The publication of `New Zealand Soil Classification' by Dr Alan Hewitt this year (Hewitt 1992a) represents a major milestone in New Zealand soil science. That it was one of the final publications of the now defunct DSIR is somehow appropriate because, as classification systems should, it provides (in a mere 133 pages) a synthesis of much of what has been learnt about the soils of New Zealand over the past 60 years or more, The new classification was officially launched at the New Zealand Society of Soil Science Conference in Rotorua on 16 November, 1992.
