and of which Dr. Hilgendorf became first Director. Plant breeding and selection continued at Lincoln under the direct supervision of Dr. Hilgendorf, assisted by Mr J. W. Calder and later by Dr. O. H. Frankel, while milling and baking investigations were conducted in Christchurch by Mr. H. E. West and later by Mr. E. W. Hullett.

As early as 1910, Dr. Hilgendorf had inaugurated wheat breeding and selection at Lincoln College, and by 1915 he had produced purified, high-yielding strains of the main varieties of wheat then grown, and one of these, College Hunter's, found a wide favour with wheatgrowers, which it still retains. At this period New Zealand wheats were grouped into three main classes, Pearl, Hunters and Tuscan, and the varieties grouped under each class were many, and by no means even in type or true to name.

A constant stream of new varieties were imported from abroad in the hope that among them some new wheat would be found which provided better yields or better quality of grain. Dr. Hilgendorf felt that success would not be attained by this policy but rather through the breeding of varieties suitable for New Zealand requirements, as had been demonstrated by the work of such men as Farrer in New South Wales, Pye in Victoria, and Biffen in England. He accordingly commenced a programme of hybridisation and rigorous selection, using always as one parent the then predominant Tuscan variety which had proved itself as a high yielder. In 1922, on the occasion of a visit to England, he acquired through Professor Biffen, of Cambridge, an insight into the influence which genetics and mathematical statistics was exerting on plant breeding, and of the valuable assistance which statistical methods provided in the examinations of the data derived from field experiments. He was quick to realise the advantages arising from the adoption of a new technique of experimentation, and sought to use it in his own trials-By 1928, when the Wheat Research Institute was established, his own first large series of crosses had reached the F4 stage, and among them, and as yet unidentified as possessing merit, was Cross 7, which by 1933 had emerged as a most promising variety and continued to extend till in 1942 it occupied some 47 per cent. of New Zealand's wheat area. Cross 7 had its origin in the pioneering wheat breeding work done by Dr. Hilgendorf at Lincoln College, in association with Mr J. W. Calder, and its merits became more evident each year in the very complete field experimentation of Dr. O. H. Frankel and the Fields Division of the N.Z. Department of Agriculture, as well as in the milling and baking tests in the charge of Mr. H. E. West. It was characteristic of Dr. Hilgendorf's farsightedness that he realised the inadequacy of yield tests alone for wheat, and insisted that quality characters as revealed by milling, baking and chemical tests, were to be determined before the real value of a new wheat could be accurately assessed. Hence the Wheat Research Institute was probably the first institution of its kind to combine in one unit, breeding, agronomic, milling, baking and chemical investigations of this important crop. As its first Director, he guided the fortunes of the Institute during its di [ unclear: ] rficult early years till it acquired a status and reputation of a quite exceptional character. When, after some 15 years as Director, death

claimed Dr. Hilgendorf, the Wheat Research Institute had become a permanent institution, and remains a worthy memorial to his efforts on behalf of the wheat industry as represented by wheatgrowers, flourmillers and bakers.

He inaugurated in the Annual Reports of the Wheat Research Institute a series of valuable annual surveys of the wheat industry whose worth will become more and more apparent with the passage of years, and will for the future provide a mine of reference material to those studying the history and progress of New Zealand wheatgrowing. His handbook, Wheat in New Zealand, is a standard authority on this industry.

This, in brief, gives an incomplete account of Hilgendorf's services to the wheat industry, and it is through these that his name is likely to be enshrined in the memory of most. But his other scientific interests were very wide. They were of the sort which indicated that he possessed the mind and interest of the naturalist, associated with an economic outlook, a conspicuous foresight and a real delight in investigation. The range of his interests can be seen from the titles of the 16 papers published in the Transactions during the period 1898–1925, a list of which is appended to this article. His early papers dealt with those zoological subjects which arose from his university studies and from the general interest which prevailed in zoology at the end of the nineteenth century, thanks to the influence of outstanding occupants of the chairs of biology in the University Colleges. Later, his interest changed to problems of his immediate environment at Lincoln, where artesian wells were of great importance, where diamond back moth ravaged turnip and rape crops, the main supplementary feed of sheep on the plains. Then came a period when he turned for recreation to Canterbury's magnificent western horizon. and studied Nature as she was found at Cass, Arthurs Pass and elsewhere in the Southern Alps. When health precluded continuation of these alpine interests any longer, he concentrated effort on wheat, its breeding, development, and its history in New Zealand.

Apart from his interests in wheat. Hilgendorf never attempted to specialise in any particular section of science. His interests and his scientific contributions were broad and wide, and unusual rather than profound. He was quick to grasp the possibilites of new scientific developments, to inaugurate new methods and inspire his associates, be they staff or students, to use these methods. To him can be attributed the first methodical field trials with farm crops in New Zealand which he laid down when at Lincoln College. Since then, these have been vastly extended by his former students now in the Fields Division of the Department of Agriculture. He was a firm believer in agricultural surveys, and compiled, with the assistance of many of the staff of the Fields Division, the first vegetation Bulletin No. 47, “The Grasslands of the South Island of New Zealand,” by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, the forerunner of a series of surveys which have since been undertaken. Throughout his life he kept in close touch with a wide

circle of people interested in agricultural and scientific matters, and when the Plant Research Bureau Committee was established in 1935 he became its Deputy Chairman and played an important part in guiding the research policy of the Bureau, a task which his academic qualifications, experience, and broad scientific outlook enabled him to do in an exceptionally able manner.

As a teacher, Dr. Hilgendorf possessed a ready faculty for imparting knowledge and inspiring his students. He had the very happy knack of making any lecture he gave so interesting that his presentation commanded the attention of his listeners. His former students now hold many important positions in different spheres of agriculture and commerce in New Zealand, and because of the real human understanding and keen interest he displayed in their welfare during college days, strong bonds of affection and attachment were characteristic of the regard in which they held him.

Reference has been made previously to Dr. Hilgendorf's scientific papers, but in addition he was the author of a number of popular books dealing with a range of farm matters which displayed his capacity to write in a style such as would enable farmers to improve to their advantage their knowledge of certain subjects.

F. W. Hilgendorf was endowed with a fine personality and a sterling character which commanded the ready respect of a wide circle of friends. He was easy of approach and ready to help, from his fund of sound knowledge, those who sought his assistance. Possessed of a keen sense of humour, and a vivid interest in his surroundings, he united these in his charm of manner, which was closely associated with a thoughtfulness, a kindliness and a human sympathy which constituted his outstanding personal attributes. In 1905 he married Frances Elizabeth, daughter of Mr. F. C. Murray, of Lincoln, who predeceased him some years. His two sons are Messrs. Charles Hilgendorf, M.A., and Murray Hilgendorf, B.E.

Dr. Hilgendorf had a long association of active membership of the N.Z. Institute and the Royal Society of N.Z. In 1907 he was President of the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury and served on the Council of this Institute for a number of years. At various times between 1911 and 1942 he was a member of the Board of Governors of the N.Z. Institute and the Council of the Royal Society. In 1912, with Professor R. Speight, he was joint editor of the Transactions, and in 1921 was elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society of New Zealand.