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Case sixteen
![Michael Murphy, Handbook of gardening for New Zealand. 1st ed. Christchurch: Whitcombe and Tombs, [1885].Hocken UAV/M](../../gfx/Exhibitions/Gardening/garden_murphy.jpg) |
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| Michael Murphy, Handbook of
gardening for New Zealand. 1st ed. Christchurch: Whitcombe and
Tombs, [1885]. Hocken UAV/M |
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![David Tannock, Manual of gardening in New Zealand. Auckland: Whitcombe & Tombs, [1916].Private Collection.](../../gfx/Exhibitions/Gardening/garden_tannock.jpg) |
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| David Tannock, Manual of gardening
in New Zealand. Auckland: Whitcombe & Tombs, [1916]. Private Collection. |
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Gardening in New Zealand
The first comprehensive gardening manual published in New Zealand was Michael Murphy's Handbook of Gardening for New Zealand (ca. 1885), which also included chapters on poultry and bee-keeping. Murphy (1833-1914) came to New Zealand from Ireland, via Tasmania, and became Secretary of the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association. He edited their quarterly publication The New Zealand Country Journal (1877-1898). As well as writing about land improvement and crops, he made a fine garden at Woodham, Christchurch, judging from the illustrations in the 4th and final edition of his handbook (1907). Murphy openly drew on material from British books such as Loudon's Encyclopaedia, and believed that ‘One quarter of an acre, well managed, would provide a large family all the year round with an ample supply of wholesome vegetables.' (Preface to 1st edition).
After Murphy's death, David Tannock, the Superintendent of Gardens and Reserves, Dunedin, took over his role. His first book, Manual of Gardening in New Zealand appeared in 1916. Appointed Curator at the Dunedin Botanic Gardens in 1903 following training at Kew and work in the West Indies, Tannock quickly built up contacts with other professional horticulturalists and keen amateurs. Several of these contributed sections to the Manual. An enlarged edition was published in 1921 and a substantial revision with a rather bland cover came out in 1934 under the title Practical Gardening in New Zealand.
The next manual commissioned by Whitcombe and Tombs was written by James Anderson McPherson who held a succession of posts in public garden and reserves management in Invercargill (1926-1933), Christchurch (1933-1945) and Auckland (from 1945). New Zealand-born, he completed his apprenticeship under Tannock at Dunedin before working as a student gardener at Kew, London. McPherson's book Whitcombe's Complete New Zealand Gardener first appeared in 1943 as a wartime edition. The 5th and final edition of 1964 underwent major revisions, with a new section added on the patio or outdoor living room, a Californian concept.