532 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION G2. 



The selecting of the best strains, after testing them, of old 

 varieties of wheats occupied some time, as he considered it advisable 

 that good old strains should not be lost. These wheats were also 

 tested by Guthrie to ascertain their milling qualities. 



Few persons have any conception of the enormous amount of 

 work which Farrer carried on personally. All his experiments and 

 his crosses and the pedigrees of the hundreds of new wheats made 

 by him were carefully recorded, as well as their peculiarities and 

 qualities. A hard day's work in the blazing sun in the field was 

 not infrequently followed by a sleepless night, for his active brain 

 kept working out intricate problems for future developments. In 

 April, 1902, he wrote to me : — 



" In order to get away to the farms I have for months been working 

 all the time I can get out of each day, getting up at six and beginning work 

 at 6.30 a.m. The result is that I feel myself in such a condition of staleness 

 that I can hardly struggle on to the finish. The additional amount of detail 

 work which the new bunt departure has necessitated is very great. I feel 

 impatient most of all at these incessant lights with . The fights them- 

 selves I do not mind, there is some entertainment and fun to be got from 

 them, but there ought to be no necessity for them, the removal of the necessity 

 of these fights is what we have a right to expect." 



The " bunt departure " alluded to meant the experiments he 

 had begun, to make bunt as well as rust-resisting varieties of 

 wheats — a highly desirable aim in view of the enormous losses 

 which often resulted from the bunt parasite. This work, I need 

 hardly say, necessitated great care and attention, and it is pleasing 

 to know that Farrer succeeded almost beyond his expectations in 

 producing new varieties of wheats practically bunt-resistant, and 

 paved the way for future work by others ; and all this in spite of 

 ridicule and freely expressed opinions as to the absurdity of the 

 idea. 



Most fortunately for Farrer 's future work the Government 

 determined upon establishing a farm near Cowra, the centre of 

 an important wheat-growing district ; and upon Farrer's strong 

 recommendation it was decided to set that farm apart for experi- 

 mental purposes only, and chiefly for experiments in connection 

 with wheats and the growing of them under various methods of 

 cultivation, as well as trials of various kinds of manures, and so 

 on, under the control of the wheat experimentalist. I can hardly 

 express the satisfaction and relief this afforded Farrer. He at 

 once formulated a scheme of work for making the best use of 

 the 200 acres it was decided to clear of timber and put under culti- 

 vation. At this farm he would have an opportunity of producing 

 pure seed of the varieties he considered were the best suited to 

 grow on other experimental farms and to distribute to farmers. 

 And to his further great relief he was able to obtain the services 

 of G. L. Sutton, who had for years taken a keen interest in 

 Farrer's work, and who had thoroughly qualified himself for 

 conducting all the trials and experiments required by Farrer at 

 Cowra, from whom I received a letter saying : — 



