John Stuart Yeates (11 July 1900 – 24 August 1986) was a New Zealand academic and

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

. The founding head of Agricultural Botany at

Massey Agricultural College Massey University ( mi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) is a university based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with significant campuses in Albany and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 30,883 students, 13,796 of whom are extramural o ...

, he was also an accomplished breeder of

azaleas Azaleas are flowering shrubs in the genus ''Rhododendron'', particularly the former sections '' Tsutsusi'' (evergreen) and ''Pentanthera'' (deciduous). Azaleas bloom in the spring (April and May in the temperate Northern Hemisphere, and Octo ...

rhododendrons ''Rhododendron'' (; from Ancient Greek ''rhódon'' "rose" and ''déndron'' "tree") is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are nati ...

and

lilies ''Lilium'' () is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large prominent flowers. They are the true lilies. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in much of the world. M ...

Early life and education

Born into a farming family in Waitara in the

Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth D ...

, Yeates attended Stratford District High School, where he won an Entrance Scholarship (later called the University Entrance Scholarship), and then Victoria College (now

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well kn ...

, then part of the University of New Zealand) in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by ...

. He completed a BSc and then a MSc in Botany with first class honours. He obtained a Jacob Joseph Scholarship. He then completed the first

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * '' Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. al ...

from the University of New Zealand He was also an active member of the Victoria College Tramping Club, having Yeates Peak and Yeates track in the

Tararua Range The Tararua Range, often referred to as the Tararua Ranges or Tararua, is one of several mountain ranges in the North Island of New Zealand. The Tararua Range runs northeast–southwest for from near Palmerston North to the upper reaches of ...

named after him. He left for

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

, where he studied chromosomal counts in plants, starting in 1925. He returned to New Zealand in July 1927 and was awarded his Trinity College

in 1931, having completed his research in parallel with his teaching commitments at the newly created Massey College (now

Massey University Massey University ( mi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) is a university based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with significant campuses in Albany and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 30,883 students, 13,796 of whom are extramural o ...

, then also part of the University of New Zealand) outside

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

Academic work

His early research was on

New Zealand flax New Zealand flax describes the common New Zealand perennial plants ''Phormium tenax'' and '' Phormium colensoi'', known by the Māori names ''harakeke'' and ''wharariki'' respectively. Although given the common name 'flax' they are quite disti ...

/Phormium tenax (

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

: harakeke),Historical Notes About Two International Rhododendron Conference Speakers
Journal of the American Rhododendron Society. which at the time was used extensively as fibre for ropes and cloths. One of the key centres for production was the delta of the Manawatu River, but Yeates travelled extensively looking for quality cultivars which he grew on the Turitea campus. Flax had long been used for textiles (see Māori traditional textiles) and it was correctly guessed that the best cultivars were to be found adjacent to historical sites of textile-making. The

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

of the 1930s caused serious damaged the commercial flax industry in New Zealand and it never recovered. Some of the

flax Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. Textiles made from flax are known in ...

worked involved chromosome counting, which he had previously done in his thesis work. The flax ''Ngaro'' was found to have 32 rather than the normal 24

chromosome A chromosome is a long DNA molecule with part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells the most important of these proteins ar ...

s. Later research involved "farm forestry", a movement to introduce trees onto farms for the benefit of livestock, pasture and crops and as a source of income. He was the founding head of Agricultural Botany at Massey and this was his core teaching area. In 1954 he, with E. O. Campbell, published ''Agricultural Botany'', a textbook based on this teaching.

Plant breeding

Yeates was a foundation member of the New Zealand Rhododendron Association in 1944 and also its some-time Secretary-Treasurer. He was also crucial in the founding of the national garden of the association (now "Heritage Park") at Kimbolton (which is close to his home in Palmerston North, but has better soil and climate for rhododendron). He was also active in the introduction and breeding of

and

Lilium ''Lilium'' () is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large prominent flowers. They are the true lilies. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in much of the world. M ...

hybrids.

Lilies

Lilium auratum ''Lilium auratum'' ( ja, 山百合, yamayuri, label=none, literally "mountain lily") is one of the true lilies. It is native to Japan and is sometimes called the golden-rayed lily or the goldband lily. Description The flower colour is typica ...

and

Lilium speciosum ''Lilium speciosum'' is an East Asian species of plants in the lily family. It is native to southern Japan and southern China, where it can be found at elevations of . It is sometimes called the Japanese lily though there are other species with ...

were first crossed in the 1860s, but then not again until the 1950s by Yeates and Leslie Jury in New Zealand. The name ''Melford Hybrids'' was used for his

lily ''Lilium'' () is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large prominent flowers. They are the true lilies. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in much of the world. M ...

crosses, which he bred initially at his property on Long Melford Rd, in Palmerston North. His cultivars include:

Awards

* 1918 Entrance ScholarshipAcademic Record for John Stuart Yeates, dated 30 July 1982 * 1922 National Research Scholarship * 1925 First Post-Graduate Scholarship in Science * 1957 Associate of Honour of the

Royal New Zealand Institute of Horticulture The Royal New Zealand Institute of Horticulture (RNZIH) is a horticultural society in New Zealand. History According to its website, the RNZIH was founded in 1923. New Zealand's National Library holds minute books from the Institute dating back ...

. * 1968

Veitch Memorial Medal The Veitch Memorial Medal is an international prize issued annually by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). Goal The prize is awarded to "persons of any nationality who have made an outstanding contribution to the advancement and improvement o ...

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nor ...

* 1969 Lyttel Lily Cup,

* 1977 Member of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(MBE), for services to

horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

, in the 1978 New Year Honours

Bibliography

* J. S. Yeates,
The Root Nodules of Conifers
– 1923 – MSc thesis Victoria University College * J. S. Yeates,
The_Nucleolus_of_Tmesipteris_tannensis
.html" ;"title="Tmesipteris tannensis">The Nucleolus of Tmesipteris tannensis
">Tmesipteris tannensis">The Nucleolus of Tmesipteris tannensis
Proceedings of the Royal Society London. Ser. B. 98, 1925, 227–224. * J. S. Yeates, ''Some problems in the comparison of Chromosomes'' – 1931 – PhD thesis University of Cambridge * J. S. Yeates,
Farm Trees and Hedges
' – 1942 –

( University of New Zealand) * J. S. Yeates,
Farm Trees and Hedges
' 2nd Edition – 1948 – Massey Agricultural College (University of New Zealand) * J. S. Yeates and E. O. Campbell, ''Agricultural Botany'' 1954 – Massey Agricultural College (University of New Zealand) * J. S. Yeates and E. O. Campbell,
Agricultural Botany
' 2nd Edition 1960 – Government Printer (Wellington, New Zealand) * J. S. Yeates

' 1972 – Journal American Rhododendron Society * J. S. Yeates Regular articles in ''The New Zealand Gardener'' 1940s–1950s

References

External links

Heritage Park Heritage Park rhododendron garden
formerly National Garden of the New Zealand Rhododendron Association
John Stuart Yeates, Massey College. (ca December 1951).
Image of Yeates at work, in the collection of the

Alexander Turnbull Library The National Library of New Zealand ( mi, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa) is New Zealand's legal deposit library charged with the obligation to "enrich the cultural and economic life of New Zealand and its interchanges with other nations" (''Nat ...

Mentioned
in the letters of John Cawte Beaglehole held by the

New Zealand Electronic Text Centre The New Zealand Electronic Text Collection (NZETC; mi, Te Pūhikotuhi o Aotearoa) is a freely accessible online archive of New Zealand and Pacific Islands texts and heritage materials that are held by the Victoria University of Wellington Libr ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yeates, Jack 1900 births 1986 deaths Victoria University of Wellington alumni Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Massey University faculty New Zealand Members of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century New Zealand botanists People from Waitara, New Zealand Veitch Memorial Medal recipients