February, '14] OBITUARY 157 



This last characteristic is nowhere better shown than in the history 

 of his work in New Mexico. As stated by those on the ground, " Hun- 

 dreds of thousands of doHars had been invested in apple orchards in 

 Chaves County which, originally free from all sorts of common pests, 

 contained every element of promise to become the" greatest deciduous 

 fruit section in irrigated America." 



The pests did not neglect their opportunity, but it is easy to under- 

 stand that this young man, sent to investigate pests whose existence 

 was not openly acknowledged, was coldly received. The imputation 

 behind his detailment was resented and few there were who saw the 

 great importance of the work which he took up. Such a condition 

 demanded more than technical knowledge — it called for tact and a 

 winning personality that are not easily found. As to how fully Mr. 

 Hammar measured up to the situation, let the following quotations 

 from a memorial by the Roswell Commercial Club speak: 



"It was not until the spring of 1913, the present year, that the 

 growers began to realize that they had such an asset in the Bureau of 

 Entomology and Professor Hammar. The calls upon his time were 

 numberless and he visited and advised in hundreds of orchards. Usu- 

 ally his advice was carefully followed and, wherever it was, the benefit 

 to the trees and the fruit was positive and immediate." 



"This Club, making an average from the estimates of the various 

 growers, marketing associations, and exchanges, estimates the value 

 of Professor Hammar's services to the county of Chaves, alone, this 

 year to have been not less than a quarter of a million dollars. This 

 relates solely to the increased quantity and improved value of the 

 fruit, and in no sense to the value of the imparted knowledge, improved 

 condition of the trees, etc., which can scarcely be estimated." 



Such was the man who has gone out from us. He was an entomo- 

 logical expert, but he was more. Wherever he went he was beloved 

 and to the many who knew him, his death is felt as a personal loss. 

 It is worth while for an entomologist to have won from a community 

 of energetic, hustUng business men the closing paragraph of the letter 

 above quoted: 



"We will only say that our knowledge of Mr. Hammar was such 

 as to impel the belief that constant contact with the heart of nature 

 breeds a sublimity and yet a sweet simplicity of character that en- 

 nobles the process of government and inspires a wholesome reverence 

 for the works of God and his natural laws." , 



Wm. a. Riley 



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