up his feelings towards certain aspects of his return visit to the Island after a four-year absence.

Mr. Phillips, who is back as a judge for the Agricultural Exhibition, spent 11 years at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries & Parks, during which time he was responsible for establishing a variety of new programmes designed to enhance the Island's horticultural future.

Today, he is curator of the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens and Arboretum in Hampshire, England, where he presides over 160 carefully maintained acres containing more than 40,000 plants from around the world, many of them rare and endangered species.

Tended by a staff of 12 gardeners, Hillier Gardens are visited by more than 65,000 visitors a year -- a 40,000 leap since Mr. Phillips took over in 1989.

Perhaps best remembered as the man behind the "Plant one on me'' cedar tree commercials, Mr. Phillips established the Bermuda cedar seedlings competition and was also an enthusiastic supporter of the department's apprenticeship scheme, which he founded in 1977 and ran until 1988. It was designed to prepare young Bermudians for a career in horticulture while learning on the job.

Knowledge that the scheme has now been dropped is a source of great disappointment to Mr. Phillips.

"Dropping the scheme represents a phenomenal waste of resources because it trained young farmers and horticulturists for the future,'' he protested.

"One must have new people coming through. They are your managers, supervisors and curators of the future.

"Since I have been at Hillier I have run into at least 20 or 30 of my old (UK) students who are now in senior positions in major Gardens throughout Britain. That shows the value of training young people. To not have that resource in Bermuda is very short-sighted.

"The apprenticeship scheme was a good programme, and it got young Bermudian apprentices into horticulture. In fact, I notice that I will be judging at the Agricultural Exhibition with some of my ex-students. This shows the programme was a success because they are now in positions of responsibility.'' Mr.

Phillips emphasised that his remarks sprang from a deep concern for the future of the Island he still loves.

"Bermuda hasn't got any more space to play with, so you need young people who are keen, enthusiastic and dedicated,'' he stressed, adding: "But of course, enthusiasm must come from the top. That is why Hillier is such a success. I am very enthusiastic and love my job -- so much so that I would do it even if I didn't get paid. In fact, everybody at Hillier is very, very keen. We all work long hours but we are a truly dedicated team.'' Also responsible for the establishment of an endemic planting scheme throughout the Island during his tenure here, Mr. Phillips was pleased to find that the fruits of his labours are apparently doing well.

"Some of the cedars have shown phenomenal growth,'' he said proudly. "And the palms are very attractive. They make a nice welcome at the Airport.'' Mr.

Phillips gave full marks to the landscaping at the new Crow Lane to East Broadway stretch of highway.

"I am very impressed with the work which has been done there. And it's nice to see that they have put in some palms and cedars,'' he said.

But the former Government horticulturist was less than happy with the state of the Botanical Gardens, which he maintained should be a wonderful showcase for a variety of vegetation from around the world.

"I expected to see more development at the Botanical Gardens and more planting, but nothing has changed. It is static,'' Mr. Phillips said. "A garden must evolve and change. It must know where it is going, and it must have set objectives and a vision and plan for the future.

"It disappoints me to see the lack of change there because the potential for planting is so enormous due to Bermuda's wonderfully cosmopolitan climate.'' By way of comparison, Mr. Phillips said that in the four years he had been at Hillier more than 4,000 plants had been put in -- or over 1,000 a year.

Just as he was in Bermuda, Mr. Phillips has also been very much an innovator in his current post.

Among other things, he has established special "outdoor classroom'' educational tours for the school children of Hampshire. These are science-based and tie in with the new British national curriculum. Over 5,000 children now participate annually in the programme.

His Friends scheme allows members, amongst other things, to become volunteer workers at the Gardens. The idea has proved so popular that some 1,500 people now assist with such duties as propagation and computer work.

Monthly workshops, guided tours and lectures are other parts of Mr. Phillips' overall scheme to make Hillier "a garden for all seasons.'' "We are open year-round and my aim is to make the Gardens attractive to people of all interests,'' the curator explained. "Everything has to have a learning bias to it.'' Special children's holiday activities include a dinosaur picnic, butterfly studies, making Easter bonnets and baskets and games days.

Described as "a plantsman's paradise,'' Hillier Gardens was the inspiration of Sir Harold Hillier, a famous British nurseryman and avid plant collector, who travelled the world gathering the rare and unusual.

"Hillier became the most famous commercial nursery in the world for providing unusual trees and shrubs. If anybody wanted a rare plant from China or Timbucktu, Hillier provided it,'' Mr. Phillips explained.

Thus is it possible today to find thriving at Hillier no less than 182 rare or endangered woody plants listed by Kew Gardens in its worldwide Red Data Book.

"This means we have an extremely important conservation source,'' Mr.

Phillips noted.

Small wonder then that local conservationist Mr. David Wingate remarked on his visit to Hillier: "This is a botanical zoo.'' Just as Sir Harold Hillier did before him, the present curator also travels the world in pursuit of rare plants and unusual seeds to further enhance the Hampshire landmark.

During a trip to China last year Mr. Phillips was devastated to see the wholesale decimation of its forests.

"While the tropical rainforests of South America are getting all the publicity, it is also the temperate forests, such as China's, which are being ravaged on a very large scale,'' he said. "I was devastated to see thousands upon thousands of acres of forest being cut down and sent to saw mills. This means that plants are also being destroyed before they have even been discovered, and there are potential cures in these forests for some of the devastating diseases we have today.'' In fact, ethno-biology (the curative use of plant materials) was now of great interest to institutions such as Britain's famed Kew Gardens, where Mr.

Phillips said there was "a big movement towards the pharmaceutical use of plant material''.

"Hillier is also now looking at the potential of the many rare plants we grow,'' he said.

Looking ahead, Mr. Phillips is in the process of devising a 50-year plan, or what he calls "long term vision strategies'' for what he calls "the flagship of Hampshire County Council''.

"My main objective is to make Hillier Gardens a huge success. We want to lead the world in long-term vision strategies and management planning for (public) gardens,'' he said.

But it is not only at Hillier that Mr. Phillips pursues his goals. A respected international lecturer on plant collecting and exploration, he has just completed a whistle-stop tour of various US cities which included the Longwood, Pennsylvania graduating class, and has addressed the International Ecology Conference in France, as well as an important symposium in Germany.

Through his friend and top UK horticulturist, Mr. Roy Lancaster, a former Hillier curator and one-time Agricultural Exhibition judge, Mr. Phillips has also been retained by Cunard to lead tours to Caribbean botanical gardens, and is also hoping to lead a Friends of Hillier and Kew tour to Bermuda next year.

In addition, Mr. Phillips is participating in two popular British television shows: Grass Roots, and Gardener's World which has a 4.5 million audience.

PLANT ONE ON ME! -- Former Government horticulturist Mr. Barry Phillips checks the health of one of the many cedars he planted around the Island. Mr.

Phillips, a judge at this year's Agricultural Exhibition, will also be presenting his trophy for the best cedar in show.