William Farrer

William Farrer

William James Farrer (born April 3, 1845 in Docker in what is now Cumbria , United Kingdom , † April 16, 1906 ) was an Australian agronomist and wheat breeder. He is well known as the breeder of the “Federation” wheat variety, which has been distributed since 1903.

His early years

Farrer got a scholarship for Christ's Hospital in London , where he received awards for his math skills. After studying at Cambridge University , which he finished in 1868, he emigrated to Australia in 1870 . He did this for health reasons, because he was diagnosed with consumption . Australia's climate was more suitable for him and he had friends in Parramatta , Sydney , where he could stay.

At first he lived with his friends, but then he moved to the country. In 1873 he published his book Grass and Sheep-farming A Paper: Speculative and Suggestive , which provides information about suitable soils for grass growth and sheep farming . After working as a teacher at George Campbell's sheep station in Duntroon in what is now the Australian Capital Territory , he qualified as a surveyor in 1875 . Farrer then worked for the Department of Lands from 1875 to 1886, in regions where wheat is grown in New South Wales . During this time he married his wife Nina de Salisist in 1882, a member of a family who lived in what is now the Australian State Capital.

Lambrigg experiments

In 1986 he bought a piece of land on Lambrigg Farm on the Murrumbidgee River , near what is now Canberra . At first he tried to grow grapes on his land. This failed because the soil was unsuitable and so he decided to grow wheat.

A series of heavy rains caused his wheat crop to develop rust fungus . Then he began to grow wheat varieties that were immune to rust fungus infestation. For the next 20 years he grew wheat to develop better varieties; he noted his results, he also used Mendel's rules in his work. As a kind of side project, he also worked on developing wheat varieties that were resistant to Bunt (fungal disease) and Smut-ball , another dangerous disease. Because of his success with this project, the NSW Department of Agriculture offered him a position as a wheat expert, which he accepted.

He was successful in developing a rust fungus-resistant variety in 1900 when his new breed became available. They were called the "Federation Variety", named after the upcoming Federation of Australia. He then developed even more varieties such as Canberra, Firbank, Cleveland and Florence.

These wheat varieties led to an improvement in the Australian wheat industry within a few years. The federation places became available to farmers in 1903 . Between 1900 and 1920, Australia's wheat harvest almost tripled due to these varieties.

Death and aftermath

Postage stamp (1948)

Farrer died of a heart attack on Lambrigg in 1906 and was buried on his property at dusk the next day. His grave was on a rocky hill and had to be blown up with explosives. A memorial was erected to him only after a considerable delay. One statue of him was erected in Queanbeyan in 1935 and another in Lambrigg in 1938.

Since then, a Canberra suburb and electoral district have been named after him. Farrer was also dedicated to the Australian 2-dollar note issued in 1966 (although no longer in circulation today). A special agricultural science college was named after him, Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School , Tamworth NSW, to continue teaching agricultural science topics in the future. Farrer is also commemorated in Wagga Wagga through the Farrer Hotel and the Farrer Football League in Australian Rules Football.

On July 12, 1948, the Australian Post issued a 2½d postage stamp in honor of William Farrer.

Web links

• CW Wrigley: William Farrer . In: Douglas Pike (Ed.): Australian Dictionary of Biography . Melbourne University Press, Carlton (Victoria) 1966–2012 (English).