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This thesis explores how horticultural science was shaped in England in the period 1910-1930. Horticultural science research in the early twentieth century exhibited marked diversity and horticulture included bees, chickens, pigeons,pigs, goats, rabbits and hares besides plants. Horticultural science was characterised by various tensions arising from efforts to demarcate it from agriculture and by internecine disputes between government organisations such as the Board of Agriculture, the Board of Education and the Development Commission for control of the innovative state system of horticultural research and education that developed after 1909. Both fundamental and applied science research played an important role in this development. This thesis discusses the promotion of horticultural science in the nineteenth century by private institutions, societies and scientists and after 1890 by the government, in order to provide reference points for comparisons with early twentieth century horticultural science. Efforts made by the new Horticultural Department of the Board of Agriculture and by scientists and commercial growers raised the academic status of horticultural science and the professional status of its practitioners. Horticulture is treated as a working world and the response of the commercial sector to research station science is analysed. In detailing the scientific investigations conducted by the state and the commercial sector, in discussing state consumer-oriented policies based on research station science and in examining responses of allotment holders and consumers of fruit and vegetables to these policies, this dissertation offers an original contribution to the history of the life sciences.

A rejection by some white majority New Zealanders of the category of 'European' to describe their ethnicity in the 2006 census raises questions about how national identity is perceived in a country that has become increasingly multicultural in the last 60 years. Although British culture still remained at the core of New Zealand European identity, why was there a greater impetus by some at this time to seek out a true New Zealand identity or, as some see it, a majority group identity, by claiming 'New Zealander' as their ethnicity rather than 'NZ European' ? This paper draws on the theoretical writings of sociologist David Pearson who takes an historical view of the challenges to majoritarian national narratives of antipodean societies that include "the demise of the British Empire …[and] the rise of a neo-Europe, increasing racial and ethnic diversity and burgeoning regional, indigenous, and religious nationalisms, plus globalization and radical economic and political responses to the insecurities of a new world order" (2008, p.49). In this research I apply the discourse-historical approach of CDA (Wodak et al, 1999; Wodak & Meyer, 2009) to investigate the discourses surrounding people's rejection of their European heritage based on these pivotal factors. Following a review of the historical emergence of a New Zealand national identity since the British first colonised the country in the 1800s, this paper uses a case study of a public online discussion about the 2006 census ethnicity question to explore people's construction of identity in relation to European origins. It focuses on content, discursive strategies and linguistic features in the discussion that contributed to the construction of the nation's identity. Two opposing discourses are identified and discussed – one that legitimises the use of 'New Zealander' as an ethnicity based on the premise that many people no longer feel a connection with Europe and in fact have never 'been there', while the other discourse views the claiming of 'New Zealander' by NZ Europeans for themselves to be a form of discrimination and subtle racism that marginalises other ethnic groups. The transformation of national identity is considered in the context of political rhetoric that called for New Zealanders to be more accepting of ethnic minority groups. Pearson, D. (2008). Reframing majoritarian national identities within an antipodean perspective. Thesis Eleven, 95(November), 48–57. Wodak, R., de Cillia, R., Reisigl, M., & Liebhart, K. (1999). The discursive construction of national identity. Edinburgh, Scotland: Edinburgh University Press. Wodak, R., & Meyer, M. (2009). Critical discourse analysis: History, agenda, theory and methodology. In R. Wodak & M. Meyer (Eds.), Methods of critical discourse analysis (pp. 1–33). London, England: Sage Publications.

The New Zealand Government's construction of an all-inclusive national identity in the early 2000s was imagined in terms of "the New Zealand Way" – a term used by politicians that clearly echoed Britain's Third Way politics that emerged in the mid-1990s. Key to this concept was a promoted focus on a new shared national identity for all New Zealanders, regardless of their ethnicity, that would provide the foundation for the building of a socially cohesive society in an increasingly diverse country. In applying the "discourse-historical" approach of Critical Discourse Analysis (Wodak, 2001) I examine the political rhetoric between 2005 and 2008 whereby New Zealand's Labour-led government pursued a nation-building strategy to communicate in both domestic and global contexts a positive image of a stable country capable of competing economically on the world stage. In analysing the official discourse in a number of political texts I highlight the use of a range of discursive strategies by which people both within and outside the nation could be assisted, if not persuaded or cajoled, to imagine or think of New Zealand society in a certain way. This can be interpreted as "official legitimating discourse…[that] contributes to the management and the reproduction of power" (Martin-Rojo and van Dijk, 1997, p. 562). I argue that the Government's promotion of an inclusive society was not only an essential part of its rebranding of the nation (Dinnie, 2008), but it was also a way to position New Zealanders as global citizens as well as national citizens. Dinnie, K. (2008). Nation branding: Concepts, issues, practice. Oxford, England: Butterworth Heinemman. Martin-Rojo, L., & van Dijk, T. (1997). 'There was a problem, and it was solved!' Legitimating the expulsion of 'illegal' immigrants in Spanish parliamentary discourse. Discourse & Society, 8(4), 523–567. Wodak, R. (2001). The discourse-historical approach. In R. Wodak & M. Meyer (Eds.), Methods of critical discourse analysis (pp. 63–94). London, England: Sage.

AbstractThe performances of two micromesh nets, which were physically similar but differed in weight of leadline (i.e. 120 g/m2 vs. 250 g/m2), to estimate the numbers of four species of fish (roach, gudgeon, perch and bream) were investigated on 51 occasions. These two nets were found to capture fish longer than 25 mm. Capture efficiency was found to vary according to design of net, species and size of fish. Both nets usually produced a reduction in numbers of fish caught with successive removals, although the heavy leadlined net was more likely to cause a reduction in catch and in a constant manner than the light leadlined net. The accuracy of the heavy leadlined net to estimate a known number of roach ≥90 mm and gudgeon ≥90 mm was tested on two occasions. The known number was within the 95% confidence limits of the population estimate for both species, although the precision of the estimate for gudgeon was low at one site. The precision of the within‐site estimates was found to vary according to the type of net, the species and size class, and the number of removals. Overall, the heavy leadlined net was found to be more useful but required greater manpower. The implications of these findings for survey design are discussed.

ABSTRACTEstimating the abundance of fish which occur at a low density presents difficulties. This study compares intensive netting with extensive electric fishing for the assessment of zander (Stizostedion lucioperca) — a predatory fish which is found in some lakes, rivers and canals. Whilst netting caught more zander per unit area, larger areas could be surveyed using single‐pass electric fishing, and the catch per unit effort (man day) was much higher. Electric fishing was examined in detail, and zander which were less than 200 mm in 'forklength' were caught with a low‐capture efficiency (<20%), whilst longer fish were caught with a higher and relatively constant efficiency (>40%). The approach is offered as a model to develop methods to assess the abundance of low‐density fish.