JUNIOR AND CROSS SOCIETY.

Hutt News, Volume 3, Issue 19, 2 October 1930, Page 12

JUNIOR AND CROSS SOCIETY.

GKAasLAip;Kyowi3;DQE COMPETITION.

{Continued).

The first -tiling- to do is the actual collection of the specimens themselves. Now, a good botanical specimen should show all the essential parts of the plant —roots, leaves, stems,'flowers, and seed. It is therefore often necessary to have several specimens to fully illustrate the one plant. So far as the roots are concerned these are often troublesome to collect and where they do not possess some special feature that makes them of importance to distinguish them from other plants, they need not fee bothered about. Very frequently, the collector tends to gather only scrap (plants, and this should not be done. It will frequently be necessary in order to get good specimens of- both foliage and flowers to cullect the same plant at .■different times; of the yeaT.; : : An ordinary haversack will be found quite suitable to collect, the. plants in, and as soon as. you return home the specimens should be taken out and, pressed. The whole principle of pressing plants is to dry them under pressure between sheets of paper 'Which should be of an absorptive1 nature if possible, but ordinary» newspaper will prove quite; suitable provided the specimens arqr regularly changed with fresh paper each day for about a week. The sheets/, of paper should all be cut •to a regular size and it is necessary to have either board /-or stout cardboard covers made. When the specimens have been placed one over the other separate with sheets of paper, pressure may be exerted by either strapping, the boards together or bjv (putting some suitable weight on the top •board. Changing of specimens is extrejiiely. important otherwise they are likely to mould and become useless. Where the specimens ate quite small and, not too thick, an old exercise book will be found quite 'handy- providedsome weight is kept on the book. When the specimens are quite dried, which will take anything from a week to 14 days, they can bq mounted. For this purpose a drawing 'book with, fairly large pages will be found very suitable. Only one plant should be mounted on each page, but there is no objection to several specimens of the same plant "being put on one page. The best method of mounting is-to out strips of white paper about a quarter of an inch wide, gum one side and then use one «f the strips to fasten the specimen to •the paper. As soon as mounting has been completed, any notes taken on the . day of collecting should be written out «n a Square Apiece of white paper and 1 attached below .the specim'ehV A-riy com petitor who wishes to- try and name the specimens may: do so, but there is really, no need for this as all the collections .will be.named correctly by > the Plant Research. Station at Palmer- ! ston . North. and . returned to the competitors. ... ■\..,' i\ ... r- . ooN^rrioNS' yo& the » . CX>MPBTrriON. The work will Uprove' not only ex- ; • tremely interesting in itself, but will prove a very valuaible education to all conjpetitors. With many at the present time, a grass field is merely a

>grass .field and the fact that "grass" on which both city, and country very largely depends consists of a large! number of. different plants of differing appearance, differing haibits and differing value, "is liardly realised. The collecting, observing, and mounting of these plants will put a completely different (complexion on any walk through ,a grass field, and will form a training •to the eye and the mind that will be

'hard to over-estimate. Apart from any actual winning of a prize, the fact that the collections of all competitors will •be correctly named by a specialist,'is' of added inducement, and the competition will at the least enable many niemibers

of the Junior Bed. Cross to recognise in the future and name any of the plants they have collected. It is not expected that many of the collections Tivill be. in any way complete when it is ■remembered that hundreds of different plants go to make up the flora of our glass lands, but the bbjetive is -to-col-lect as many kinds as possible, dry them carefully, mount them -properly and provide certain notes with regard to catch.

I Entries for the competition should be sen,t in to the^Editor of the Junior Bed Cross Magazine any time now <uintil the end of October; when entries will close. Bach competitor is to give his or her name and address and the Circle, if ■any, he or she "belongs to. It is hoped that a large number of entries will be received from all parts of New Zealand and that city children will compete equally with country ones. So far a^ the actual conditions of the competition axe concerned, they have fbeen made as simple as possile, and are as follows:— : 1. Entries must be in the hands of the Editor before 30th, October. 2. All collections must be posted to reach the Editor not later than March Ist," 1931. 3. AH specimens must be mounted. OrdinaTy unlined exercise books will be found most convenient. 4. - Only one kind of plant must -be mounted on each page. 5. Each plant need noi; be named >but it will be well for each' competitor to name as many as possible. 6. Apart from the name the following particulars must be supplied with ea/eh specimen: (1) When it was collected; (2) Where it was collected; (3) The type of ground it was foulnd on. 7. The prize winners will be announced in the Junior Red^Crgss^, Jj>p.T-, •nal" in" the^month following the closing of the competition and all collections will be returned to the competitors correety named. \ Rule (6) /'Type of ground it was found on' may give rise to cbnsideraiblc speculation as to just what is;intended. Now where a plant is-growing and under what conditions, both soil and external, it is. subjected to is -of .very great: importance^ aaid .this is particularly true with regard.to pasture plants.. Competitors are. expected to put dawn . the type of soil from which the • plants >y:e.re „'collected,, whether it is sandy, clayey, ox loamy-whether dry or wet, and also su-ch. points- as to whethejr the iefra& was, t flat or hilly, and also, iipos- ; sibic, .wHat class of stock, cows or sheep were grazing on the groumd. f

Competitors will find that having to ■supply such information will quicken

their interest in an extraordinary way and make them, realize that plants have their likes and dislikes just as much.- as ordinary beings. They will also soon recognise that plants, although often found in situations that they don't like, are more frequently found under conditions that are congenial to them I and that whenever a certain set of conditions arise, certain plants will ali ways be found there and they will learn i the first great principle of grassland farming, namely, "use the plants suited to the conditions that they will be i subjected to."-

A difficulty that is quite likely to arise J in discriminating one plant from another is the fact that a plant under one set of conditions may appear to be very different when growing undo;

different set <?f conditions arid yet both plants are really the same,' and their differing appearance is due entirelyto the soil, climatic, an,d management™oou: ditions they have been subjected to. >great' 'difficulty -;ds.. ;naiiimg.■'■ any •pasture p}aii.t>. a^d ? this -is partieulaiply tru© of grasses and «lovers^ is that even when growing under, the same conditions there may be quite easily recognisable difference between what are botanic-ally the same plants. Recognition of this fact will enable competitors to realise what has been termed "strain" in-grasses and clovers, the economic significance of .which is only at the present time becoming, properly recognised. For instane, mbsrt of our competitors will -have no difficulty in recognising cocksfoot when they see the plant, but when they examine. a lot of cocksfoot plants, they will find that some are far more leafy than others, some come into .flower earlier than others, some are taller growing,

and a host of other differences. It, is not expected . that competitors will make collections to shorsv all such differences. The main. thing at the start is to be able to tell cocksfoot wherever it is found, but the recognition that .plants may differ quite greatly partly 'because they arc actually different in strain and partly due ,to the conditions under which they grow will go a long way towards laying the foundations of a grassland knowledge the possession of which will bring much interest into | the lives of Junior Red Cross members. It is quite true to say that Grassland Vegetation, ox in oilier wojds; " ture" is what everybody in New Zealand depends upen. Strange as it may appear, the Junior Red Cross organisation. itself Is largely dependent on the -grasslands of New Zealand: When.you f emember, however, that 90 per ■' eenf of the production from the land of New Zealand comes from grassland,; you can Tvcii TVnderstaTid its iuipol'tanee to all memfbers of ti;o community. It was the realisation of this' fact" that induced . the President to inaugurate the present competition, as he viewed; that vsome knowledge regarding - the different plants forming our grasslands was es.-, sential to all our members." / Now, when one speaks o£ grassland one generally say* that such land (produces "grass.'-' The use of the term * * gra*s:' in this , connection is correct enough i': one knows just what.. is meant in this case. Ordinarily you might think tiiNt grass is produced by grasses and gr&sses alone, but so far j as grassland i.« concerned, this ia not | so. AH the piants present on grass- ] ••land, be they glasses, .clovers, or any | other kind of plant, prodiiice what i»s I | termed grass. In this competition there 'fore, all plants that gTOw on grassland ! and £ orin. any portion of h^rbasgfe. pro- I duced are to be collected. As out j | ineimbers progress in their work they j will iind that on certain, types of pastures there are many plants that are far more common- on them/than arc '] grasses and clovers and it is very j necessary to. know them.; when seen, i For that reason tliey must be eolleeted just as carefully as are the grasses and clovers themselves. This third great group of plants that ■are neither grasses or clovers, so «om■mon on many pastures are often called " weeds" although when they are readily eaten by stock they m?y "be just as valuable to the farmer as many grasses and clovers themselves. Competitors must in their collections collect al lthe different plants that they find on grassland. It is the sum total of all plants present that represent-the I life of igrassland and the object of this competition is to prave the way to a knowledge of the life history of- grassland for it is on a. knowledge of that life history on which modern grassland farming is based.

PLAYE|t& The Wellington Players under the direction of Elizabeth Blake delighted every member of a largo audience at St. James's Hall last Friday evening.. It is quite refreshing in these 4avs> when the dramatic art is almost /exclusively confined to the picture screen,, to have the opportunity of seeing^ a company of well trained amateurs pro-; ducing classical plays, and Elizabeth •Blake is to be highly complimented on the .service she is rendering to the puib"lic in this direction. The merit of the individual aTtist does not call for any comment, as each one bore' t-he' hall mark of careful tuition and attention to detail,

The first play produced was "Everyman,*' a morality play written during the 15th Century and translated from the Dutch. This play, which was religious in character, held tiie audience spellbound not only oir account of its great-'beauty;.but because of its.novelty to a Hutt audience Theive object of the play-was to show men and women how to live so "that when death came, .they .might- not fear'that " Mighty /Messenger.'' The hero ''Everyman" (Jesseca Andreae) typifying all mankind, was .seen on his journey through life after God has sent Death to warn him ru had 'demanded a straight account of all his doings. "Everyman," careless and callous, . goes from one ■friend to an- ' other for help and companionship in ■his grcfit task, but all in tyro, forsake him, except his "Good Deeds" (Beryl Earle)." Ho learns on his •■■jotrney through life to judge between the true and the false,.and dies with a mind serene and full of hope. The following was bio caste:—F. J. Jones, Jesseca Antlreae, Elizabeth Blake, Elizabeth Hadfield, F. H. Dawn r Mai-garet Gray. Alan Reeve, Beryl Earle, Noel Wilson, Paula. Matthews. ~

Whilst the change was being made fo.iv'tlie second play, the audience was cirarmed with little Paula Matthews, who recited a nunjber. of children's

poems/ The delightful personality and perfect acting of this beautiful child captivated every one of her hearers.

I The second play "The Rose and jthe Ring1" by Thackeray, was of" an entirely different order, to the first part of the programme being a pantomime of complicated positions which caused a great amount of amusement through its I unexplainaible nonsense .between usurpi ing monarchs, .beautiful court ladies, a i fairy godmother and the court house 1 maid. According to. the story the rose 1 anjaLthe ring are two inagie charms that bring to the possessor the admiration of the opposite sex. Most amusing scenes take place from time to tune, when the Countess Gruffanuff who, whilst in possession of the ring enjoys the loving admiration of the Prime Minister and other gentlemen of t?he Court only to loso, it to the humlble little .house maid ;Betsimla, to whom she has given.... the innocent looking cheap xing. These mix t»ps lead to duels and battles and even to executions until all is eventually put to rights by the Fairy. BlackstickT .JVTiss Eileen Goodson, L.A.B. was at the piano. The following, was the paste:—Una Curtis, Beryl Earle, Alan Reeve., Borothy Tanner, P. H. Dawn, Jessica Andreae, Elizabeth Blake,.. Gr. D. Lawn, Paula MattheiwSj, Noel "Wilson, F. J t . Jones, Geoffrey L. Lawn. Elizabeth Hadfield, G. David.