F. W. HILGENDORF

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24897, 10 June 1946, Page 4

F. W. HILGENDORF

SCIENCE ON THE LAND

® r^A at B.^^pri^i?a^ofitoe a iFeSdmg’AgricuJ: 111

Lowrie resigned in 1908. and Mr R. E. Alexander, A.R.C.5.1.. from the Glasnevin Agricultural School in Ireland, was appointed and assumed duty in May, 1908. For the first part of the interregnum of one term Hilgendorf was appointed acting-director. No doubt because of his youthful appearance and certainly not because of lack of energy, ability, and character, he failed to carry the heavy responsibility of the position, and the board replaced him by the senior lecturer, Mr Gray. This incident has naturally not been touched on in biographical notices. I mention it because I think it had great psychological significance, affected the subsequent attitude of Hilgendorf, and indirectly had profound consequences for the college and for agricultural education. I believe, and indeed he conflded as much to me himself, that he decided that his natural role was that of lieutenant or staff officer and not that of captain, and thenceforth for over 20 years he faithfully and with unswervmg loyalty carried on the work that was assigned to him, but refrained from attempting to initiate changes or to propound policy. It is significant, e.g., that whenever he spoke of the beginning of his work on wheat and whenever he wrote about it he said that the director instructed him, or suggested' it to him.

As it Might Have Been I submit for your consideration the thesis that, had his first experience as director and administrator been crowned with the success that was evidently and could obviously have been anticipated, he would have been so fortified that with his flair for exploiting ideas when once he had assimilated them, exercising his undoubted mental acumen ana scientific ability, and using his great qualities of persuasion and his capacity for personal popularity, he could have achieved an unquestioned position of leadership on the academic side of the college, and the whole development of higher agricultural education in New Zealand would have taken different shape. We can find an apt quotation in Ecclesiastes: “If the tree fall toward the south or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth there it shall be.” There is record of many a trivial incident which has changed the course of history. What did happen was that Hilgendorf became a sort of liaison or public relations officer, to use modern terms, and there the qualities I have mentioned, combined with his tact and courtesy, served to maintain harmony within the college and also to maintain its prestige ill the eyes of the farming community; but this very fact also helped to delay reforms that were becoming seriously overdue. Early Work on Wheat Even his work in wheat improvement at this stage shows on the technical side evidence of the cramping effects of a non-progressive outlook. He began with single ear selections and so purified certain varieties; and though the interpretation of trials was open to criticism on the statistical side, he obtained spectacular results with the distribution of College Hunters in 1915, for which an average increase of four bushels per acre was claimed. This method of line selection had been employed in ,Europe, as he himself says, for over a century. Green at Ruakura had already multiplied a rust resisting strain of oats. But the limitations of the method in wheat improvement were also well known, and in fact the improved yield

of the New Zealand average yield per acre over the period between, say, 1900 and 1920. (It should, of course, be recognised that Hunters, (or which most improvement was claimed, occupied only about 15 per cent, of the total crop.) But the method of line selection had long been superseded in Europe and also in Australia, where “crossing” had produced large numbers of new sorts, which would not naturally come about owing to the fact that wheat is normally selffertilised. Hilgendorf always insisted that improvement in the New Zealand wheat crop would come about by the breeding of a new variety suitable to our conditions rather than by the importation of further varieties from abroad. Nevertheless, crossing of wheat at Lincoln did not begin until 1921, ttfter 10 years of preliminary work, and it did not assume importance until 1923, after Hilgendorf had visited Europe. . . . A New Era The middle twenties, particularly the years 1923 to 1925, marked the beginning of a new era in agricultural progress. Even a catalogue of some events of the period is impressive: 1. In relation to agricultural practice, we note rapid extension of the use of tractors and of multiplefurrow ploughs; the introduction of mechanical harvesters; and a rapid expansion of top-dressing. 2. Dr. Hilgendorf, returned from his overseas visit, begins the crossing of wheat varieties; A. H. Cockayne, appointed Director of Fields Division in 1923, reorganises and energetically S rosecutes manurial experiments. G. [. Hol ford inspires the formation of the Canterbury Soils Improvement Committee. A. W. Hudson is appointed

Fields Experimentalist, and introduce new methods both of technique and interpretation. M. J. Scott begins rt. searen on animal nutrition. 8. At the invitation of the Govern, inent. Sir Frank Heath reports on the organisation of scientific and industrial research in New Zealand; and a new department is established. 4. Schools of Agriculture were M . tablished and professors appointed in Victoria University College (1924) and in Auckland University College <1920 A Royal Commission was appointed to -inquire into the status of university education. 5. We may note here also that between 1922 and 1926 18 Bachelors of Agriculture graduated from Lincoln, increasing the total number from three to 21. This period marks the beginning of a new era in agricultural education and research, a period in which HU. gendorf rose to his full stature and became the commanding figure whose memory we are here assembled to honour. It will be useful therefore before dealing with this to review his work of the earlier period. First let us realise and appreciate the full significance of the fact, that up to this time Hilgendorf was the

lecturer in natural science; that is to say, he had sole responsibility for bio. logy, because he in his own person was the whole staff of the Department ;, of Biology in the Canterbury Agricul. tural College. Certainly his lunda. mental training was sound. He was a student under the great T. Jeffety Parker in the University of Otago. His first research was in zoological subjects, and he completed his undergraduate course with the senior scholarship in zoology, followed by his master’s degree with first-class hon-' ours, and a few years later at the age of 30, by the doctorate in science,' For his work at Lincoln, which embraced teaching the elements of botany and zoology to students who were tar the most part quite unprepared, continuing such instruction in its appliestion to farm crops and their varied pests, he was well qualified by train, lug. What is equally important, he was well qualified by temperament, for his interests had no limits and his energies no bounds. So he ranged over the whole field with sprightly air and jaunty step, teaching, reading, instructing, questioning, stimulating, experimenting. ... He had that most important attribute of the university teacher to which the Chancellor referred in his address this year to th* Senate of the University of New Zealand —namely, the will to and the zest for research. Students could never ba dull when Dr. Hilgendorf was on th* rostrum. His lectures may hav* been discursive and at times lacking in orderly sequence: but they were always interesting and stimulating, and M made his points crystal clear. He was unrivalled as a lecturer to fanners. A master of clear exposition, he could sense precisely what his varied audiences could assimilate; never talked over their heads; drew illustrations from their own experience, and could on occasion play upon their feelings and prejudices; and with superb understanding of their point of view got that comfortable atmosphere of "togetherness” which made them feel, not that he had come down to their level of knowledge and understanding, but that they had risen up to his.

nicy linu “Indifferent to Results’’ At this period of his career he published several books, not with a view to possible profits, but merely that ml students might nave in convenient form the substance of his lectures, »n« thus, relieved of the tedium of notetaking, be able to concentrate attention on the discourse and to participate in discussion. These are still in general use, include: “Pasture Plants and Pastures of New Zear land” (1922). “Farmers’ Foes in New Zealand’’ (1924)—dealing largely wth insect pests—and “Weeds of New Zealand’’ (1927). . Of his research work of this P e rioa most publicity has been given to nu work with wheat. Hilgenaorf’s Qualities have been described as untiring energy, boundless interests, and an inquiring mind. Under all the circumstances of his earlier period •< übj coin it will be readily understood tbit his research also'was discursive ana diffuse rather than concentrated towards a single end. Having regard to the time and circumstances it could hardly be otherwise. However, it was not altogether his nature and diira*; tion to pursue a single problem with unrelenting zeal. He loved experiment- , ing, but he was indifferent to rewite —a virtue indeed in a man of science, but a virtue that may be over-ae- ; veloped when the quest for solution* ■ is urgent. So I see some psychotomcal . significance in his choice of the bib - -1 cal text prefatory to his booK (J 1 wheat. “In the morning sow thy seso ■ and in the evening withhold not thine ' hand for thou knowest not whether 1 shall prosper either this or that” witt Hilgendorf it was not the pessfmwj s of the Preacher born of the chaos #n* 1 uncertainty of the times; it was rather ■ a disinterest in results except for their 1 own sake—whether the result be r “either this or that.” A proper part, - I say, of the equipment, of the raf searcher, but only part of the equip* t ment v . 1 (To be completed)