. This he edited and produced for eight years. He mixed a good deal in the public affairs of the district and took some pride in having persuaded Stafford to contest and win the Timaru parliamentary seat in 1868. For a brief period in the following year Horton represented Timaru town in the Canterbury Provincial Council.

In 1872 he sold out to a partner and went to England. Returning a year or two later he joined a friend named Wilkinson in acquiring the Advertiser newspaper at Thames, where gold mining was bringing an influx of wealth and population. After a couple of years he sold his interest to advantage and purchased the Southern Cross, Auckland, from a company headed by Sir Julius Vogel, which had been in increasing financial difficulties for some time. Soon afterwards the founder and principal owner of the other morning paper, the New Zealand Herald, W. C. Wilson, died. Horton agreed with W. S. and J. L. Wilson, the sons, to amalgamate the businesses under a partnership, the Southern Cross being merged in the Herald and the Weekly Herald in the Weekly News. Horton became the driving force behind the joint enterprise and his financial acumen made him prominent in the business life of Auckland.

Early in the depression of the 1880s he was sent to England by a committee which was investigating the affairs of the Bank of New Zealand. He helped to secure some needed capital, and on his return took part in measures toward reorganisation. For a time he was a director of the Bank of New Zealand Estates Co. and was offered a seat on the board of the bank, but declined it.

From 1890 to his death Horton was a director of the New Zealand Insurance Co. and served two terms as chairman. He was chairman of the local board of the Mutual Life Association of Australasia. As a newspaper proprietor he specially interested himself in keeping up with developments in mechanical plant. He took an early opportunity of introducing web presses, which were said to be the first installed in New Zealand.

In 1864, at Dunedin, Horton married Jessie Haliburton Chisholm by whom he had five sons and one daughter. He died at Parnell, Auckland, on 11 March 1903. One of his sons was Sir Henry Horton.

Horton was an austere man, often gruff in manner, and was more esteemed for his business and financial ability than for his social graces. His latter years were overclouded by rather prolonged ill health.

by Alfred Fearon Grace, Journalist, Auckland.

• Thames Star, 12 Feb 1954.

The nurserymen's organisation, the New Zealand Horticultural Trades Association (Inc.), was founded on 17 March 1904 at Normanby. T. Kirk, the then Director of Horticulture, was one of the prime movers, and this close connection between the association and the Horticulture Division of the Department of Agriculture has been maintained. The Horticultural Seedsmen's Association of New Zealand represents the seed trade, and the New Zealand Society of Professional Floral Artists, all practising florists.

The Royal New Zealand Institute of Horticulture (Inc.) was founded in July 1923 and received its Royal Charter in 1939. It has 2,000 members and grants no more than 40 Associateships of Honour to those who have outstandingly served horticulture. Representatives of State Departments, agricultural colleges, trade and horticultural societies, as well as district nominees, all serve on its Dominion Council. The Institute watches the general interests of horticulture and, by statutory authority, issues, after examination, highly regarded diplomas in horticulture, fruit, and apiculture, and certificates in vegetable growing and school gardening, and the Seedsmen's Certificate.

Specialist or general horticultural societies flourish. The National Rose Society of New Zealand, which is organised on a district basis, has 4,000 members. The Canterbury Horticultural Society has nearly 2,000 members, with affiliated garden clubs. The Auckland Horticultural Council represents about 40 horticultural organisations from Whangarei to Pukekohe. Many of the specialist societies, such as the Rose, Camellia, and Rhododendron Societies, have annual flower shows, conferences, and conventions. More than 400 people may attend these conventions, visiting gardens specialising in these plants and hearing lectures.

by John Paiba Salinger, B.SC.(HORT.)(READING), N.D.H., Horticultural Advisory Officer (Ornamentals), Department of Agriculture, Wellington.

• Population Census 1956, Vol. IX, “Dwellings and Households”, Department of Statistics (1959)
• Pioneer Nurserymen of New Zealand, Hale, A. M. (1955).

Nurseries producing woody plants for sale must register. In 1963 there were 526 registered nurseries, with a total acreage of 1,688 acres. There were 360 registered nurseries in the North Island, 85 in Auckland and 68 in Palmerston North; and 166 in the South, 79 in Canterbury and 27 in Otago. Inspectors of the Horticulture Division, Department of Agriculture, inspect registered nurseries twice a year to ensure that they are free from disease. Nurseries growing non-woody plants (such as seedlings or bulbs) do not have to register, so there are no accurate figures of their numbers.

New Zealand nurserymen are up to date in their methods and quickly test and adopt new techniques, such as mist propagation and growing and selling plants in containers. Nurserymen's courses held at various centres have always been well attended. Bulb growing is not so specialised as in Holland; many bulb growers cut and market some of the flowers. Narcissi and gladioli are grown everywhere; hyacinths and tulips are mainly in Canterbury and further south, with a small area in the high country in the centre of the North Island. Cut flowers are grown by specialist producers in all districts, a small section of market gardeners producing one particular line, such as daffodils or chrysanthemums. Many people near the larger centres grow cut flowers part time, or sell the surplus from the home garden. Most flowers are grown outdoors, with carnations the main glasshouse crop. A wide variety of floral material is available and used, especially the newer flowering shrubs, such as boronia and thryptomene. Florists are not conservative in their methods or choice of material; the Diploma of the New Zealand Society of Professional Floral Artists has a high international standing. Floral art is developing rapidly and floral art groups are being formed in many places, sometimes as branches of other organisations, such as the Townswomen's Guilds.

The flowers are sold mainly through the auction markets in each centre and air freight is used extensively to send narcissi from North to South in winter, and tulips and chrysanthemums from South to North in October and late summer respectively.

Every city and town has its public parks and reserves. A town belt of greenery was included in the earliest plans both of Wellington and of Dunedin. Both cities have now grown far beyond these belts, yet citizens consider them inviolable and strongly protest at any threat of encroachment by housing and industry. In most centres of importance throughout the country, ample parks and reserves have been set aside which provide the public with wide sporting and recreational facilities.

A worthy development is the Pukeiti Rhododendron Trust, 12 miles from New Plymouth, on the slopes of Mount Egmont. Some 600 acres, donated privately and by the State, are being planted with rhododendrons, camellias, and other similar plants, and the native bush is being cared for and improved. It is worthy of note that many cities and towns own and are developing large tracts of exotic forest – a present and potential source of income. In one respect, however, New Zealand tends to lag behind the rest of the world, for the work of street planning and roadside beautification is being restricted by overhead power and telephone wires. Roading engineers in general have much to learn about beautification from the United States and from Europe; but no doubt, with more money and more established roads, this aspect will not be neglected.

The breeding of ornamental plants has been mainly done by nurserymen or amateurs. Outstanding plants have been bred by the late Edgar Stead, of Ilam (azaleas and rhododendrons), and at the present time J. S. Yeates, of Palmerston North, breeds Lilium parkmanii hybrids; P. Doak, Auckland, and L. Jury, New Plymouth, develop camellias; J. W. Matthews, Waikanae, breeds callas and gerberas, as do several growers in Auckland. Mrs J. Stevens, of Wanganui, received the highest awards in the United States of America for her bearded iris, especially the variety “Pinnacle”.

The movement of people to the warm temperate or subtropical parts of the North Island has encouraged interest in Australian and South African plants, especially in trees and shrubs like acacias, banksias, waratahs, aucospermum, leucadendron, and proteas. Further south, particularly in Christchurch, bedding plants make a great display from September to April. Winter flowers comprise Iceland poppy, anemones, and Soleil d'Or narcissus; in sheltered places in both Islands, cinerarias, Primula malacoides, and polyanthus flower well in spring. In relatively frost-free areas dahlias can be left over winter in the ground, and autumn-flowering bulbs, such as nerines and amaryllis, are widely grown. The white arum lily, a traditional glasshouse plant in Europe, grows freely in damp soil in many places, especially around farm homesteads. Roses grow well everywhere and in a good season will flower from October until May, producing 5 ft or more of new growth a year. Lightly pruned hybrid tea roses, which may grow 8 ft or more in the milder areas, can be truly described as rose trees. This ample supply of flowers throughout the year has encouraged housewives to take up floral art, so much so that this is now an important domestic activity.