NEW TREASURES.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18481, 8 September 1925, Page 8

NEW TREASURES.

RARE RHODODENDRONS.

GAME BIRDS FOR NEW

ZEALAND.

RETURN OF MR EDGAR STEAD. (ntou ora owk coßwrsroroHre.) WELLINGTON, September 7. Hr and Mrs Edgar Stead returned to New Zealand on Sunday evening in the Ruahine from England after a very interesting and pleasant sojourn there. This morning I was able to track down Mr Stead on the captain's deck at the top of the ship, where I found him with his head and shoulders invisible in a great case, from which he was shifting rare specimens of rhododendrons as tenderly almost as if they were delicate babies. As a matter of fact, some of them were rather moro delicate, and there were a few that had '' died on him/ 5 notwithstanding all his solicitude.

Everyone in New Zealand should know Mr Stead as a keen naturalist. No one has a greater knowledge of our New Zealand birds than he, but not everyone is aware of his keen interest in the flora, not only of his native land, but of other countries as well. The baby rhododendrons had to be caref uDy treated and carefully guarded on the voyage; they hate salt, and the only possible place for them was on the captain's deck, where they had a certain immunity from the effects of the salt spray. For their storage in this spot he expresses his grateful thanks to Captain Smith, himself a gardener, who allowed them to be placed there. Mr Stead also received every assistance from tho ship's company. A Unique Collection.

It is a very interesting fact that such a unique collection of these treasured plants should have been so successfully transplanted from England to the Antipodes. There are amongst these plants species that are not bo found outside their native habitat, except in England. Quite a number of the specimens are new, and havo not yet flowered in cultivation. Several are autumn flowering, which will extend the flowering season of these plants considerably in New Zealand and England. Of these autumn flowers there are at present only about four in New Zealand. Within quite recent years keen interest has been evinced in the discovery of new species of rhododendrons, and botanists have been finding new speciog by the hundred, till now about a thousand have been described. Mr Stead has brought with him not only many seedlings, bnt he has been given, also, seeds, from which he hopes to raise many more plants. Never Been Seen in Bloom. The plants which Mr Stead has brought safely to New Zealand are unobtainable in any British nursery. One in his collection, the Rhododendron Giganteum, had. never been seen in bloom by a European. All that was known about it was that it attained l a height of 80 feet. Mr Stead left England with 500 plants, but he estimated that he had lost between 50 and 100 on the voyage. Bough woather was experienced after leaving Pitcairn Island, and quite a number of the plants were damaged by salt water, in spite of their being specially packed in a sheltered position on the top deck.

Species from Tibet. Mr Stead spoke in terms of glowing praise of those people in England whose kindness and generosity enabled him to take this wonderful collection across the seas to be transplanted about his home at Ham, Christchurch. Among these fellow enthusiasts he mentioned Lord Headfort, Lionel de Bothschild, Sir John Ramsden, Mr 'Gerald Loder and Lady Loder, Mr F. Armitage Moore, and Mr T. H. Lewinsky, members of the noted Rhododendron Society, the membership of whieh is limited to 25. In the garden at Ham visitors will eventually bo able to see various new species in bloom, and included in the number will bo some that were brought back from the Tibetan upland? by the heroic explorers of the Everest expedition, financed by tho Eoyal Geographical Society, the English Alpine Club, and also, in a small way, by the New Zealand Alpino Club. Most of Mr Stead's present shipment have been grown from seedlings raised from seed that was obtained by expeditions that were sent out to China and collected there in the mountainous regions of Western China, and on the borders of Tibet. They are species that would not flower in Australia, but will flower in New Zealand. Some he has obtained from tho collection made by Captain Kingdom Ward, who, at the invitation of Lionel de Bothschild, he met at dinner, and with whom ho had a most interesting talk about his experience in tho wilds of Central Asia. It was perhaps owing to their finding a brother enthusiast from New Zealand that the most kindly hospitality was shown Mr Stead. These people were also interested in New Zealand flora, and Mr Stead hopes later to show his gratitude for all they did for him by sending them, in return, plants from the rigorous climes at high levels in New Zealand, which will no doubt thrive in the harder climate of England. Mr Stead spoke enthusiastically about the transplanting of the scarlet manuka to England, derived from a seaside form found in Canterbury.

Grouse from North America. Mr Stead nas made arrangements to get from North America two iorms of grouse, known as the ruffled grow and the sharp tail. Ho hopes thatthw* birds will survive the voyage through the TroDics, and that eventually they wH\ be Sumatised in the hill conntry of Canterbury. He has &»"**" arrangements which he hopes mil result £ a shipment of black game and tivauon, <iuu . rd and eI _ harm. All are fine »d , cellent game and 4, u . ment succeeds, be an ""ry. ' .. able, and interesting addition to the fauna of New Zealand. The Wood Pigeon. Becently there has been some discus- • ' trJ 7tho introduction of the wood sum upon the mtroau Zw]aui . SPSr 'the ioSin of these birds So far we ™P n0 official mis a mystery. were got into formation as toJ»ow "eyw er „ TKfom r NewleaS mem- ? UP S pirUameTt and liberated in the bcr of P" u £ m ° ra . some concern has neef SplSd lest* they should prove a peßt in this counts extraordinary In vie w-ofMr Steaai 1 kn v° W , hfm if there ™» any danger to asked him u ™ h introfinct ion of be anticipated.from t think these birds. Bow their fae . there would

(Continued at «** * «•* c<AxaaSL)

coming a pest hore. The main objection j to their introduction would be the' danger that they would interfere with tho food supply of our native pigeon. Ono reason why the British pigeon would not be a pest hero was that it was a migratory bird, and there was no place within reach of New Zealand to which it could migrate; it could not fly as far as Australia. But in England these birds came to England in winter in tens and perhaps hundreds of thousands to feed on tho acorns, and some of them no doubt remained in England, but the great majority left, when they were forced to leave, for countries where they could get a better food supply in tho summer. In a c<mntry situated as was New Zealand, from which j could not migrate, and to which j they could pot come in their | from other lands, they could I dealt with. ] Bed Deer Menace. This problem, with which ,New Zealand is at present greatly concerned, was mentioned to Mr Stead, who, keen sportui?an though ho is, is no friend of the red deer. He realises to the full the enormous damage they do to the forest and to tho crops of the country settler. Promiscuous Bhooting, however, he. adds, will never be the means of eradicating the pest or of reducing it to reasonable limits. At present wo shoot the stags and leave the hinds, and it is the hinds that should be shot out if the herds are to be reduced to reasonable limits. That policy he advocated twenty years ago. The herds, however, owing to a mistaken policy, have increased enormously in numbers. In Mr Stead's opinion the only method of reducing the red deer plague is by poisoning them through the agency of salt licks. Acclimatisation of Salmon. Mr Stead spoke interestingly on this subject, in which he takes also a very keen interest. He is more convinced than ever that we should obtain" the ova of salmo salar from the spring run of fish in such rivers as the Wye or the Frome, when the fish run large. In that way only he thinks will we obtain a run of big fish worthy of New Zealand waters. He is also an advocate of introducing ova from the spring runs of the quinnat in the rivers of NorthWestern America. These are by far the finest fish from tho food poinf of view. Mr Stead had a very interesting talk on the question of seale reading with a noted scientist, who haa devoted much attention to tHis subject. From all he could gather, scale reading is not to be depended upon to the extent tho modern scale readers declare it is in connexion with tho life history of salmon, and it is quite likely that before another year or two have' passed the scientist he referred to may mako a very important pronouncement on the subject.