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Irrigation does substitute for rainfall but cannot substitute for soil development. Farms, drought free, but hungry for investment are the predictable outcome. The economist Brian Easton has recently argued that adverse terms of trade for agricultural commodities have contributed to the slow development or under-development of the New Zealand economy. A hard look at our soil resources would suggest that the need to spend in order to earn has been a powerful amplifier of Easton's linkage. As we try to resolve the current crop of issues around soil and land use keeping a clear eye on history and avoiding the convenient mythologies seems wise. Similarly, looking past the claims of interest groups and sceptically examining the match between their economic goals and intentions for land use intentions may help soil scientists through the information morass. Acknowledgements I am most grateful to Dr Alec MacKay, President of the New Zealand Society for Soil Science, and the Society's Council for the of the Norman Taylor Memorial Award. I also wish to thank Dr Alan Hart who acted as a sceptical sounding board during the preparation of the lecture and its subsequent transformation into this essay. Dr Saman Bowatte generously allowed access to data unpublished at the time of the lecture and I am also grateful to Allan Palmer, Louis Schipper and Ron McLenaghen for their organisation and support at the three lecture venues. The paintings The landscape paintings used to illustrate the lecture aroused a lot of interest. Most can be viewed as good quality images with using the links below. I have not been able to find a good link for the Rita Angus painting “Scrub burning Northern Hawke’s Bay 1962” but am aware that a major retrospective exhibition of her work is currently being prepared at Te Papa and this will include many of less accessible works. I used the Doris Lusk painting “Canterbury Plains from the Cashmere Hills” because it neatly captured the impacts of agriculture and human settlement on the landscape. It also appealed because it was painted in 1952, a high point in agricultural optimism in New Zealand, when sheep farming for wool appeared to be the route to prosperity just as milk production does today. The wool boom busted within two years though and since then the valley shown has grown two crops of Pinus radiata, a land use change unthinkable in 1952. Doris Lusk “Canterbury Plains from the Cashmere Hills: http://www.christchurchartgallery.org.nz/GalleryOnline/IX2/L000026F.HTM Rita Angus “Wanaka” http://www.prints.co.nz/page/fine-art/PROD/Artists_Angus_Rita/B17 Leo Benseman “Canterbury spring” http://www.christchurchartgallery.org.nz/GalleryOnline/RECORDS/R0000154.HTM Dick Frizzell; “Milled hill gorse and bracken-Tokoroa 1987” http://www.christchurchartgallery.org.nz/GalleryOnline/RECORDS/R0000581.HTM Grant Wood “Fall plowing” http://www.artcyclopedia.com/goto/prints-310399 * This can be regarded as a general proxy for scaling the annual of nitrogen through the mineral N pool at each site ____________________ 53
Lincoln University’s role in Soil Science Teaching at the University of Canterbury - 1969 to 2006 John Adams - Senior Fellow, NZ School of Forestry, University of Canterbury Introduction For 38 years between 1969 and 2006, Soil Science staff from Lincoln University taught forestry, science and forest engineering students at the University of Canterbury. With Lincoln’s withdrawal from this teaching at the end of 2006, it seems an appropriate point at which to record the history of this long and unique association. Background – How and Why the Arrangement Began Canterbury University College had offered a Forestry degree and a Certificate course in Forestry from 1925 to 1934 when it was disestablished. In the mid 1960’s after many years of debate, the University of Canterbury gained approval to re-establish a forestry degree and in 1966 appointed Professor P. J. McKelvey as the Foundation Professor in the Faculty of Forestry. The original Bachelor of Forestry Science (BForSc) degree contained a paper on Forest Geology. Professor McKelvey wanted the new BForSc degree to have a Soil Science component and in 1967 began informal discussions with Professor T.W.Walker, Head of the Department of Soil Science at Lincoln College, about whether his department could contribute to the teaching of a course in Soil Science in the new degree. Professor Walker was supportive of the idea, as was Dr M.M Burns, Principal of Lincoln College. In early to mid September 1967, Dr C.J.Burrows, then Lecturer in Plant Ecology in the Botany Department at the University of Canterbury, formally approached Professor Walker about teaching Soil Science to BSc students alongside BForSc students. On 29 September 1967 Dr Burrows circulated a letter to a number of academic staff at the University of Canterbury. Headed “Development of Soil Science at the University of Canterbury” it called a meeting on 6 October of interested persons to discuss the possible development of Soil Science teaching at Canterbury, at least to Stage I level, during the 1970 to 1974 quinquennium. He suggested that it was generally acknowledged by those who are most interested (Forestry, Botany, Geography) that the teaching of Soil Science at Canterbury was academically desirable. He further suggested that the meeting should discuss what should constitute a Soil Science course and how it might be implemented, when in a student’s career he should he be able to take Soil Science, and implementation matters such as staffing, laboratory, office and lecture space, technical assistance and equipment. Finally he suggested that one way in which Soil Science could be run at Canterbury was for the Department of Soil Science at Lincoln College to be involved and noted that Professor Walker had indicated a willingness to participate provided that staffing needs, etc were met. The letter was sent to several Departments at the University of Canterbury, including Forestry, Botany, Geography, Geology, Chemistry, Zoology, and Civil Engineering. Prof Walker forwarded Dr Burrows letter (seeking comment) to Dr M.M.Burns, Principal of Lincoln College, on 2 October. Dr Burns must have approved immediately because things moved exceedingly quickly. A paper dated 10 October 1967 proposing a new academic development in the form of a course in Soil Science was put together by Professor W.B Johnston (Professor of Geography), Professor M.Gage (Professor of Geology) and Dr Burrows for a meeting of the University of Canterbury Faculty of Science on 17 October. The main features of the proposal were 54
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