Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4 Western Australia, Series 4
Volume 11
Number 1 1970 Article 2
1-1-1970
Recent senior appointments in the Department of Agriculture/
Recent senior appointments in the Department of Agriculture/
Pioneer adviser retires as Chief of Wheat and Sheep Division Pioneer adviser retires as Chief of Wheat and Sheep Division
Department of Agriculture, Western Australia
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Department of Agriculture, Western Australia (1970) "Recent senior appointments in the Department of Agriculture/ Pioneer adviser retires as Chief of Wheat and Sheep Division," Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4: Vol. 11: No. 1, Article 2.
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RECENT SENIOR APPOINTMENTS IN THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
THE Department of A g r i c u l t u r e moves into the 1970s w i t h many of its senior posit- ions f i l l e d by officers appointed w i t h i n the last few months of 1969. T h e new men replace personalities who have for many years dominated the agricultural scene in Western Australia—pioneers of scientific agriculture who, in their many years of service with the Department, helped to establish prosperous farming industries in many parts of the State. Later they were largely responsible for the tremendous agricultural devel- opment t h a t took place f r o m 1946 t o 1969.
Pictured below are the recently appointed senior officers.
E. N . F I T Z P A T R I C K — D e p u t y Director of Agriculture.
Joined the Department as a research officer in the Plant Research Division in 1951 and worked o n pasture establishment and n u t r i t i o n in higher rainfall areas and legume establishment on d i f f i c u l t soils. A p p o i n t e d Scientific Liaison Officer in 1 9 6 2 , in which position he assisted in technical aspects of a d m i n i s t r a t i o n , handled the development a n d supervision of research programmes financed by special research and extension grants and represented the Department on various agricultural committees. He became Chief of the Plant Research Division in m i d 1 9 6 9 .
J. P. ECKERSLEY—Chief, Horticulture Division.
Joined the Department as a cadet in 1 9 3 7 . W o r k e d as an agricultural adviser in t h e wheat growing and dairying areas, as a plant pathologist and irrigation adviser before j o i n i n g the Vegetable Branch, of which he was appointed Officer-in-Charge in 1 9 5 2 . He became Assistant Chief of the H o r t i c u l t u r e Division in 1 9 5 5 . He has had more than 2 0 years experience as Departmental representative on a variety of m a r k e t i n g organisations and h o r t i c u l t u r a l committees.
Journal of Agriculture, Vol 11 No 1, 1970
T . E. M c D O W E L L — C h i e f , Wheat and Sheep Division.
Has been w i t h the Department f o r 2 0 years and was closely associated w i t h post- war agricultural development and research, particularly t h e early experimental w o r k at the Esperance Downs Research Station. He carried o u t research into district problems and investigations o f development of new areas w h e n w o r k i n g in Katanning and Narrogin district offices. In 1 9 6 5 he was appointed Co-ordinator of Advisory Services for the W h e a t and Sheep Division, supervising t h e Division's advisory service and extenion training programme, and in 1 9 6 7 he became Assistant C h i e f o f the Division.
N . J . HALSE—Chief, Plant Research Division.
Joined t h e Department as a research o f f i c e r in the Plant Research Division in 1 9 5 0 . He worked on f r u i t research, including t h e chemical t h i n n i n g o f apples, apple die- back and trace element deficiencies in f r u i t trees. Later was transferred t o tobacco research and in 1961 was sent to study tobacco research in the U.S.A. Since 1 9 6 4 has concentrated on wheat physiology research and f o r several years has supervised the Division's crop and pasture research programme.
F. MELVILLE—Assistant Chief, Horticulture Division.
Joined t h e Department in 1 9 4 5 and as senior adviser ( f r u i t ) for more t h a n t e n years played a leading role in industry development and f r u i t research in W . A . Has made important contributions t o apple storage and transport research. Planned and supervised the development o f t h e Stoneville H o r t i c u l t u r a l Research Station, in 1959 he was Assistant Australian Fruit O f f i c e r in London and investigated f r u i t research in England, Europe and the U.S.A. Has also studied the f r u i t industry in South A f r i c a .
W . J. TOMS—Assistant Chief, W h e a t and Sheep Division.
Joined the Department in 1953 as research o f f i c e r in t h e Plant Research Division and carried out research into pasture establishment and n u t r i t i o n of cereals and pastures, including preliminary research f o r several m a j o r W a r Service Land Settle- ment projects. Posted t o Kununurra in 1961 to g r o w t h e f i r s t commercially-sized Ord River cotton crop and to study problems of c o t t o n g r o w i n g . A p p o i n t e d A g r o n - omy and Experiment Officer w i t h t h e W h e a t and Sheep Division in 1 9 6 5 t o super- vise cereal chemistry, plant breeding and variety t e s t i n g w o r k and co-ordinate crop and pasture research programmes.
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Journal of Agriculture, Vol 11 No 1, 1970
T . A . MORRIS—Assistant Chief, Dairy Division
Comes t o the position after 1 9 years w i t h t h e Queensland Department of Primary Industries, where he was Chief Dairy Technologist, Field Service Branch, Division of D a i r y i n g . For 12 years he was in charge of the Dairy Research Laboratory, Toowoomba and in 1 9 6 7 he gained a post-graduate Diploma in A g r i c u l t u r a l Extension at Queensland University. He has administered dairy technology research, product q u a l i t y control and industry extension. Special study tours have taken h i m t o England and Europe.
PIONEER ADVISER RETIRES AS CHIEF OF WHEAT AND SHEEP DIVISION
One of the D e p a r t m e n t of A g r i c u l t u r e ' s best known agricultural advisers was M r . A . S. W i l d , who retired last year as Chief of the W h e a t and Sheep Division.
Early in his career M r . W i l d was one of the first of the Depart- m e n t ' s district a g r i c u l t u r a l advisers, and later played an important p a r t in developing an effective advisory service in the agricultural areas.
M r . W i l d joined t h e Department when he graduated f r o m the University of W e s t e r n Australia in 1 9 2 6 . His first posting was to W o n g a n Hills Research Station, where he was closely associated w i t h the early e x p e r i m e n t a l w o r k in this area.
In 1 9 2 9 he was appointed agricultural adviser f o r the southern half of the wheatbelt, and was stationed at K a t a n n i n g f o r the n e x t 13 years. He became a widely k n o w n and trusted adviser to farmers over a big area of the State.
He was involved in a wide range o f experimental w o r k , particularly on crops and pastures, and in the early 1 9 3 0 s was associated w i t h the experiments in which manganese deficiency o f cereals was f i r s t discovered.
From 1 9 4 2 t o 1 9 4 6 he was Executive Officer in charge of district war agricultural c o m - m i t t e e s , and f r o m 1 9 4 6 to 1949 he held the position of Chief Inspector of V e r m i n and Registrar o f Brands.
He was seconded to the W a r Service Land Settlement Board in 1 9 4 9 and played a leading p a r t in the development of major war service land settlement projects, especially the schemes at Gairdner River, J e r r a m u n g u p and Eneabba.
T h e Board was responsible for the development of some 1,000 farms, w i t h an area of 2 . 2 m i l l i o n acres.
M r . W i l d returned to the Department in 1954 as Assistant Chief o f the W h e a t and Sheep D i v i s i o n , and was appointed Chief o f the Division in 1 9 6 1 .
As Chief of t h e Division M r . W i l d concentrated on building up a team of district agri- c u l t u r a l advisers o f h i g h professional standard, and w i t h exceptionally good morale. Y o u n g advisers in particular f o u n d him h i g h l y approachable, sympathetic to t h e i r problems and receptive to new ideas.
M r . W i l d was Chairman of the Coarse Grains Advisory Committee and the State W h e a t A d v i s o r y C o m m i t t e e and a member o f the State Barley Advisory and Technical Committees.
He was Registrar of Cereal Varieties f o r Australia.
In 1 9 4 7 he was President of the W . A . Branch of the Australian Institute of A g r i c u l t u r a l Science.
