Director Of Crop Research Division

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30481, 1 July 1964, Page 16

Director Of Crop Research Division

Dr. H. C. Smith, who is well known to farmers in Canterbury for his work in developing methods of control of aphides which carry the yield-reducing barley yellow dwarf virus into wheat crops, has been appointed director of the Crop Research Division of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research at Lincoln.

Aged 38, he succeeds Dr. L. Corkill, who recently left Lincoln to become director of the Grasslands Division in succession to the late Dr. P. D. Sears.

Dr. Smith has been responsible for a wide range of Investigations of diseases of potatoes, swedes, turnips, rape, chou moellier, peas, beans, lucerne, cereals and vegetables. Born in Masterton and educated at Rotorua High School, Dr. Smith took his bachelor of agricultural science degree at Canterbury Agricultural College in 1947 and his master of agricultural science degree in 1949 with honours in plant pathology. For his masterate he made a study of powdery mildew of wheat, which subsequently led to the develop-

ment of mildew-resistant cereal varieties by the cereal section of the Crop Research Division. Fruit Crop Diseases In 1947 Dr. Smith was appointed assistant micrologist on the staff of the Plant Diseases Division of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research at Auckland During this period his work included the discovery of the cause of serious root rot diseases of apples and other fruit crops.

In 1951 he was awarded a National Research Scholarship and went to Cambridge University where he did research work for a doctorate of philosophy on soil fungi, which are the major cause of the root diseases of many plants. His work at Cambridge on soil sterilisation led to an assessment of the significance of root rot diseases of field crops and vegetables and co-

operative work with the Horticultural Division to facilitate the economic control of many of these diseases. Dr. Smith was awarded his doctorate in 1953 and on his return to New Zealand was appointed micrologist at the sub-station of the Plant Diseases Division at Lincoln. His work since has involved the discovery of aphid-borne virus diseases of several field crops and the economic control of several of these including mosaic in cauliflowers and cabbages, carrot motley dwarf virus in carrots and subsequently the development of economic control measures for barley yellow dwarf virus in particularly autumn-sown cereal crops. Visit To Canada Four years ago Dr. Smith was awarded a Canadian National Research Council postdoctorate fellowship which he held at the Canada Department of Agriculture’s plant research institute at Ottawa studying virus diseases of grass and cereals, and in particular barley yellow dwarf virus.

Dr. Smith was one of the founders of the New Zealand Microbiological Society ani was its secretary-trea-surer for its first five years He is at present president of the Canterbury section of the New Zealand Institute of Agricultural Science. He is also an honorary lecturer at Lincoln College. An active member of the Lincoln Golf Club since its inception, he has been club president and also club cham : pion.