William Farrer - Lambrigg Experiments

Lambrigg Experiments

The Wheat leaf rust disease had a major impact on both the quality and yields of wheat harvests throughout the colonies. Farrer applied his scientific knowledge to developing wheat hybrids, initially applying cross-pollination techniques to create rust immune strains of wheat. He readily improvised using hairpins to transfer pollen until he could obtain forceps. His scientific experiments continued over 20 years, and consisted of long days of planting and developing wheat strains. He used Gregor Mendel's methods in his work. Frederick Bickell Guthrie developed small-scale procedures that emulated a flour-mill and bakehouse; Farrer used these to assess the yield from the wheat strains. The results of his experiments are recorded in handwriting notebooks. To add to his knowledge of other breeders work he corresponded all over the world. He kept up a connection with a French wheat breeder, Henri Vilmorin, who was breeding wheat for dry areas. He also corresponded with plant breeders working in India.

Concurrently, Farrer worked on developing a strain of wheat that could resist bunt or smut-ball, another devastating enemy of wheat.

By selective breeding of varieties such as "Professor Blount's Hybrid No.38, Gypsum", Canadian Fife, Etawah and Purple Straw, Fareer aimed to produce a wheat cultivar that had the best qualities of each. Success in developing a rust-resistant, high-yielding strain greeted him in 1900, when a satisfactory series of wheat was finally obtained - the Federation strain, named after the imminent Federation of Australia. He then developed a series of other strains such as Canberra, Firbank, Cleveland, Pearlie White (named after a child in the neighbourhood who was very interested in his work) and Florence (resistant to flag smut). His successes led Farrer to become a wheat experimentalist with the NSW Department of Agriculture in 1898.

These wheat strains led to a major improvement to Australia's wheat industry within a few years. The Federation strain was released to Australian farmers in 1903 and resulted in a trebling of Australia's wheat harvest over a period of twenty years. Wheat export was to become a world class enterprise.