Lake Grassmere, 25 miles south of Blenheim and 6 miles south of the mouth of the Awatere River, is a shallow lagoon protected from the open sea by a single barrier beach covered by sand dunes. The lagoon lies on the north-easterly extension of the Ward depression. Its area varies between 3,500 and 4,400 acres; this maximum is attained only in rare floods. The watershed is small and there are no large streams draining into it. The climate, with a low average rainfall of 24 in. and prevailing strong and dry north-westerly winds, provides Lake Grassmere with the suitable conditions required for natural economic salt production.

This industry began in 1943 and now occupies one-third of the suitable lake area of 3,800 acres. The 1960 production was 17,000 tons. The total consumption of industrial and domestic salt for New Zealand for that year was about 61,000 tons. Maximum expansion could produce 50,000 tons, and many economic by-products can be developed; caustic soda and gypsum are already produced in small quantities.

The salt harvest for the period 1963–64 was a record one, 24,000 tons being won. It was the first season in which the harvest was carried out on the new pattern of crystallising ponds which have special provision for draining off rainwater before it has had time to mix with the brine concentrate. The harvest for 1964–65 is expected to reach 30,000 tons — a new record.

Grassmere was the name of the homestead of F. A. Weld on the Flaxbourne Run, and was later applied to the lake. According to a legend, the lake occupies the site of cultivations known as Ka-para-te-hau (early whalers on the coast rendered this name “Cobblers' Hole”). Kupe, the navigator, is said to have poured salt water on these cultivations, thus creating the lake. Some time after his successful raid on Kaiapohia (Kaiapoi), Te Rauparaha visited the lake with a party to take moulting ducks. A Ngai Tahu force, having learned of this impending visit, laid an ambush. Scouts from Te Rauparaha's party found the locality apparently uninhabited and the canoes were driven ashore. On landing, the visitors were taken by surprise and sustained heavy casualties. Te Rauparaha was seized by Tuhawaiki, who was anxious to take him alive. The captive, however, after feigning resignation, was less tightly held. He then slipped out of his flax garment, swam to a canoe and made his escape.

by Geert Jan Lensen, New Zealand Geological Survey, Lower Hutt.

New Zealand grasshoppers belong to the subfamily Catantopinae. A number of species are present including the common small Phaulacridium of the more coastal areas, the larger species of Sigaus of the tussock lands, and the alpine genera Paprides and Brachaspis, which include some quite large species. These inhabit the alpine areas of the South Island, some preferring scree and others tussock areas. They apparently survive the rigorous alpine winter conditions both as nymphs and as adults, and it is possible that they can withstand complete freezing. All species are plant feeders and lay batches of eggs or pods in short holes in the ground which they excavate with their abdomen. After hatching, the young nymphs moult four or five times before becoming adult.

by Graeme William Ramsay, M.SC., PH.D., Entomology Division, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Nelson.

Owing to the wet climate of most parts of New Zealand, forest, scrub, and fern were the major plant coverings when European settlement began. Except in tussock grasslands, native grasses formed only a minor part of original vegetation. The number of genera of native grasses is given as 33 in Cheeseman'sManual of the New Zealand Flora. Only one genus, the rare Simplicia, is confined to New Zealand. Cheeseman described 123 indigenous species and remarked “in addition …, a large number of grasses have become naturalised, and that every year adds to the list. Most of these are natives of the Northern Hemisphere, and many have been purposely introduced and widely spread through the country on account of their value for pasturage or fodder. The remainder are either weeds of cultivation or inhabitants of waste-places or roadsides, a large proportion having followed the footsteps of civilised man all round the world. A few Australian and subtropical species have also established themselves, but the number of these is not nearly as large as might have been anticipated. Many of the naturalised species have so completely amalgamated with the indigenous flora as to present the appearance of true ‘natives’….” In 1940 H. H. Allan described 92 naturalised grasses and noted that many species are common throughout New Zealand. (Pending the issue of Parts 2 and 3 of the Flora of New Zealand, by H. H. Allan, which will contain a revision of the grasses, the names used are those given in Cheeseman's Manual of the New Zealand Flora, 1925.)

Before the arrival of the first European settlers in New Zealand, tussock grassland covered most of the land east of the main divide in the South Island. In the North Island small areas on the Volcanic Plateau and in Hawke's Bay were similarly covered. These were not natural pastures as apart from birds, there were no grazing animals and most of the grasses were tuft-like and grew in clumps. Known as “tussock grasslands”, these areas provided a certain amount of food for introduced stock — the small plants growing in the shelter between the tussocks often being more palatable than the tussocks. It was also found that the new growth, which came away from the crown of the tussock after burning, was acceptable to stock. There followed the practice of periodic burning which, together with the grazing of sheep and invasion of rabbits, resulted in the destruction of much low-tussock country. Lowland tussock was easily ploughed and sown with introduced grasses, and as a result the plains of the South Island were developed for farming more rapidly than the forest-clad North Island.

Hard tussock (Festuca novae-zelandiae) and silver tussock (Poa caespitosa) are dominant grasses of low-tussock grassland. Blue Poa (Poa colensoi) and Agro-pyrum scabrum become prominent in Otago. Other grasses associated with low tussock are Danthonia pilosa, Danthonia semiannularis, Deyeuxia avenoides, Triodia thomsoni, Poa colensoi.

In the tall-tussock grasslands where red tussock (Danthonia rubra) is dominant, other grasses found are Hierochloe redolens, Danthonia setifolia, and Poa caespitosa. Where snow grass (Danthonia flavescens) predominates in the high altitudes, other grasses are Agrostis dyeri, Deyeuxia avenoides, and species of Trisetum. Although snow grass and red tussock are of little use as food for stock, they are valued for shelter and for protection given to the soil. By means of their roots all grasses help to fix the soil and prevent erosion, and tall tussock can play an important part in this way in mountain areas.

In 1935 Allan reported that a South American grass, Nasella tussock, was established at Waipara River, Omihi Valley, and Amberley. The grass is a pest in sheep country and strenuous action has been taken to destroy or contain it.

On the coasts of the North Island and the northern part of the South Island, the silvery sand grass (Spinifex hirsutus), whose large seed heads bowl along the beaches in the wind, grows on the moving sand of the foredunes, and is a useful sand binder. Haretail grass, Lagurus ovatus, introduced from Europe about 1873, now covers the dunes in many places and also occurs in Central Otago. Throughout New Zealand the feathery panicles of Deyeuxia billardieri are a feature on fixed dunes. A native fescue, Festuca littoralis, occurs on sandy or rocky places near the shore. The small mat-forming Zoysia pungens is common as far south as Banks Peninsula. It is a hardy native, suitable for lawns in arid conditions.

The salt grass, Atropis stricta, grows on the wet mud of salt marshes with a native paspalum, P. distichum. At a slightly higher level in the marshes, tussocks of Stipa form a conspicuous belt.

Coastal cliffs are the habitat of the straggling New Zealand Bamboo, Microlaena polynoda, the nodding Poa, P. anceps, and blue grass, Agropyrum multiflorum.

On sandhills, river banks, flax swamps, and hillsides throughout New Zealand the tall graceful toetoe, Arundo conspicua, is one of the best-known native grasses. It has been replaced in many localities in the Auckland Province by pampas grass, Cortaderia dioica. This was planted for cattle food, but has escaped.

In dry, open, lowland situations, the hairy and ringed Danthonias, D. pilosa and D. semiannularis, are common. In the north they have been supplemented by the introduced paspalum to form summer pastures. As well as the Danthonias, a number of native grasses are palatable to stock, for example the blue wheat grass, Agropyrum scabrum, Deyeuxia quadriseta, Echinopogon ovatus, Dichelachne crinata, Hierochloe redolens. They do not form an important part of the pastures of New Zealand, however, where introduced grasses are more common.

In second-growth forest in the North Island, creeping mats of Oplismensus undulatifolius suggest that this native might be a useful lawn and cover grass in shaded positions.

The slender Poa, P. imbecilla, and bush rice grass, Microlaena avenacea, occur in forest clearings throughout New Zealand, but their recognition is difficult among the wealth of vigorous foreign grasses that follow man everywhere.

by Jeanne Hannington Goulding, Botanist's Assistant, Auckland Museum.

• The Indigenous Grasses of New Zealand, Buchanan, J. (1880)
• Manual of the New Zealand Flora, Cheeseman, T. F. (1925)
• D.S.I.R. Bulletin No. 49 (1936), “An Introduction to the Grasses of New Zealand”, Allan, H. H.

(Costelytra zealandica).

The adult of this grub is a beetle which is commonly called the grass-grub beetle or the brown beetle. This species is the most serious insect pest in New Zealand. The larvae feed on roots of grasses. Before Europeans modified the New Zealand environment by changing large tracts of land to pasture land of exotic grasses, the grass grub lived on the roots of native grasses, but has now successfully adapted itself to the introduced grasses and is capable of destroying them. It occurs throughout New Zealand, and all the pasture lands in the country could be destroyed or seriously damaged by the ravages of this insect. Control measures are adequate, however, and good results are being obtained by the application of insecticides to the pastures. There is one generation per year. Larvae hatch from December to March and grubs are actively feeding in the soil from this time until the following September. Adults occur from October to January. Adult beetles are pest insects in their own right because they are phytophagous and eat the foliage of many crops. They fly at dusk and early evening, and populations can be so large that serious defoliation of seedling crops and apple trees, etc., can occur.

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

(1838–1902).

Journalist and eccentric.

A new biography of Grant, James Gordon Stuart appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

James Gordon Stuart Grant was born at Granton near Edinburgh, in 1838, and after receiving a grammar school and university education he arrived at Dunedin in September 1855 crammed with ill-digested knowledge and obsessed with the conviction that he had been promised the position of rector of the High School that was shortly to be established. In anticipation of that appointment he started a private school of his own and called it the Dunedin Academy. When the rectorship of the new high school was bestowed elsewhere, Grant conceived a grievance that he was to cherish while life lasted. The academy soon had to be closed for want of pupils, but Grant was dedicated to the prosecution of what he called “a crusade against ignorance”. He lost no opportunity of lecturing to any available audience and in 1864 started a weekly newspaper called The Saturday Review. As editor, not only did he write nearly all the articles and news items, but he also sold the paper in the streets. Many of the articles were grossly libellous and he was obliged to make more than one appearance in Court. The Saturday Review was succeeded by The Delphic Oracle, and The Delphic Oracle by The Stoic. With each change of name, the publication became more irresponsibly libellous.

Not content with journalism, Grant made various attempts to cut a figure in politics. In the winter of 1864 he summoned a meeting of the unemployed in the Octagon, Dunedin, and, having addressed them in stirring language, led them to the Provincial Council buildings where the Council was in session. Apparently, he saw himself as being about to emulate Cromwell's action in dismissing the Rump Parliament, but in the event he was merely taken into custody by the Serjeant-at-Arms while his followers scarcely protested. Eventually he was fined £1 and required to sign an apology. The following year he won a seat on the Provincial Council. “Don't pay the members and they will the sooner get through the work” was the nothing if not altruistic programme which carried him to victory. In the Council he was never taken seriously and he declined to seek re-election — not, however, from any sense of failure, but because he had greater ambitions in view. In 1867 he stood for the superintendency of Otago. Macandrew, the successful candidate, polled 2,259 votes; Grant received two, one of them, presumably, being his own. Undiscouraged by this very positive rejection, he persisted for the next 17 years in offering himself as a parliamentary candidate whenever the opportunity occurred. He seldom polled more than a handful of votes.

Little is known of Grant's private life beyond the fact that by 1875 he was a married man with an infant daughter. Incorrigibly eccentric, he came at length to be regarded as a public jester, a privileged libeller, enjoying a high degree of immunity in both capacities. He died on 27 February 1902, in such poverty that a public subscription was taken up to pay his few remaining debts and funeral expenses.

by Randall Mathews Burdon, M.C. (1896–1965), Author, Wellington.

• History of Otago, McLintock, A. H. (1949)
• Contributions to the Early History of New Zealand, Hocken, T. M. (1898)
• New Zealand Notables (Series 2), Burdon, R. M. (1945).

(c. 1820–85).

Pioneer of tourist industry.

A new biography of Graham, Robert appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

Robert Graham was born about 1820 near Glasgow, Scotland, the son of Robert Graham, a Lanark farmer and coal-mine owner, and Barbara, née Rennie. He was educated at the parish school and, from the age of 16, managed the family coal mine until a serious accident obliged him to change his occupation. He came to New Zealand in the Jane Gifford, arriving in Auckland on 9 October 1842. There he chartered the Black Hawk, which he loaded with merchandise, and sailed for Kororareka, where he went into partnership with his brother David. Through his ability to understand the native mind, Graham came to exert a strong influence among the Maoris. The first sign of this mana occurred when Heke personally warned him of the impending troubles which led to the northern war. As a result, the Grahams were able to evacuate their whole stock before the sacking of Kororareka. The brothers then opened a store in Auckland, where they continued until 1850 when they dissolved partnership. From 1850 till 1853 Graham shipped potatoes and wheat to California and spent some time on the goldfields there. On his return to New Zealand he bought 565 acres on the Great South Road, Auckland. He called this estate “Ellerslie”, after his home in Scotland, and laid out the famous Ellerslie Gardens. In 1857 he bought Motutapu Island and, in 1858, Motuihi Island which he farmed in association with another brother. He turned his Ellerslie property into a stud farm and imported pedigree cattle and sheep to stock it.

Graham served in the House of Representatives from 1855 until 1868 and was also a member of the Auckland Provincial Council for two terms during the same period. In the 1860s he favoured a strong native policy and was one of the four Auckland members who unsuccessfully resisted the land compact of 1856. In December 1862 he defeated Williamson for the Auckland Superintendency. Graham held office until 1865, during the most difficult period of the Waikato War, and his term was marked by a number of vigorous and far-sighted policy measures. These included raising a £500,000 loan for public works and buildings, the inauguration of the Auckland water supply, the railway to Drury, and the Auckland Mental Hospital. He also arranged for the prospecting and purchase by the Government of the Kawakawa coalfield. When the Thames goldfields were proclaimed, he laid out the Grahamstown and Tararu settlements on land belonging to his niece and built the steam tramway connecting these.

In 1862 Graham was a passenger on the White Swan when she was wrecked near Castle Point. He found a landing place for the survivors and then walked overland to Wellington to bring help. He sailed again for Auckland in the Lord Worsley, but was wrecked off Te Namu. On this occasion he used his command of the Maori language to prevent hostile natives from massacring the survivors and persuaded Matakatea to escort them to New Plymouth. He also intervened to stop the Maoris looting a large quantity of gold from the ship.

The ill health which he suffered in his early years convinced Graham of the benefits of mineral waters and thermal spas. As early as 1845 he had acquired land which contained the Waiwera Springs and, after his retirement from politics, he developed the area as a health spa. He was also the first to realise the value of the Rotorua thermal district and, in the early 1870s, built Lake House at Ohinemutu — which soon became one of the most famous tourist resorts in the Australasian colonies. In 1878 he settled a tribal feud at Maketu and received from the Arawas, as a token of gratitude, a block of land near Taupo containing the now famous Wairakei Valley thermal area. At about the time of his death Graham had begun to develop this as a tourist and health resort. He died on 26 May 1885 at Emily Place, Auckland. Robert Graham was twice married: first, in 1856, to Sophia Swann; and secondly, on 2 June 1870, at Auckland, to Jane Horne. He left four sons and two daughters.

Although Robert Graham proved his ability as a successful trader, farmer, and politician, it was his influence with the Maoris which enabled him to pioneer the development of New Zealand's thermal areas.

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

• New Zealand Herald, 27 May 1885 (Obit), Ibid. 12 Jul 1929.

(1815–79).

Missionary.

A new biography of Grace, Thomas Samuel appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

T. S. Grace was born at Liverpool on 16 February 1815, the eldest son of Thomas Grace, of a family of Huguenot descent, and Sarah, née Cox. After a brief grammar-school education he entered a business firm of which, at the age of 24, he had become manager, having supported his family for some years earlier. For a number of years, however, he had wished to undertake mission work and, accordingly, in 1844 he handed the business over to his brother and brother-in-law preparatory to undergoing training for his chosen vocation. He entered St. Bees College in 1846, from which he was ordained deacon in 1848. In December 1849 he was admitted to priest's orders and sailed for New Zealand three months later under engagement to the Church Missionary Society.

With Sir George Grey's concurrence and encouragement, plans were made for Grace to open a mission station in the Lake Taupo district. On the departure of Archdeacon William Williams on leave for England, Grace was requested to act for him at Turanganui. Grace was on the East Coast from October 1850 until August 1853 and applied himself vigorously to the circuit. While there he encouraged the Maoris to insist on their rights in European trading and advised them against precipitate land sales. But his still limited knowledge of the language and the increasing numbers of Europeans in the district led to his ministry being less successful than might have been expected, despite his active sympathy for the Maori cause.

At the end of 1853 Taupo plans were again to the fore and, after a careful introductory visit to the district, Grace finally decided on the village of Pukawa on the south-eastern side of the lake as the site for the station. This spot, where 70 acres were marked out for the mission, was under the mana of Te Heuheu Iwikau, and the choice which irritated Te Herekiekie, the rival chief of Tokaanu, was skilfully engineered by Grace to effect a reconciliation between the two men. The difficulty of arranging supplies and transporting them inland from the base at Matata delayed effective occupation until April 1855. Fencing, clearing, and cultivation proceeded apace. The loss by fire in May 1856 of the first raupo mission house with most of the family's personal effects saw a most substantial two-storeyed building erected in its place, with mission school, cottages, and other buildings.

At an inter-tribal meeting at Pukawa in November 1856, the proposal to elect a Maori king was canvassed, but Grace advised Te Heuheu against acceptance. He later defended himself against the charge that he had supported the proposal, if not having actually convened the meeting.

Grace encouraged sheep farming by the Tuwharetoa tribe, opened a boarding school in addition to an “industrial” day school, and exercised a decisive influence in discouraging local participation in the Taranaki War. Notable among the local chiefs who assisted in the work of the mission were Te Poihipi Tukairangi, of Tapuaeharuru (Taupo), who later led the sole remaining loyal section around the lake, and Hare Tauteka, of Tokaanu. He was also greatly supported by the Ngati Porou chief Matiaha Pahewa, who had accompanied him. Among the local hapus or sub-tribes his strongest followers were the Ngati Te Rangiita, of Motutere, and Ngati Manunui, of Pukawa. The heavy burden of supplying the station largely from the coast, in conjunction with Grace's ambitious views of what should be done appears, nevertheless, to have considerably taxed the energy and loyalty of these people.

The death of Te Heuheu Iwikau, the protector of the mission, in October 1862, as well as the tragic loss by drowning of four key pupils and the mounting discontent of the surrounding tribes, increased the difficulties of the mission. The outbreak of the Waikato War in July 1863 emphasised its precariously isolated position, and in October Grace and family, with the assistance of close Maori supporters, retreated to Matata and Auckland. The spread of Hauhau doctrine, particularly on the western lake side, made early reoccupation impracticable, although Grace investigated the possibility in January 1865.

In March 1865 Grace accompanied Rev. C. S. Volkner on a reconnaissance of the latter's station, which had shortly before come under Hauhau domination. Both men were seized and Volkner executed on the charge of having acted as a spy and in revenge for the death of Maori women at Rangiaowhia in Waikato. Grace was fortunately able to make his escape on HMS Eclipse.

Until his transfer to Tauranga in 1873 Grace had his headquarters at Auckland. He made a number of later visits to Taupo, more significantly in 1867, 1868, 1870, and 1871.

Grace actively dissociated himself from those of his colleagues who had been involved in land purchases. This attitude accounted in part for a coolness with the Williams family, William Williams being most critical of Grace and of the limited effectiveness of the Taupo enterprise. When, however, its isolation is recalled, in conjunction with the growing tension between Maori and Pakeha from the time of its opening, it must be admitted that Grace was not unsuccessful. He was energetic if somewhat unpractical and not one to belittle his difficulties. When the war was over, however, other areas of greater and more prolonged missionary activity showed less evidence of Christian teaching than did Taupo.

Grace had married Agnes Fearon in 1845. He died at Tauranga on 30 April 1879 and was survived by eight sons and two daughters.

by Austin Graham Bagnall, M.A., A.L.A., Librarian, National Library Centre, Wellington.

• A Pioneer Missionary Among the Maoris, Grace, T. S. (1928)
• Tuwharetoa, Grace, J. Te H. (1959).

It will be observed that, although the functions of the Governor-General have formally increased in scope, in practice the personal discretion of the Governor-General in respect of these functions has been steadily diminished. At first such restrictions as existed were in the nature of legal ones designed by the British Government in order to enable it to supervise and control the actions of the Governor as its agent; with the passage of years, however, the increasing restrictions arising in particular from conventional practice have had the effect of enabling the exercise of the functions of that office to be controlled and supervised by, and for the benefit of, the leaders of the majority party in the House of Representatives. Thus, although this was not what was originally intended, the Governor-General at the present time bears very much the same relationship to the Government of New Zealand, as does the Crown to the Government of the United Kingdom.

by Donald Edgar Paterson, B.A., LL.M.(N.Z.), LL.M., J.S.D.(YALE), Lecturer in Jurisprudence and Constitutional Law, Victoria University of Wellington.

• The Constitutional Development of New Zealand in the First Decade (1839–1849), Foden, N. A. (1949)
• The Constitutional History and Law of New Zealand, Hight, J., and Bamford, H. D. (1914)
• Crown Colony Government in New Zealand, McLintock, A. H. (1958)
• The Statute of Westminster and Dominion Status, Wheare, K. C. (1953)
• New Zealand–the Development of its Laws and Constitution, Robson, J. L. (ed.) (1954).

It can be seen that whilst the legal provisions discussed above do regulate the manner in which the Governor-General may exercise his functions they still do leave considerable areas of discretion with him. These areas of nominal discretion have now been largely removed by conventional practice accepted and adhered to by the Crown and Governors-General. Thus it has been an accepted convention since 1856 that the Governor-General appoints as members of the Executive Council and as Ministers only those persons who are proposed to him by the acknowledged leader of the majority party in the House of Representatives; it is only if there is no party with a clear majority in the House, or if it has no acknowledged leader, that there is now any room for personal choice on the part of the Governor-General. Under the present circumstances of two-party government and selection of the party leader by caucus, the opportunity for this personal discretion does not arise, and has not arisen since 1928.

It is also an accepted convention that the Governor-General accepts and acts upon the advice of his Ministers in all matters, unless he has substantial reasons for knowing that the advice is not in accord with the majority of the House of Representatives or of the electors. At one time the Governor was loath to accept advice that might be prejudicial to British interests, but, since the Imperial Conference of 1926 at least, it has been accepted that the Governor-General always acts upon the advice of his Ministers except in the one case mentioned above. Since then, there has been no recorded instance of the Governor-General having specifically rejected the advice of his Ministers.

Even with respect to functions of an extra-legal and social nature, a conventional practice has been built up over the years, not so much, however, upon the advice of Ministers as upon the advice of the Governor-General's official staff. In these matters, of course, the Governor-General is freer to indulge his own judgments and tastes more extensively, but there are certain activities in which it is the practice for Governors-General to show their interest by their attendance or, in the case of certain national organisations, by accepting, when invited to do so, the office of patron.

The function of appointing the Executive Council is restricted by the Civil List Act 1950 which requires that only members of the House of Representatives may be appointed to the Council or be Ministers of the Crown, although the actual choice as to which members should be so appointed is not touched by that statute. The function of summoning, proroguing, and dissolving the House of Representatives is now regulated by the Electoral Act 1956, although the decision as to when such action should be taken is still theoretically with the Governor-General. Appointments to office are required by the Instructions of 1917 to be, as a rule, only during pleasure and not for a fixed term, and the procedure for granting land is set out in the Land Transfer Act 1952; but in both cases the Governor-General is not restricted as to whom he should grant appointments or land. The Instructions of 1917, however, contain a general provision that the Governor-General is to be “guided by the advice of his Executive Council” in all matters, although he may refuse to follow that advice provided he informs the Crown promptly of this.