MASSEY COLLEGE NURSERY FOR RARE RHODODENDRONS

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27404, 17 July 1954, Page 2

MASSEY COLLEGE NURSERY FOR RARE RHODODENDRONS

“The Press” Special Service

PALMERSTON NORTH, July 17. Rhododendrons from the mountains of Burma, collected on the expeditions of a world-famous plant-hunter, are growing in the grounds of Massey Agricultural College. The blooms are the products of seeds collected by Mr F. Kingf ord-Ward, naturalist and plant explorer, whose expeditions to remote corners of the world are financed by contributions from horticultural groups and garden-lovers in many countries. The Massey College rhododendrons are some of Mr Kingf ord-Ward’s specimens bought by the New Zealand Rhododendron Association, which has its headquarters at the college. The guiding hand behind the rearing of the Burmese seeds and many other new hybrid species of rhododendron and azalea is that of Dr. J. S. Yeates, the association’s secretary, who is lecturer in agricultural and horticultural botany at the college. Himself a horticulturist of New Zealand repute, Dr. Yeates a few years ago perfected a method of plant grafting which en 7 sures a high percentage of grafting successes with even the most delicate subjects. Mr Kingford-Ward, whose last plant-hunting exploit in Burma led to the sending of 37 new species of rhododendron to the college, will leave with his wife on another trip to Burma this year. The New Zealand Rhododendron Association intends subscribing again to the cost of the expedition, and Dr. Yeates will approach some New Zealand local bodies, including possibly the Palmerston North City Council, with a suggestion that they make grants toward the cost, in return for some of the Kingford-Ward finds. Many New Species Writing to Dr. Yeates from North Burma on his latest expedition, Mr Kingford-Ward listed a large number of the finds he had made at that date “and about 20 other species, besides—l hope—another half-dozen we may find on these craggy and pre-

cipitous peaks when the fine autumn weather begins.” A selection of beautiful hybrid rhododendrons has been introduced from Dr. Yeates’s research and breeding experiments at the college. Many of them are the product of multiplication of imported hybrids from England, as well as Kingford-Ward finds. Rhododendron growing experiments began at Massey in 1946. Of the outcome Dr. Yeates says: “There has not been quite enough time to marshal results, but we have produced one or two azaleas and rhododendrons which I consider are in the top flight.” One of the hybrids of which Dr. Yeates is proudest is Red Letter, a brilliant new red azalea. Botanically, rhododendrons and azaleas are of the same family, but azaleas differ by being deciduous. Grafting Made Easy Grafting of plants has been made easy by a discovery of Dr. Yeates, now put into regular practice in many nurseries. Instead of following the old «and unreliable 'method of attaching grafts to the base of the host plant, Dr. Yeates affixes them to the young and tender tips of the hosts. This method ensures a flow of lifegiving sap, doing the host little harm, and cutting out the hit-or-miss record of grafting on to old wood. Another discovery of Dr. Yeates makes possible the easy rearing of grafted rhododendron plants. Usually after they have been grafted they must be left in a damp glasshouse and “damped down” about twice a day, for two months or more. The new method is to tie a bag of special plastic over the grafted part and plant the grafted plant outside, in a shady place, at once. The plastic allows the plant to breathe, but prevents it from drying out. The result is a successful “take” of the graft without further attention.