WILLIAM J. FARREK. 



periodical visits to distant parts of the State. Both the work itself, and the 

 actual travelling, were often done under conditions sufficiently trying to have 

 tested the endurance of a much younger and more robust man. 



Though he did not live long enough to see all his ambitions realised, he 

 lived, nevertheless,, sufficiently long to enjoy the satisfaction of public and 

 private appreciation of his work, both here and abroad. He was in corre- 

 spondence with all the English and American institutions interested in the 

 wheat question, and he exchanged new varieties with everyone, here and 

 abroad, who possessed facilities for giving them a trial. A few years before 

 his death Mr. Moreland, Director of Agriculture for the North-west Provinces 

 of India, paid a visit to Australia, under instructions from his Government, 

 to study at first hand the methods adopted by Fairer, with a view of insti- 

 tuting research on similar lines in India. 



The problem which he set himself was the systematic improvement of 

 wheat by cross-breeding and selection, particularly in the direction of pro- 

 ducing types which should resist our two principal scourges, ruse and drought, 

 and in the maintenance of a high milling standard, more especially in the 

 production of strong-flour wheats. 



By paying particular attention to this last point, Farrer not only succeeded 

 in maintaining a high milling standard in his crossbred wheats, but produced 

 varieties of much greater value to the miller than any that were previously 

 in cultivation. In the matter of rust and drought-resisting varieties, his 

 success was equally pronounced, though the establishment of a variety with 

 such characters possesses less finality than does that of varieties of milling 

 excellence and drought resistance. New varieties require a certain time to 

 adapt themselves to different conditions, and many that resist rust quite 

 successfully in one district may succumb to it in others. Then again, some 

 rust-resistant varieties may possess qualities which render them unsuited to 

 certain districts. 



Undoubtedly it is due to the capacity of varieties that he produced to resist 

 dry conditions that wheat-growing has become profitable in western districts 

 where formerly it was commercially unthinkable. 



The result of Farrer's life-work is that we are now in the possession of certain 

 strains of wheat which surpass those previously in general cultivation in 

 certain characteristics which are of supreme importance to our conditions. 

 A.S these conditions prevail not only with us, but also in many other parts of 

 the world, and as Farrer's crossbreds possess in addition the essential 

 characteristics of being first-class milling wheats, it will be seen that his work 

 is not merely of local but of world-wide significance. 



Moreover, he advanced the improvement of wheat by cross-breeding 

 and selection in a manner that is of great assistance to present-day plant 

 breeders, and has already led to the cultivation of wheat in regions 

 previously considered unsuited for it, either on account of low rainfall or 

 liability to rust. Thus an enormous additional area has been and will be made 

 available for wheat-growing, and the time when, according to some writers, 

 all the available wheat-lands of the world are occupied will be yet further 

 postponed. 



It behoves us as a community to see to it that the good work begun by 

 Farrer shall be continued in the spirit with which he conducted it. 



It is given to few to realise the fulfilment of their life's endeavours, and 

 the highest achievements of humanity are the result of the concerted eiforts 



