Rees Alfred Davis

Rees Alfred Davis (born December 29, 1856 (according to other information 1855) in Chepstow , England , † October 11, 1940 in Potgietersrus ) was a South African horticultural expert and fruit specialist .

Life

Davis received his education as a young man in the United States . He spent the early years of his working life in California . There Davis helped set up the Fruit Growers' Association .

In 1898 he followed a call to the Cape Colony , where he managed fruit plantations for the entrepreneur Cecil Rhodes , later they became farms of the Rhodes Fruit Farm Group .

In October 1902 he was hired by the Transvaal Government in Pretoria as State Horticultural Director in the Horticultural Division of the Department of Agriculture . After the South African Union was proclaimed , he headed this department at the national level. In this role he started with a fruit tree plantation near Pretoria and achieved international renown through his publications on fruit tree crops , especially citrus fruits . In addition to horticultural issues, his work also dealt with aspects of the economic use of fruit.

Personal

His parents were William E. Davis from Ficksburg, South Africa and Emma Davis, née Butler. Between 1924 and 1927 Rees Alfred Davis lived in Johannesburg , later in Cape Town and Naboomspruit . His wife, Reba W. Davis, had four children.

Works (selection)

• Citrus growing in South Africa; oranges, lemons, naartjes, etc. Government Printig and Stationery Office, Pretoria 1919 ( online )
• Fruit growing in South Africa . Central News Agency, Johannesburg, 1928

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Eric Rosenthal: Southern African Dictionary of National Biography . Frederick & Warne, London, New York 1966, p. 86
2. ^ ^{A b c} C. Plug: Davis, Mr Rees Alfred (horticulture, pomology) . S2A3 Biographical Database of Southern African Science, at www.s2a3.org.za (English)