8 SCIENCE BULLETIN, No. 22. 



of generations of workers imbued with the same idea. The torch once 

 kindled is passed on from hand to hand, revealing to each successive bearer 

 new wonders in the surrounding darkness. 



The community can do no more than encourage those engaged in such work 

 of love ; the individual must provide the labour, and reap the disappointments 

 and the rewards. It is not too much to hope that amongst us there may be 

 one or more imbued with Farrer's enthusiasm, his singleness of purpose, his 

 patience and painstaking perseverance, so that the next generation may be in 

 possession of improved varieties of wheat, of which we at present have no 

 proper conception. At the time of his death and as a result of his labours, 

 Australia, if it did not actually lead the world in the production of improved 

 varieties, stood well in the front rank. 



Let it be our care that it does not drop back into a more obscure position. 



CONNECTION WITH THE DEPARTMENT. 



Farrer was in constant touch with the scientific officers of the Department 

 from 1890, or even earlier. The actual work of cross-breeding and selection 

 was carried out on his own plots at Lambrigg, Queanbeyan, which comprised 

 under three acres, one and a half acres being available each year. It is a, 

 matter on which we are entitled to congratulate ourselves that those who 

 were at the time in charge of the Department were possessed of sufficient 

 intelligent foresight to realise the value to the State of the services of such 

 an investigator. In 1898 he was offered and accepted the position of 

 " Wheat Experimentalist." The Minister for Agriculture of the day was the 

 Hon. Sydney Smith, the Under-Secretary Mr. D. C. Maclachlan, and the 

 Director Mr. W. S. Campbell. As will be seen below, the original 

 recommendation to the Public Service Board was made by the Hon. Sydney 

 Smith. The minute to the Governor and Executive recommending the 

 appointment was signed by Mr. Smith's immediate successor, the Hon. Sir 

 Joseph Cook. 



To these gentlemen the State undoubtedly owes a debt of gratitude, for 

 the appointment enabled Farrer to extend his operations considerably, and 

 placed at his disposalthe resources of the Government Farms and Colleges at 

 Wagga, Hawkesbury, Bathurst, and later Cowra. The salary attached to 

 the position was the modest one of ,350 per annum. 



I mention the sum particularly because a great deal of unconsidered 

 criticism has been levelled at the authorities for the inadequate salary offered 

 to Farrer as Wheat Experimentalist. The remuneration was undoubtedly a 

 very small one in view of the enormous commercial value of his achievements. 

 It is no exaggeration to say that in the twenty years which have followed 

 the general introduction of Farrer's wheats, millions of pounds have been 

 saved to the farmers. At the same time it must not be forgotten that, at the 

 time of the appointment in 1896, very little was known of his work outside 

 wheat-breeders and a few of the Departmental officers, none of his crosses 

 were in the hands of farmers, and no one knew anything about their possi- 

 bilities as farmers' and millers' wheats except Farrer himself. Only those few 

 who were at all intimate with Farrer had complete confidence in his being 

 capable of effecting the improvements which he aimed at. It was because the 

 Minister, Under-Secretary, and Director of the day were fully alive to the 

 benefits to be derived from the closer co-operation of Farrer with the 

 Department that the appointment was offered to him. It must also be 



