John Stuart Yeates

{{short description|New Zealand academic and botanist}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}} {{Infobox scientist | name = John Stuart Yeates | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=NZL|MBE|size=100%}} | image = John Stuart Yeates 1929 (cropped).jpg | alt = | caption = Yeates in 1929 | birth_name = John Stuart Yeates | birth_date = 11 July 1900 | birth_place = | death_date = {{death date and age|1986|8|24|1900|7|11|df=y}} | death_place =Palmerston North, New Zealand | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | other_names = | alma_mater = PhDs from University of New Zealand and Cambridge University<ref name="JARS bio"/> | workplaces = Massey Agricultural College | occupation = Founding head of Agricultural Botany | title =Department head | height = | weight = | term = | boards = | religion = | spouse =Ruth Lillian Young | partner = | children =Duncan Robert Yeates, Gregor William Yeates | parents = | relatives = | signature = | website = | footnotes = |doctoral_advisor = |academic_advisors = |doctoral_students = |notable_students = |known_for = |author_abbrev_bot = |author_abbrev_zoo = |influences = |influenced = |awards = }}

'''John Stuart Yeates''' {{post-nominals|country=NZL|MBE}} (11 July 1900 – 24 August 1986<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.pncc.govt.nz/ServicesAndFacilities/OnlineServices/CemeteryAndCremationDetail.aspx?id=37869 |title=Palmerston North – Cemetery warrant for JOHN STUART YEATES |work=pncc.govt.nz |year=2011 |accessdate=7 June 2011}}</ref>) was a New Zealand academic and botanist. The founding head of Agricultural Botany at Massey Agricultural College, he was also an accomplished breeder of azaleas, rhododendrons and lilies.

==Early life and education== Born into a farming family in Waitara in the Taranaki, 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, then part of the University of New Zealand) in Wellington. He completed a BSc and then a MSc in Botany with first class honours. He obtained a Jacob Joseph Scholarship.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=EP19230913.2.94&srpos=51& |title=Papers Past — Evening Post — 13 September 1923 — VICTORIA COLLEGE COUNCIL |work=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz |year=2011 |accessdate=24 October 2011}}</ref>

He then completed the first PhD from the University of New Zealand.<ref>Letter from The Registar to G.W. Yeates, dated 2 August 1982.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=EP19270725.2.102 |title=Papers Past — Evening Post — 25 July 1927 — PERSONAL MATTERS |work=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz |year=2014 |accessdate=14 September 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz//tm/scholarly/tei-VUW1925_47Spik-t1-body-d36-d7.html |title=THE SPIKE OR VICTORIA UNIVERSITY COLLEGE REVIEW JUNE 1925 — CONGRATULATIONS |work=nzetc.victoria.ac.nz |year=2014 |accessdate=26 September 2014}}</ref>

He was also an active member of the Victoria College Tramping Club, having Yeates Peak and Yeates track in the Tararua Range named after him.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://horowhenua.kete.net.nz/documents/0000/0000/2480/A_chronology_of_the_Tararua_and_Rimutaka_Ranges.pdf |title=A Chronology of the Tararua and Rimutaka Ranges 5th edition, p18 |work=nzetc.victoria.ac.nz |year=2006 |accessdate=26 September 2014}}</ref>

He left for Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied chromosomal counts in plants, starting in 1925. He returned to New Zealand in July 1927 and was awarded his Trinity College PhD in 1931, having completed his research in parallel with his teaching commitments at the newly created Massey College (now Massey University, then also part of the University of New Zealand) outside Palmerston North.

==Academic work== His early research was on New Zealand flax/Phormium tenax (Māori: harakeke),<ref name="JARS bio">[https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JARS/v15n2/v15n2-grothaus1.htm Historical Notes About Two International Rhododendron Conference Speakers], Journal of the American Rhododendron Society.</ref> 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 of the 1930s caused serious damaged the commercial flax industry in New Zealand and it never recovered.

Some of the flax 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 chromosomes.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=EP19291221.2.108&srpos=100& |title=Papers Past — Evening Post — 21 December 1929 — FLAX RESEARCH|work=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz |year=2011 |accessdate=24 October 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=EP19271208.2.82&srpos=6 |title=Papers Past — Evening Post — 8 December 1927 — FLAX GROWING |work=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz |year=2011 |accessdate=24 October 2011}}</ref>

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.<ref name="JARS bio"/> 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 azaleas, rhododendrons and Lilium hybrids.<ref name="JARS bio"/><ref>Maggy Wassilieff. [http://www.teara.govt.nz/TheSettledLandscape/TreesAndGardens/Gardens/5/en Suburban front gardens], ''Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand'', Ministry for Culture and Heritage. {{ISBN|978-0-478-18451-8}}. Updated 20 November 2008.</ref>

===Lilies=== Lilium auratum and Lilium speciosum were first crossed in the 1860s, but then not again until the 1950s by Yeates and Leslie Jury in New Zealand.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://hadeco.co.za/lilium-articles/the-history-of-oriental-lilies |title=Hadeco - the History of Oriental Lilies |access-date=21 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130824060332/http://hadeco.co.za/lilium-articles/the-history-of-oriental-lilies |archive-date=24 August 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The name ''Melford Hybrids'' was used for his lily crosses,<ref>[http://www.lilyregister.com/register/details.htm?id=1967 The Lily Register]{{Dead link|date=February 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} lilyregister.com</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=International Lily Register and Checklist|year=2007|pages=507|url=http://www.rhs.org.uk/getattachment/55297295-e5d2-4170-afeb-7d6f777fe069/Lily-Register-and-Checklist.aspx}}</ref> which he bred initially at his property on Long Melford Rd, in Palmerston North. His cultivars include: {{columns-list|colwidth=22em| * auratum var. platyphyllum 'Goldie'<ref name="rhs.org.uk">{{cite web|title=International Lily Register and Checklist|year=2007|pages=69|url=http://www.rhs.org.uk/getattachment/55297295-e5d2-4170-afeb-7d6f777fe069/Lily-Register-and-Checklist.aspx}}</ref> * auratum var. platyphyllum 'Little Gem'<ref name="rhs.org.uk"/> * auratum var. rubrovittatum 'Alex'<ref name="http">{{cite web|title=International Lily Register and Checklist|year=2007|pages=70|url=http://www.rhs.org.uk/getattachment/55297295-e5d2-4170-afeb-7d6f777fe069/Lily-Register-and-Checklist.aspx}}</ref> * auratum var. rubrovittatum 'Apollo'<ref name="http"/> * auratum var. rubrovittatum 'Dainty'<ref name="http"/> * auratum 'Tom Thumb'<ref>{{cite web|title=International Lily Register and Checklist|year=2007|pages=71|url=http://www.rhs.org.uk/getattachment/55297295-e5d2-4170-afeb-7d6f777fe069/Lily-Register-and-Checklist.aspx}}</ref> * 'Darkie'<ref>{{cite web|title=International Lily Register and Checklist|year=2007|pages=220|url=http://www.rhs.org.uk/getattachment/55297295-e5d2-4170-afeb-7d6f777fe069/Lily-Register-and-Checklist.aspx}}</ref> * 'Dianne'<ref>{{cite web|title=International Lily Register and Checklist|year=2007|pages=222|url=http://www.rhs.org.uk/getattachment/55297295-e5d2-4170-afeb-7d6f777fe069/Lily-Register-and-Checklist.aspx}}</ref> * 'Emberglow'<ref>{{cite web|title=International Lily Register and Checklist|year=2007|pages=249|url=http://www.rhs.org.uk/getattachment/55297295-e5d2-4170-afeb-7d6f777fe069/Lily-Register-and-Checklist.aspx}}</ref> * 'Fairy'<ref>{{cite web|title=International Lily Register and Checklist|year=2007|pages=264|url=http://www.rhs.org.uk/getattachment/55297295-e5d2-4170-afeb-7d6f777fe069/Lily-Register-and-Checklist.aspx}}</ref> * 'Golden Eclipse'<ref>{{cite web|title=International Lily Register and Checklist|year=2007|pages=310|url=http://www.rhs.org.uk/getattachment/55297295-e5d2-4170-afeb-7d6f777fe069/Lily-Register-and-Checklist.aspx}}</ref> * 'Kimbolton Gold'<ref>{{cite web|title=International Lily Register and Checklist|year=2007|pages=407|url=http://www.rhs.org.uk/getattachment/55297295-e5d2-4170-afeb-7d6f777fe069/Lily-Register-and-Checklist.aspx}}</ref> * × parkmanii 'Betty'<ref>{{cite web|title=International Lily Register and Checklist|year=2007|pages=591|url=http://www.rhs.org.uk/getattachment/55297295-e5d2-4170-afeb-7d6f777fe069/Lily-Register-and-Checklist.aspx}}</ref> * × parkmanii‘Elaine'<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite web|title=International Lily Register and Checklist|year=2007|pages=593|url=http://www.rhs.org.uk/getattachment/55297295-e5d2-4170-afeb-7d6f777fe069/Lily-Register-and-Checklist.aspx}}</ref> * × parkmanii 'Elizabeth'<ref name="ReferenceA"/> * × parkmanii 'Erebus'<ref name="ReferenceB">{{cite web|title=International Lily Register and Checklist|year=2007|pages=594|url=http://www.rhs.org.uk/getattachment/55297295-e5d2-4170-afeb-7d6f777fe069/Lily-Register-and-Checklist.aspx}}</ref> * × parkmanii 'Excelsior'<ref name="ReferenceB"/> * × parkmanii 'John Bull'<ref name="ReferenceC">{{cite web|title=International Lily Register and Checklist|year=2007|pages=596|url=http://www.rhs.org.uk/getattachment/55297295-e5d2-4170-afeb-7d6f777fe069/Lily-Register-and-Checklist.aspx}}</ref> * × parkmanii 'Journey’s End'<ref name="ReferenceC"/> (commercially successful<ref>[http://www.lilyregister.com/register/details.htm?id=1557 The Lily Register]{{Dead link|date=February 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} lilyregister.com</ref><ref>''Plant Breeding in New Zealand'' By G.S. Wratt and H.C. Smith. Page 174.</ref>) * × parkmanii 'Judas'<ref name='p597'>{{cite web|title=International Lily Register and Checklist|year=2007|pages=597|url=http://www.rhs.org.uk/getattachment/55297295-e5d2-4170-afeb-7d6f777fe069/Lily-Register-and-Checklist.aspx}}</ref> * × parkmanii 'Kimbolton Pink'<ref name='p597'/> * × parkmanii‘Kimbolton Red'<ref name='p597'/> * × parkmanii Lavender Lady Group<ref name='p597'/> * × parkmanii 'Lavender Princess'<ref name='p597'/> * × parkmanii 'Little Jane'<ref name='p597'/> * × parkmanii 'Little Lavender'<ref name='p597'/> * × parkmanii 'Little Robin'<ref name='p597'/> * × parkmanii 'Melford Red'<ref>{{cite web|title=International Lily Register and Checklist|year=2007|pages=598|url=http://www.rhs.org.uk/getattachment/55297295-e5d2-4170-afeb-7d6f777fe069/Lily-Register-and-Checklist.aspx}}</ref> * × parkmanii 'Peggy'<ref name='p599'>{{cite web|title=International Lily Register and Checklist|year=2007|pages=599|url=http://www.rhs.org.uk/getattachment/55297295-e5d2-4170-afeb-7d6f777fe069/Lily-Register-and-Checklist.aspx}}</ref> (named after his wife) * × parkmanii 'Pink Beauty'<ref name='p599'/> * × parkmanii 'Pink Delight'<ref name='p599'/> * × parkmanii 'Pink Journey'<ref name='p600'>{{cite web|title=International Lily Register and Checklist|year=2007|pages=600|url=http://www.rhs.org.uk/getattachment/55297295-e5d2-4170-afeb-7d6f777fe069/Lily-Register-and-Checklist.aspx}}</ref> * × parkmanii 'Pink Sensation'<ref name='p600'/> * × parkmanii 'Red Ace'<ref name='p600'/> * × parkmanii 'Red Gem'<ref name='p600'/> * × parkmanii 'Red Trump'<ref name='p601'>{{cite web|title=International Lily Register and Checklist|year=2007|pages=601|url=http://www.rhs.org.uk/getattachment/55297295-e5d2-4170-afeb-7d6f777fe069/Lily-Register-and-Checklist.aspx}}</ref> * × parkmanii 'Ringatira'<ref name='p601'/> * × parkmanii 'Rising Star' * × parkmanii 'Snowflakes'<ref name='p602'>{{cite web|title=International Lily Register and Checklist|year=2007|pages=602|url=http://www.rhs.org.uk/getattachment/55297295-e5d2-4170-afeb-7d6f777fe069/Lily-Register-and-Checklist.aspx}}</ref> *× parkmanii 'Snowy'<ref name='p603'>{{cite web|title=International Lily Register and Checklist|year=2007|pages=603|url=http://www.rhs.org.uk/getattachment/55297295-e5d2-4170-afeb-7d6f777fe069/Lily-Register-and-Checklist.aspx}}</ref> * × parkmanii 'Tetra Journey'<ref name='p604'>{{cite web|title=International Lily Register and Checklist|year=2007|pages=604|url=http://www.rhs.org.uk/getattachment/55297295-e5d2-4170-afeb-7d6f777fe069/Lily-Register-and-Checklist.aspx}}</ref> * × parkmanii 'Tiger Face'<ref name='p604'/> * × parkmanii 'Trixie'<ref name='p604'/> * 'Peach Bouquet'<ref name='p612'>{{cite web|title=International Lily Register and Checklist|year=2007|pages=612|url=http://www.rhs.org.uk/getattachment/55297295-e5d2-4170-afeb-7d6f777fe069/Lily-Register-and-Checklist.aspx}}</ref> * 'Penelope'<ref name='p616'>{{cite web|title=International Lily Register and Checklist|year=2007|pages=616|url=http://www.rhs.org.uk/getattachment/55297295-e5d2-4170-afeb-7d6f777fe069/Lily-Register-and-Checklist.aspx}}</ref> * Phillipa'<ref name='p622'>{{cite web|title=International Lily Register and Checklist|year=2007|pages=622|url=http://www.rhs.org.uk/getattachment/55297295-e5d2-4170-afeb-7d6f777fe069/Lily-Register-and-Checklist.aspx}}</ref> *'Red Ruby'<ref name='p679'>{{cite web|title=International Lily Register and Checklist|year=2007|pages=679|url=http://www.rhs.org.uk/getattachment/55297295-e5d2-4170-afeb-7d6f777fe069/Lily-Register-and-Checklist.aspx}}</ref> *'Swan Lake'<ref name='p815'>{{cite web|title=International Lily Register and Checklist|year=2007|pages=815|url=http://www.rhs.org.uk/getattachment/55297295-e5d2-4170-afeb-7d6f777fe069/Lily-Register-and-Checklist.aspx}}</ref> *'Waireka'<ref name='p882'>{{cite web|title=International Lily Register and Checklist|year=2007|pages=882|url=http://www.rhs.org.uk/getattachment/55297295-e5d2-4170-afeb-7d6f777fe069/Lily-Register-and-Checklist.aspx}}</ref> *'Walter Ward'<ref name='p883'>{{cite web|title=International Lily Register and Checklist|year=2007|pages=883|url=http://www.rhs.org.uk/getattachment/55297295-e5d2-4170-afeb-7d6f777fe069/Lily-Register-and-Checklist.aspx}}</ref> }}

== Awards == * 1918 Entrance Scholarship<ref name="record">Academic Record for John Stuart Yeates, dated 30 July 1982</ref> * 1922 National Research Scholarship<ref name="record"/> * 1925 First Post-Graduate Scholarship in Science<ref name="record"/> * 1957 Associate of Honour of the Royal New Zealand Institute of Horticulture.<ref name="JARS bio"/> * 1968 Veitch Memorial Medal, Royal Horticultural Society * 1969 Lyttel Lily Cup, Royal Horticultural Society * 1977 Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), for services to horticulture, in the 1978 New Year Honours<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=47420 |date=31 December 1977 |page=43 |supp=3}}</ref>

== Bibliography == * J. S. Yeates, "[http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/154245468 The Root Nodules of Conifers]" – 1923 – MSc thesis Victoria University College * J. S. Yeates, "[http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/royprsb/98/689/227.full.pdf 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, ''[http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/7686385 Farm Trees and Hedges]'' – 1942 – Massey Agricultural College (University of New Zealand) * J. S. Yeates, ''[http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/152731222 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, ''[http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/18308107 Agricultural Botany]'' 2nd Edition 1960 – Government Printer (Wellington, New Zealand) * J. S. Yeates ''[https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JARS/v26n3/v26n3-yeates.htm Rhododendron Growing in New Zealand; Its Past, Present, and Future]'' 1972 – Journal American Rhododendron Society * J. S. Yeates Regular articles in ''The New Zealand Gardener'' 1940s–1950s

== References == {{reflist}}

==Further reading== * ''Who's who in New Zealand'' 3rd Edition (1932) * ''Who's who in New Zealand'' 6th Edition (1956) <!-- * ''Who's who in New Zealand'' 6th Edition (1978) Should it be 9th ed 1968? There does not appear to be a 1978 edition --> * Notable New Zealander's The Pictorial Who's Who 1st Edition (1976) * ''John Stuart Yeates'' by J.E.Godley, Biographical Notes (67) serialised in New Zealand Botanical Society Newsletter 90–92, 2007–2008.

== External links == * [https://heritagepark.co.nz/ Heritage Park Heritage Park rhododendron garden], formerly National Garden of the New Zealand Rhododendron Association * [http://natlib.govt.nz/records/22887492 John Stuart Yeates, Massey College. (ca December 1951).] Image of Yeates at work, in the collection of the Alexander Turnbull Library * [https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/name-006506.html Mentioned] in the letters of John Cawte Beaglehole held by the New Zealand Electronic Text Centre {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yeates, Jack}} Category:1900 births Category:1986 deaths Category:People educated at Stratford High School, New Zealand Category:Victoria University of Wellington alumni Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Category:Academic staff of Massey University Category:New Zealand Members of the Order of the British Empire Category:20th-century New Zealand botanists Category:People from Waitara, New Zealand Category:Veitch Memorial Medal recipients