The DSIR Soil Survey Division was formed in 1936 and renamed the Soil Bureau in 1946. It was responsible for soil surveys and research into soil chemistry, biology and physics. In 1962 purpose-built offices and laboratories were opened at Taita, and research focused on nutrient availability and measurement techniques. Here scientist John Widdowson examines plants in a soil fertility experiment. In the early 1990s the site was closed and most staff relocated to Landcare Crown research institute in Palmerston North.
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Alexander Turnbull Library, Dominion Post Collection (PA-Group-00685)
Reference: EP-Government Departments-Soil Bureau-01
by Brett Richardson
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.