"Let knowledge grow from more to more, But more of reverence
in us dwell;
That mind and soul, according well, May make one music as before."
- Tennyson
The history of the School of Agriculture and Forestry at the University of Melbourne from 1905 to 1984 has been collated by Tulloh (1984); much of the following owes its origins to that paper. Wadham (1951), Dean of the Faculty for some 30 years, traced the origins of agricultural science education in Australia to the stimulus for greater application of science to agriculture in the United Kingdom, which in turn was linked to a desire to stem the further decline in rural prosperity that began around 1870. Within the United Kingdom, this led to increased investment in ongoing research programmes, at Rothamsted for example, and to the creation of agricultural colleges. At the same time, the development of land grant colleges in the United States through the second half of the nineteenth century further highlighted the benefits of agricultural education. Within Australia, the land grant concept was adopted in a modified form in the State of Victoria and led to the funding and establishment of Dookie, Longerenong and Burnley Colleges in 1886, 1889, and 1891 respectively. Funding from the rents from rural lands tied to agricultural education was reduced substantially during the 1890's depression and from that point probably never fully achieved the expectations for funding of agricultural education. The lands which were rented out to generate income for agricultural education were eventually consolidated into government reserves and the Australian version of the land grant concept of agricultural education disappeared finally around 1945.
The creation of such colleges may have contributed to the relatively slow start and political resistance to university education in agriculture. It was not until the first decade of the twentieth century that funding was made available to universities for agricultural education.
The Victorian Council of Agricultural Education, which was the body responsible for administration of the agricultural colleges, was approached by a committee of the Council of the University of Melbourne on 1 August 1904, concerning the establishment of a degree or diploma program in agriculture at the university. The Council of Agricultural Education took the attitude that such education, should be restricted to the colleges under its own authority and therefore rejected the university's proposals to enter the field. However, political intervention by the then premier, Thomas Bent, led to some softening of attitudes through Bent's innovative approach to funding which created a significant incentive for the Council of Agricultural Education to reach an agreement with the University of Melbourne. This agreement, made on 4 May 1905 led to the drafting of regulations for a degree and diploma course later in that year. The primary course, the Bachelor of Agricultural Science, was to use the basic sciences as its foundation before introducing more applied sciences in the final, fourth year. The degree was to be general in nature and include a practical component through a residential period at Dookie College. In addition, further practical experience was to be gained by students through farm work experience during vacation periods and through a post-fourth year period of four months of additional approved field work. The emphasis clearly was on land use and agricultural commodity production.
The creation of the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Melbourne in 1905 was possibly preceded by developments in South Australia. As noted by Wadham (1951), Roseworthy Agricultural College had become formally associated with the University of Adelaide in 1905 through a mechanism allowing Roseworthy College graduates, who had matriculated, to be permitted to take the Bachelor of Science course at the University after passing some prerequisite subjects. Science students, on the other hand, could engage in two years enrolment at the college as a partial fulfilment towards their degree at the University. The real strength of the University of Adelaide came in 1924 with the foundation of the Waite Agricultural Research Institute and its associated bequest financing.
However the University of Melbourne went a stage further than the University of Adelaide in creating a separate faculty of agriculture. Despite formation of the faculty, it had no dedicated staff until 1911. The original university statute for the creation of the Faculty of Agriculture included the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, the State Director of Agriculture, and the Principal of Dookie Agricultural College as part of its faculty, in addition to 'the professors and lecturers in the School of Agriculture' (Scott, 1936).
The initial meeting of the Faculty of Agriculture took place on 15 December 1905 when Professor W. A. Osborne, Professor of Histology and Physiology was elected Dean. This part-time position coordinated minimal activities as the faculty had no staff and was based on teaching carried out by members of staff from other faculties, in particular science, and through part-time lecturers from the State Department of Agriculture, and the Council of Agricultural Education. Second year teaching began in 1907 then in 1911, the first student, Mr N. J. F. Thompson, graduated.
Seven years elapsed before a Professor of Agriculture was appointed during which time Professor Osborne continued to act as Dean of the Faculty. Seven applicants for the advertised position of Professor of Agriculture led to the appointment of Dr Thomas Cherry, previously the State Director of Agriculture (Scott, 1936). Dr Thomas Cherry MD, MS, had been a member of the faculty since its formation. Prior to his appointment as Director of Agriculture for the State of Victoria from 1905 to 1911, he had been a lecturer in Pathology and Bacteriology in the university's medical school. Cherry was succeeded as Director of the State Department of Agriculture by Dr S. S. Cameron DVSC, MRCVS, who was also a member of the Faculty of Agriculture during the period 1911 to 1933, and who also had been instrumental in the creation of the faculty and its early development. Despite apparent good intentions, government withdrew financial support for Cherry after 1916 while he was absent overseas on active military service. Blainey (1957) notes that when the Victorian State Government financed the chair initially it had indicated that the Council should select Dr Cherry. Dr Cherry was the first Australian to be appointed as a professor since 1886, and following his appointment, no professor was imported for another eight years.
When the establishment of a chair of agriculture was first proposed to the University Council, the professors had stipulated that a model farm and an agricultural museum should first be provided before the creation of a chair. The new chair in agriculture was one of four created between 1904 and 1911, the others being anatomy, botany and veterinary pathology, three of which reflected the university's new emphasis on rural studies (Blainey, 1957).
During the period that Professor Cherry was Dean, 1912-1916, low student numbers were an issue. For example, in 1914 there were only some 20 students in total over the four years of the course. Such low numbers were common; the University of Western Australia had six graduates in agriculture in 1958. Cherry's vision concentrated on research as the way to solve the many problems facing Australian agriculture and to this end he promoted the urgent establishment of a university farm. A 60 hectare site occupied by the Lunacy Department at Yarra Bend was the subject of negotiations to secure title for the Faculty's use, but these were not satisfactorily completed. The fourth year of the Bachelor of Agricultural Science course required students to be exposed to the practical experience of farming at Dookie Agricultural College. This was considered to be less than satisfactory because students were isolated from their university staff and the educational component associated with practical work was seen to be difficult to provide under such circumstances. A revised curriculum for the Bachelor of Agricultural Science course was proposed which required students to spend their second year at Dookie Agricultural College, thus beginning a tradition lasting until recent times of a residential second year on a field station, as a compulsory component of the degree. During this period, the Master of Agricultural Science Degree was created for award to graduates who had successfully completed a final honours examination and gained two years of professional experience. It was not a research degree at that time.
Wadham (1951), in commenting on the inclusion of practical experience in agricultural science degrees at various Australian Universities, noted that no system touches all of the essential ingredients:
'if students go to a college or farm early they are scarcely sufficiently advanced to appreciate the scientific aspects of farming, and if they go at the end of the course they are liable to be troublesome and superior in attitude at a college'.
As discussed in Chapter 3, the location of university students at Dookie College led to the first female Bachelor of Agricultural Science student, Miss Irene M. Lowe, being accommodated at Dookie, decades in advance of the rural agricultural colleges enrolling female students. Miss Lowe was accepted into the Bachelor of Agricultural Science Course in 1914 and graduated in 1918. Her accommodation at Dookie College required special arrangements to be made by the Principal at that time - Hugh Pye.
It is interesting to contrast the attitudes of university and college students through some of the comments made about the friction between students of different backgrounds at Dookie College. University students complained that their physical workload was between 52 and 58 hours per week whereas the Principal corrected this claim by stating that the average physical work hours required only 46.5 hours per week. University students did not agree with being required to provide personal services to residential members of the Dookie staff such as carting firewood, vegetables, milk and butter or preparing poultry for use in staff kitchens. Tulloh (1984) considered these students brave to complain in an era of 'aggressive administration of the rules of the College', although their actions were vindicated when faculty agreed with their case and resolved that 'work which is not of an educational value ... should not be extracted from the students'.
When Professor Cherry resigned in 1916 to become a medical officer in the first World War the University considered the postponement of further enrolments into the Bachelor of Agricultural Science course. This did not occur. Provision was made for Professor Osborne to return as Dean for the period 1917 to 1918 in the absence of any full-time professor in the Faculty. Professor Osborne was succeeded by Professor A. J. Ewart (Botany) in 1919 and Professor T. H. Laby (Physics) in 1920. Tulloh (1984) surmised that Laby experienced difficulties in his role as Dean and that the Faculty membership was therefore reconstituted during his period. Later in 1920, the first meeting of the new Faculty was chaired by the Chancellor of the day, Sir John McFarland, and led to the appointment of Dr A. E. V. Richardson, then Superintendent of Agriculture and a part-time lecturer in the Faculty, as Dean. Dr Richardson held the position of Dean until the end of 1924, when he accepted the directorship at the Waite Agricultural Research Institute.
The residential second year in the Bachelor of Agricultural Science course, was transferred from Dookie Agricultural College to the Werribee State Research Farm in 1920. In that same year, the Agricultural Education Act was passed - an important Act as it provided substantial funding to the University for agricultural education and guaranteed the employment of graduates from the Faculty in the State Public Service. In fact, the two Acts of 1920 and 1923 provided both a building and an annual endowment. It also empowered the Minister of Agriculture to appoint graduates directly to certain State Departments without reference to the Public Service Board (Wadham 1951). The availability of such funding for the Faculty of Agriculture provided the first fillip in its development and made possible the construction of the building now known as 'Old Agriculture' on the University campus at Parkville. Student hostel accommodation was also constructed at the State Research Farm at Werribee. The new building was completed in 1922 for a total cost of £8,684 comprising £6,934 for construction and £1,750 for equipment and fittings. It was one of several buildings constructed during the period 1905 to 1930 which Scott (1936) estimated to have cost nearly a quarter of a million pounds.
Poynter and Rasmussen (1996) noted that:
'a course in agriculture had been proposed in the first years of the University, but the Faculty of Agriculture was not set up till 1905, an initiative - like veterinary science and the Chair of Botany 1906 - to strengthen the University's involvement in primary industry, then still of central importance to the economy of the State. There was a course but only briefly a Professor, and by 1919 there were only two students enrolled'.
They also observed that the loose precinct concept which led to the agriculture building of 1922 and the Botany building of 1929 being located on either side of the System Garden, while being logical also created a barrier across otherwise integrally related disciplines.
From a position of strength with a new building and government commitment in 1921, the Faculty of Agriculture proposed to Council the creation of a degree course in animal husbandry. The Faculty of Veterinary Science had concurred, although the course itself was never approved. Tulloh (1984) noted with interest that one of the subjects proposed at that time was "livestock judging", reflecting the orientation to animal selection of the day.
Regulations governing the Master of Agricultural Science degree were modified during Richardson's tenure as Dean. The new regulations required the submission of a dissertation for examination, thus marking the beginning of modern-day masters by research programs.
The Deanship was assumed once again by Professor Osborne in 1925 and 1926, during which time the second full-time Professor of Agriculture was sought and appointed. Professor Samuel McMahon Wadham arrived in Melbourne in 1926 and became Dean in 1927, a position which he held until his retirement 30 years later. The Faculty which Professor Wadham took over had a basis for expansion which, for its development required an energetic and capable personality to develop. Professor Wadham proved to be such a person. The Faculty had recovered from the period which Blainey (1957) describes in the following terms:
'The new schools of agriculture and veterinary science which the government had founded in its utilitarian enthusiasm before the First World War were languishing by the early nineteen twenties. The veterinary school suffered from competition with the veterinary school in Sydney, but it collapsed primarily because there was not enough paying employment for veterinary scientists in Victoria. When in 1927 Professor Woodruff was left with one student, the undergraduate course was closed. Woodruff became Director of Bacteriology and later the first Professor of Bacteriology (1935-44), and his School of Veterinary Science became the Veterinary Research Institute. While the Veterinary School was left with a building, a professor, and no students, the School of Agriculture was left after 1916 with a few students but no professor and no building. However, the Agricultural Education Act of 1920 provided for a School of Agriculture and the government continued to allow its Superintendent of Agriculture, Dr A. E. V. Richardson, to teach classes on two days a week. When Richardson resigned in 1924, the University decided to fill the Chair of Agriculture that had become vacant for eight years.'
The 1920s saw the separation of the Faculty's identity from that of the School of Agriculture. With a building and academic staff, the School of Agriculture developed its own identity in terms of staff, students and physical resources operating within the Faculty. The Faculty itself was distinguished as the Committee chaired by the Dean and responsible for administration of academic matters.
The arrival of Professor Wadham in the Faculty of Agriculture deserves its own book. The impact of one person on the development of the Faculty is clearly indicated from the range of histories and biographies concerning the Faculty and Wadham himself. Tulloh (1984) divided the development of the Faculty since Wadham's appointment into four periods of: 1927-56, 1957-68, 1969-81 and 1982 onwards. These periods represent different external influences, such as changing policies in University education and terms of trade for agricultural products, but mainly relate to the internal influences within the Faculty of different staff personalities and leadership of the Faculty.
Professor S. M. Wadham introduced an unconventional and active approach to the development of his Faculty. Blainey (1957) attributes this to Wadham's arrival fresh from the reform movement at Cambridge University, to work in an environment in which it was common to drive hard bargains and minimise risks. Wadham observed outstanding professors and a high academic standard at the University of Melbourne coupled with a 'slipshod and cavalier' approach to examination and such minimal involvement in community activities that the University was justifiably known as 'the shop'. Students and staff interacted only through teaching, and collegiate activity among staff was minimal. Blainey (1956) describes The Arrival of Samuel Wadham.
Blainey (1956) introduces his short biography of Wadham with the following words. 'I, Samuel McMahon Wadham, wish to apply for the above Professorship'. So began the letter which introduced to the University of Melbourne a scholar who was to become one of the most influential men in Australia's rural history, and one of the most lovable personalities in Australian academic life.
The Arrival of Samuel WadhamIn 1925, in his thirty fourth year, Wadham was one of Cambridge's best botanists and a successful career at the University lay ahead. Then out of the blue came an invitation which changed the pattern of his life; the University of Melbourne wanted a Professor of Agricultural Science, and Wadham was their choice. ... advertisements in journals in North America, South Africa, India and Great Britain attracted twenty one applicants for the Chair, none of outstanding quality. Meanwhile, two members of the University Council - the Honourable G. S. Swinburne and Sir John McFarland (the Chancellor) - took the opportunity during a visit to England to search for a suitable man. On the recommendation of Professor Biffen of Cambridge, Swinburne visited Wadham in his laboratory, took him to lunch, and suggested that he should apply for the Chair. Wadham was now restless in Cambridge; the staid atmosphere did not always appeal to a man whose blithe disregard for convention had often offended those elderly academics who were lost in the past. At the same time he was only mildly interested in the prospects of going to Melbourne and he said he would only apply for the Chair if Swinburne thought he was likely to receive the appointment and fill it with satisfaction. On the 30th July Swinburne wrote down his impressions of Wadham and sent them to Sir John McFarland; his description of the interview suggested that he questioned Wadham on every phase of his life. He reported that Wadham was not a practical farmer, that Wadham himself doubted whether he could work a plough. He reported that Wadham was frank and careful in his speech and that his hair was greying; he even pointed this out to Wadham and received a jocular reply, "Oh, that is hard work." Swinburne wrote such an exhaustive and favourable account of Wadham's personality that when McFarland visited Cambridge, a few minutes conversation was enough to convince him that Wadham was the man for the job. (Blainey, 1956). |
Some members of the University Council were not initially in favour of Wadham's appointment. It seemed to them that he was a laboratory person rather than one who could mix with the farming community. As Tulloh (1984) observed 'how wrong they were!'
Wadham did not conform to the Australian popular view of a professor. Blainey (1956) notes an example from one country newspaper which introduced Wadham through the headline:
'Bad example from Melbourne University'. ... 'he does not look like a professor, nor does he behave like one ... He is slangy and flippant, and surely no professor should be either slangy or flippant'.
Wadham adapted to this criticism easily, having been exposed to it from his first weeks in Australia when he was maligned in a political journal for being from England and rebuked in an agricultural journal for his apparent jokes about an insect plague. Whether he modified his style or not, he became a dearly loved person within and outside the University.
Despite Wadham's stature within the University as a young professor and his wide popularity amongst the agricultural fraternity of Victoria, he resigned in 1931. His initial appointment to the Chair was for five years and at the time that this term was due to expire he had approached the University Council for a tenured appointment. The Council refused this request on the grounds that the source of funds for the position was uncertain, being in the hands of the government to renew the Agricultural Education Act which was due for renewal and modification in 1939. Wadham was dissatisfied with the insecurity of the five year tenure and with the University Council which had refused to provide him with the privileges offered to other professors. Blainey (1956) records that Wadham went directly to the post office and telephoned Cambridge. Upon receiving an offer of an attractive position, he wrote a terse note of resignation to take effect at the end of that year, 1931. Spontaneous protests inundated the university from Victorian agricultural organisations indicating how Wadham had won the hearts of the rural community. These letters strongly criticised the lack of awareness of the University Council which in turn still required some months to resolve the issue, not budgeting sufficient funds for a life tenure for Wadham until his passage to England was booked. Wadham was able to secure his release from his commitment to the new appointment at Cambridge and stayed in Melbourne.
The Faculty of which Wadham assumed control had only 31 undergraduates and was soon to face difficult financial problems related to the depression. Wadham began the implementation of his philosophy through the introduction of economics in third year as a subject in the Bachelor of Agricultural Science course in 1929. He eliminated the final honours examination and introduced specialisation as the primary focus of Master degree education. Wadham resisted specialisation in the undergraduate course although reluctantly, in 1930, some specialisation was allowed in response to severe pressures; Faculty approved limited specialisation in minor subjects in the fourth year.
The philosophy espoused by Wadham had a major influence on the undergraduate courses at Melbourne and in other Australian institutions. His perception of the evolution of the course during his period as Dean is recorded from one of his many and famous radio talks on the ABC (Wadham, 1953).
'The one general trend which is common to all university courses is a tendency to increased specialisation. ... In the Agricultural Faculty we have firmly set our faces against anything of this sort. Our students come to us for four years, and for 30 years they have had to take practically the same course which, I admit, covers a multitude of subjects. I believe it is right to run the course on these lines because I think that one of the chief curses of the modern scientific world is over-specialisation. ... Let me make this quite clear: The broad outlines of this course were largely drawn up by two very wise men, Dr S. S. Cameron, ... and Dr A. E. V. Richardson in 1923. All I have done is to get the Faculty to put in some economics and to touch up odd points here and there. I am far too conservative by nature to have done anything that was really new.'
Modest or tongue in cheek, Wadham was downplaying his role in developing and protecting the course from outside forces. Wadham wanted students to have a general training in agriculture and science, but saw no point in science and the methods of agriculture being taught to students who remained ignorant of the wider economic context in which agriculture was practised (Blainey 1956).
Three full time members of staff were appointed by Wadham in 1931. Miss Janet Raff, as lecturer in entomology and Mr R. R. Blackwood (later to become Sir Robert Blackwood and Chancellor of Monash University), as lecturer in Agricultural Engineering set the initial scene for Wadham's faculty. Mr Geoffrey W. Leeper was appointed in 1934 as lecturer in Agricultural Chemistry and in the same year Mr Gilbert H. Vasey replaced Blackwood. Both Leeper and Vasey remained with the faculty until their retirement in 1968 and 1971, respectively. Together with Wadham, these two were seen as the key figures in the School of Agriculture for the next 30 years. In 1945, Wadham made his next appointment, Miss Yvonne Aitken as lecturer in agriculture. Aitken had been a Master of Agricultural Science candidate with Wadham and had worked as a Research Assistant after her graduation in 1936. She remains a researcher and familiar and respected figure in the corridors today.
Developments in the School of Agriculture in the 1930s reflected the general conservatism of the Country Party Government and its attitudes to the spreading of scientific methods of agriculture (Blainey, 1956). Immediately before the war, the government refused to provide funds for animal studies at the University while at the same time restricting the employment of agricultural graduates in the Public Service. After the war, facilities were over-extended when 150 students, half of whom were ex-servicemen, enrolled in the Bachelor of Agricultural Science course. An extension to the original building in the same red brick did not occur until 1956 and even then was only possible through the gift of £10,000 from Wadham's friend, Mr V. Y. Kimpton.
The late 1930s and the years of World War II called Wadham to provide services to the Commonwealth Government, requiring absences from the School of Agriculture for significant periods. During the years 1939, 1944 and 1945, Geoffrey Leeper acted as Dean of the Faculty. During this busy period, Wadham produced his influential book Land Utilisation in Australia jointly with G. L. Wood of the Faculty of Commerce, published by Melbourne University Press in 1939. Poynter and Rasmussen (1996) have noted the effect of World War II on the University with mathematicians shifting their focus to military matters and geologists to the problems of dust in war machinery. Agriculture played its own part through involvement in strategic mapping and associated techniques while biochemists worked on war related drugs and chemotherapy.
In 1943, it was decided that students in the Bachelor of Agricultural Science course should once again spend a practical year at Dookie rather than Werribee for 'staff and institutional' reasons. After the end of the war, the Faculty recommended that Dookie become the permanent practical site for second year students. The additional pressure of large numbers of returned servicemen entering the course, was also felt in terms of this practical residential period. For example in 1947, 71 enrolments in first year led to 45 proceeding to second year for which accommodation at Dookie was to be provided. However, as only 25 could be accommodated, the balance was sent to Longerenong College. Additional accommodation was created at Dookie in 1949 which led to University students no longer being assigned to Longerenong College.
Demand for graduates of Agricultural Science in the late 1940s increased above that of the previous decade. A new Agricultural Education Act introduced in 1949 provided funds to extend the main building, albeit belatedly, and to introduce research and teaching in animal studies. New senior lectureships were created in 1950 and filled by Dr T. J. Robinson in animal physiology and Dr F. J. R. Hird in Agricultural Biochemistry.
Students had generally accepted the course and services provided to them. However, in 1953, the Agricultural Students Society sent a memorandum to the Dean asking for modifications to the Bachelor of Agricultural Science course. The Society was dissatisfied with the course in physics, argued for an increase in statistics courses and a revision of methods of assessment. They also suggested a reduction in the overlaps between subjects and improved integration across the course. Tulloh (1984) observed that this was 'heady stuff in those days when students tended to be seen and not heard', although similar questions were being raised in the Sydney and Western Australian courses. The students' complaints were considered by Faculty which introduced changes in the curriculum and examination procedures. However a further 21 years were to pass before the role of students in advising Faculty was formalised in a 1974 regulation which made provision for an annual election to Faculty of two undergraduate and two post-graduate representatives.
First year enrolments were limited to 70 in 1956, a quota which was to remain in place until 1983 when it was reduced to 65. The reduction was made in order to create additional places for post-graduate students. Also in 1956, Dr Derek Tribe was appointed Reader in Animal Physiology to replace Robinson who had been appointed as the inaugural Professor of Animal Husbandry at the University of Sydney. However, unlike Robinson, who had always been located in Professor R. G. Wrights Department of Physiology, from the time of his arrival from the United Kingdom (January 1956), Tribe was based in the School of Agriculture. This represented a major change in Faculty policy and heralded the developments which were to take place during the Forster Era.
The era was undoubtedly Wadhams. Poynter and Rasmussen (1996) describe Wadham as a powerful and benign force in numerous rural and other matters. He had acted as Vice-Chancellor of the University during a difficult period in 1942 and nearing retirement received the rare distinction of an Honorary LLD while still in the University's employ. Blainey (1956) identifies Wadham's insistence that an important function of a University is 'to provide when called on, an unbiased opinion on matters of public interest, especially in the technical field'. He did this regularly through hundreds of speeches and broadcasts, written articles and other mechanisms (refer to box: Agricultural Outreach). According to Blainey (1956), these alone could have justified his position in the University even if he had not taught students. Blainey observed that:
'perhaps no other person in the history of the University had so enlarged the influence of his Chair and formed such close associations with the particular community he represented'.
Wadham had seen his efforts lead to the school's growth from less than 40 students in 1926 to around 180 by 1956. The previous argument that Victoria or Australia could not support more than a small number of agricultural graduates had been refuted by the high levels of employment in State Agricultural Departments, Universities, CSIRO, and agri-industry companies. During Wadham's 30 years at the University, more than 400 students graduated in agricultural science, most of whom absorbed some of the ideals of Wadham, the personification of the School of Agriculture.
Wadham was knighted in 1956 for his services to agriculture and retired early in 1957. His legacy was the imparting of a broad minded approach to agriculture and the designing of an agricultural science course which produced broad minded and employable graduates. His own breadth of perspective and personality combined to instil a similar attitude in most of his students and to create enquiring minds which could then be applied to seeking answers to questions of significance in agriculture. It is of interest today that these achievements by a great agricultural scientist in the University of Melbourne were achieved by one not intimately involved in technically oriented research. Wadham encouraged surveys on a regional basis covering industries, soils, land use, sociology, economics and related activities. Information from them was used as input into his academic work and into his contribution to the various government commissions on which he served. Such commissions included:
After retirement Sir Samuel was active through the Martin Committee on Tertiary Education in Australia (1961-64) and as Chairman of the Council of International House at the University. Tulloh (1984) observed that:
'the growth of goodwill towards the University at the time of his retirement among the public, especially the farming public, owed much to his influence and personal reputation.'
Agricultural OutreachBelieving that the University should inform the public on vital issues, Wadham has used the wireless to reach the rural dweller since the days of the Crystal set. Through his Sunday morning talks he has become one of the best known broadcasters in Australia. Informal, cheerful, forceful where necessary, and full of common sense, he has the happy gift of giving advice on rural problems in a manner which ostensibly suggests that advice is the last thing he wants to give. And he has a gift of spicing even the most technical subjects with humour; his description in a recent BBC broadcast of the costly steps taken to introduce Zebu cattle to New Guinea is a typical example of the humour which permeates his broadcast. "If these cows" he said in his concluding sentence, "If these cows only knew of the care and trouble exercised on their behalf they would be conceited". To Professor Wadham, agriculture is not just a technical problem; it is primarily a human problem. Hence his strong interest in the economic and social problems of rural life. In his visit to thousands of farms where he was interested, above all, in the people; in the kitchens, waiting for the kettle to boil, he spoke to the farmers' wives on subjects that interested them; in the paddocks he yarned to the farmers about themselves or their financial affairs, drawing them out by his own genuine interest. He differed from the academic scientists who were interested mainly in the pastures or the cattle or the mechanical methods of a farm. In his view these factors were important because they constituted the daily life of the farmer. His honesty, his wisdom, and his understanding of people - these are the qualities which have transcended his role as an expert and made him a force in the community. (Blainey, 1956) |
The Assistant Executive Officer of CSIRO, Howard Carlisle Forster, succeeded Wadham as Dean in 1957 and held the position until 1968. Carlisle Forster has been described as a somewhat dour, tough, firm, yet kindly man, an excellent organiser, very well connected, and prominent in the war effort. He had completed a PhD in the United States. He also owned farming land and was active in its management. Forster's period as Dean coincided with major changes in Australian Tertiary education. These occurred as a consequence of two apparently unrelated developments, neither of which were specifically to do with agriculture. The first was the decision of Australian universities to introduce PhD degrees and the second to encourage research. It had previously been the practice for Australian scholars to undertake doctoral studies overseas, usually in the United Kingdom or the United States. Universities also recruited many of their academic staff from these countries.
Regulations governing PhD courses in Australian universities were first introduced in 1949. However tradition, combined with the shortage of funds and facilities, greatly limited the growth of post-graduate training in Australia during the next ten years. Then, in December 1956, the Murray Committee was asked to advise the Commonwealth on university development. Among several far-reaching recommendations accepted by the Menzies' Government, were calls for increased funding for post-graduate studies. Shortly afterwards the CSIRO increased substantially the number of scholarships it awarded annually for PhD study in Australia. At the same time high commodity prices meant that industry funds for wool and wheat research, and the resources available for research from the Reserve Bank's Rural Credits Fund, were all increasing.
The combined effect of these various developments was that conditions were ideal for a decade or more of substantial expansion of research and post-graduate training in the School of Agriculture. During the Forster Era the University sanctioned new appointments to the academic staff: Norman Tulloh, the late Geoff Pearce, Rolf Beilharz and the late Tony Dunkin joined Derek Tribe in what started as Animal Husbandry and ended as Animal Production. Other appointments included: Jack Wilson, Gerald Halloran, Albert Pugsley and David Smith, who joined Yvonne Aitken in Plant Production; Alan Lloyd, joined later by Al Watson, started an Agricultural Economics Unit; and Don Williams, with the late Hartley Presser, the late Jack Potter and joined later by Stuart Hawkins, introduced post-graduate training in Agricultural Extension.
The Faculty of Agriculture soon established itself as one of the leading two or three centres in the University for PhD training and its graduates soon established themselves in leading positions in CSIRO, state agencies, and universities throughout Australia.
Continuing the Wadham tradition, the staff maintained close links with farming industries, and were frequently to be found speaking at farming field days, dinners or conferences. Because the Faculty lacked its own facilities for field research, staff and post-graduate students were dependent, for many years, upon the goodwill and cooperation of individual farmers and graziers, the Victorian Department of Agriculture, the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works and CSIRO, for the physical resources they needed to undertake their research. Experimental work was undertaken throughout Victoria, and extended into parts of New South Wales and Queensland.
Staff and students remember those busy and exciting years which resulted not only in higher degrees, research papers and books, but also in close and lasting friendships between students, between staff, and between students and staff. These years also witnessed the emergence of the Faculty's international influence. Several staff accepted invitations to act as consultants in agricultural education, research and development to various national and international agencies. These activities provided staff with experience of agriculture in many parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America. Thus, as the Faculty became better known internationally, a steady and increasing stream of overseas students started to head for Melbourne. At the time (1965-1975) some in the University regarded these developments with jaundiced eyes. Surely, they argued, staff were paid to work in Melbourne, and the arrival of overseas students could only 'lower academic standards'. Fortunately more enlightened views prevailed and the foundations were laid for the Faculty's continued growth as an internationally recognised centre for agricultural education and research.
In 1964 the practical residential component of the course was shifted from Dookie to Mount Derrimut. This began with the academic staff appointed through the 1930s identifying the need for a field station. In its absence, these staff depended on the goodwill of landowners and government authorities to carry out their research. Leeper's soil surveys were carried out on farms near Winchelsea and Berwick, while Tribe developed programs concerning prime lamb production with the support of the Mornington Peninsula Prime Lamb Producers Association. Tribe also demonstrated an innovative approach to joint activities with the State Department of Agriculture through the use of their State Research Farm at Werribee where he developed a 24 hectare research site. In 1964 that site became the University's veterinary clinical centre. Tulloh's early work on beef cattle was conducted at the Metropolitan Board of Works Farm at Werribee, even though they were to an extent restricted in design by commercial considerations and the limitations of working on a field station controlled by a separate entity (Tulloh, 1984).
In 1963 negotiations began with ICI Australia Limited for a site at Deer Park known as Mount Derrimut. Mr Wischart, then Chairman of ICI (and later a Chancellor of the University) played a key role in assisting the sale. The 250 hectare site 22 kilometres west of Melbourne was initially leased, although parts of the property were subsequently purchased with funds from the Brumley Bequest and other University sources. The residential year of the course from 1964 onwards was spent at Mount Derrimut, thereby breaking a long and productive association between the University and Dookie College while facilitating teaching inputs from University staff in this practical environment.
The University had been committed to trying to make the practical year work, and David Smith was appointed in 1958 to teach one large subject (called Agriculture 1) and manage the overall teaching of the year to higher standards. Dookie staff rose to the occasion, Melbourne staff continued their support and second year changed greatly. This meant that when the opportunity to move to Mount Derrrimut arose it was as a going concern. Essential features were substantial field projects, usually of an experimental nature, in groups of four students, fortnightly whole-day excursions to significant farms, research centres and industries, specialist lectures, and strengthened library resources. A research unit in pasture ecology was also established. A major effort, strongly supported with Melbourne staff, was an intensive learning week as a field excursion in October. At Mount Derrimut, David Smith was warden, farm director and senior lecturer in agriculture. Mount Derrimut House had been developed by ICI as a staff training facility by adding wings of bedrooms to the old homestead, which provided pleasant lounges and a dining room. Though sharing bedrooms, this was comfortable accommodation. Nearby staff quarters were modified to provide a self-contained unit for female students. A small overflow of students was accommodated in another training building some two kilometres away until additional rooms were added to Mount Derrimut House to allow for up to 60 students. Funds from the W. H. Lord bequest allowed a lecture theatre to be constructed and additional capital provided through the University and other sources led to other teaching facilities being provided. Mount Derrimut Farm was used by the School of Agriculture and related organisations until 1996.
The objectives of Mount Derrimut Field Station were listed as (Halloran, 1976):
History of Mount DerrimutIn 1850, Septimus and Richard Morton, Shorthorn cattle breeders from the English Lakes district, arrived in Australia to establish themselves as cattle breeders. They selected land near a small volcanic hill, then called Diarmid's Hill, a few kilometres off the Ballarat Road, and later named the property Mount Derrimut. With purchases from local studs and importations from the family stud in England, the Morton brothers built up an outstanding herd of Shorthorn cattle. Roan Somerton, one of the early Shorthorn imports, is the ancestor of up to 80 per cent of Australia's pure-bred Shorthorn cattle. Their first major sale of Derrimut cattle was held in 1867. It was the first large auction of pedigree cattle of world standard to be held in Australia. At the final dispersal sale in 1875, when Richard Morton was about to return to England, his cattle brought prices between $1,000 and $2,000 each. The property was brought by James Howatson, who built the present homestead, laid out the garden and planted the trees on the north eastern slopes of the hill. It remained a pastoral property until sold by the trustees of the Howatson Estate to Beresford Cole in 1944. In 1950, ICI Australia Limited brought the property and enlarged and remodelled the homestead for use as a centre for staff training and company conferences. They also established the Shorthorn stud in 1954 but discontinued it in 1960. In 1963 ICI Australia Limited leased the property and buildings to the University of Melbourne for use by the School of Agriculture. In 1970 the University purchased 24 hectare of the property on which the main teaching and research buildings are situated. (Halloran, 1976) |
Teaching facilities included a laboratory for plant production and soils, and an animal production teaching and demonstration centre, the W. H. Lord Lecture Theatre and a demonstration laboratory in the H. V. Mackay Agricultural Engineering Centre. Research was supported through the units of Animal Production Research Centre, the Brumley Plant Sciences Research Centre, the Agricultural Engineering Section and the Meteorological Centre. The farm was well equipped with implements and machinery for cereal growing and pasture production with facilities for sheep, poultry, beef and dairy cattle. Farm buildings included a shearing shed, sheep yards, poultry units, a small dairy, grain storage facilities, a hayshed and machinery sheds. The field facility for both student practical education and staff research was a boon to the school in this period of its growth. It overcame the problems of working on properties owned by others where compromises, particularly in the research field, were often called for. It allowed a greater educational input to practical assignments for students than had the Dookie residential period because of the proximity of Mount Derrimut to Parkville. Minor problems such as those mentioned by Tulloh (1984) included attacks by marauding dogs on the field station flock despite the high wire fences of the farm, and grass fires which rushed across the basalt plains threatening the pastures and facilities of Mount Derrimut.
Research and post-graduate training expanded with a further extension to the main building in Parkville in 1962, the acquisition of Mount Derrimut and the expansion of academic staff. Capital development funds became available through industry research organisations together with operating funds for a wide range of research programs. Developments at both Parkville and Mount Derrimut led to an important profile developing for the school particularly in the plant and animal sciences. The Pig Research and Training Centre at Mount Derrimut, led by the late Tony Dunkin, was developed through a public appeal for funding launched by the Premier, Sir Henry Bolte. Sir Robert Menzies opened the centre in 1969 as Chancellor of the University of Melbourne.
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| The Premier of Victoria, the Hon. Sir Henry Bolte, MLA, opens an appeal for funds to establish a Pig Research and Training Centre at the Mt Derrimut Field Station by presenting a cheque to the Chancellor of the University of Melbourne, the Right Hon. Sir Robert Menzies, 19 May 1967. |
During 1966, a post-graduate Diploma in Agricultural Extension was introduced, initially funded by a grant from the Victorian Wheat Industry Research Committee. It was developed by Dr D. B. Williams who was appointed on a secondment from CSIRO and as a visiting professor, and by Jack Potter, formerly an agricultural extension specialist with the NSW Department of Agriculture. The course was subsequently led by Dr H. S. Hawkins and provided a leading service in the field of agricultural extension in Australia for more than a decade.
The year 1968 was an important one for the University and agriculture within it. The Education Act passed by the Victorian Government in 1920 and subsequently amended and renewed at approximately 10 year intervals, expired. The Act was theoretically no longer necessary as University funds came directly from the Federal Government, but it had been of major significance in the establishment and development of the School through the provision of capital for buildings and equipment, and funds for key staff and research activities. It had also provided the School with an element of financial independence within the University.
The same year also saw the retirements of Dean Carl Forster and Geoffrey Leeper. Gilbert Vasey retired in 1971, thus ending associations in the School with people who personally knew the leading figures of the Faculty from its formation.
During his period as Dean, Forster had maintained diverse interests and connections with the farming community. He was in high demand, in common with his predecessor Wadham, by government for major investigations. He was Chairman of the Committee to Appoint and Advise the Commonwealth Government on Prospects for Agriculture in the Northern Territory in 1960. On his retirement, he became the first Academic Director (1970-77) of the Australian Asian Universities Cooperation Scheme and travelled widely, becoming a trusted adviser to many senior academics and administrators in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.
Geoffrey Leeper, who had begun as a Research Fellow in the school in 1929 working on manganese deficiency in soils with Wadham, had progressed to conduct major soil surveys classifying soils according to their properties rather than according to their history, the method used by his contemporaries. A man of high intellect and integrity he continues to be remembered through the Australian Soil Science Society Leeper Memorial Lecture which is held annually.
Wadham and Forster had been selected as leaders to assume the position of Dean in the School. While their appointments were annual, renewal appears to have been a formality. After the retirement of Forster, Derek Tribe became Dean, and in 1969, proposed that regulations change to allow a Dean to be appointed for a period of up to three years, and for the position of Dean to be held by any permanent staff member of the rank of senior lecturer or above. Tribe was then appointed for three years (1970-72) and subsequently the only Dean to hold the position for more than three years was Adrian Egan (1991-94) until the termination of the old Faculty in 1995.
Dr Lionel Stubbs was appointed to the Chair of plant production and was Dean for a period after Forster in 1969. He was a plant pathologist from the Victorian Department of Agriculture at the Plant Research Institute in Burnley (Parbery and Greber, 1996). Mr Alan Lloyd, an agricultural economist who had been a staff member since 1958, accepted a Chair in Agricultural Economics which replaced Leeper's Chair in Agricultural Chemistry. The structure of the School changed from the three departments relating to soils, plants and animals to one based on a single department with five sections; agricultural economics, agricultural extension, animal production, plant sciences, and soil sciences. These sections were led by Professor Alan Lloyd, Dr Stuart Hawkins, Professor Derek Tribe, Professor Lionel Stubbs and Dr Lyle Douglas, respectively.
Tulloh (1984) lists Deans after Forster and until 1984 as: Professor D. E. Tribe, Professor L. L. Stubbs, Professor N. M. Tulloh , Mr J. H. Chinner, Dr D. G. Parbery, and Dr R. G. Beilharz. During the Deanship of Stubbs, the Department of Forestry, which had been part of the Faculty of Science since 1948, was transferred to the School of Agriculture to form a new Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry. The Head of the Forestry Department since its formation, Mr John Chinner, was Dean of the combined faculty from 1979 to 1980. The history of Forestry at the University of Melbourne is discussed in more detail in Chapter 7.
The 1970s saw the development of a new north wing adjoining the Old Agriculture building at Parkville. This included three floors and an underground carpark with the ground floor containing three undergraduate teaching laboratories and associated facilities. Such teaching facilities were oriented primarily to fourth year students. Tulloh (1984) commented that it had taken over 50 years to provide these essential resources. Offices and research laboratories on the first and second floors supported academic staff and post-graduate students in the fields of animal production, plant sciences and soil sciences. With the completion of the new wing in 1975, it was possible to accommodate Forestry in the old agriculture building.
A plant sciences research laboratory and an animal nutrition laboratory were built at Mount Derrimut with support from the Brumley Bequest. Undergraduate teaching facilities were extended with University funding support to improve the facilities and the environment at Mount Derrimut, especially in terms of internal roads, drainage, water supply, fire protection, plantations and landscaping.
The undergraduate course was reviewed during Tribe's Deanship. The outcome of the review confirmed the long term focus on producing generalists but introduced an increased ability for final year students to specialise by selecting four subjects from a suite of 11. In addition, a new subject, Resource Use and Conservation, was introduced as a compulsory subject for fourth year students. A feature of the elective subjects was the inclusion of one as a project based on experimentation.
Around this time, investigations concerning agricultural engineering led to the conclusion that while there was a general need for such a course, the University of Melbourne would not be the primary provider (Poynter and Rasmussen, 1976). Fortunately, the cycles that affect education and research led to retention of expertise in the Faculty of Engineering. The expertise developed through agricultural engineering courses over decades was also well represented at Longerenong, Burnley and Dookie Colleges. With the formation of the new Faculty of Agriculture, Forestry and Horticulture, agricultural engineering was once more recognised as a supporting activity, if not a primary focus.
The growth in post-graduate training and research experienced up to the early seventies, tapered off in the late seventies. Australian students saw post-graduate stipends as inadequate and the slow growing economy prompted them to take professional employment at the first, opportunity rather than chance a better job as postgraduates. Tulloh (1984) presents comparisons of Australian and overseas post-graduate students in the Faculty in 1972 and 1983 which indicates a significant rise in overseas students as a proportion of the total, rising from six in a total of 58 in 1972, to 31 in a total of 70 in 1983.
Students from developing countries had been a long term focus of the School of Agriculture. A few students entered the undergraduate courses but it was with the development of post-graduate research facilities and activities during the 1960s that the School became increasingly involved with international post-graduate students. Most students came from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines while some came from elsewhere in Asia, or from Africa, the Indian subcontinent and Central and South America. Student numbers grew substantially after the formation of the Australian-Asian Universities Cooperation Scheme (the pre-cursor of the Australian Universities International Development Program, now known as IDP Limited) which began in 1969. That program led to most academic staff in the school being involved with the development of research activities and/or teaching in South-East Asian universities and with the higher degree training of academic staff from institutions in these countries. It is of interest to note that the School of Agriculture provided the first three academic directors of AAUCS - Carl Forster was the first, succeeded by Norman Tulloh as a part time appointment. When a full time appointment based in Canberra was needed, Derek Tribe was appointed.
This association with particular needs of students from South-East Asian nations at the early phases of their economic development, produced a challenge in designing of learning environments and courses which met the diverse needs of students from different backgrounds. The existing research-based Masters and PhD programs were predicated by students having uniform backgrounds and an understanding of Australian agriculture. The challenge was met by staff at the School of Agriculture developing a new degree, the Master of Agricultural Studies which consisted of 50 per cent course work, 40 per cent research and 10 per cent field study. The course, which was limited to animal production topics in the first instance, was underwritten by the Australian aid program through the Australian Development Assistance Bureau (now AusAID) with the first intake of students arriving in 1981. It was a useful course and increased the profile of the University and, in particular, the School of Agriculture throughout South-East Asia. The program accepted between five and seven students per year for the two-year program and developed into programs attracting some 28 fee-paying post-graduate students.
The success of the Master of Agricultural Studies specialising in animal production, led to the development of a scheme for the same qualification in agricultural extension. In this case, the course was oriented to Australian students and replaced the previous post-graduate Diploma in Agricultural Extension which was phased out at the end of 1982. Students, who were commonly sponsored by their employers, usually the State Departments of Agriculture, completed the course in 12 to 15 months.
Another early international activity involving the School of Agriculture was the South-East Asian Fibrous Agricultural Residues Research Network. The Network was developed by the Animal Production Section during 1980 with initial support from the Australian aid program and subsequently by IDP. Linkages between 10 selected scientists in Universities and Institutes in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines aimed to improve the utilisation of agricultural crop residues as feed for ruminants. The School of Agriculture coordinated the program which by 1990 had developed to the stage that an information network was the only continuing need. These programs prospered and grew and were linked to ACIAR projects during the mid 1980s and early 1990s.
No historical comment on the School of Agriculture would be complete without a statement on the Strathfieldsaye Estate, bequeathed in 1976 by Dr H. C. Disher to the University of Melbourne. The bequest included a requirement that an institute for teaching and research in agriculture and allied sciences should be developed. The historic homestead situated on the north eastern shore of Lake Wellington was associated with a property of 1,845 hectares which at that time carried 7,000 sheep and 100 Hereford cattle. After a period of accumulating some debt, partly related to improvement of the productive asset base and declining wool prices, new management strategies were devised. These were based on management inputs from the faculties of Agriculture and Veterinary Science and have demonstrated the residual property's viability under appropriate conditions of management. Intensive research programs at Strathfieldsaye were not developed to a significant extent, due to its distance from Melbourne, although those not requiring intensive activity were carried out by staff and students from several University departments including Agriculture, Forestry, Botany, Electrical Engineering, Environmental Planning, History and Zoology. One example was Dr Richard Simpson's soil research at Strathfieldsaye which provided a basis for teaching and extension to local farms.
Tribe began his new appointment as the Director of the Australian-Asian Cooperative Program in April 1980. Stubbs retired at the end of 1981. Both had established research facilities and post-graduate training activities which had contributed substantially to the strength of the animal production and plant sciences sections of the School of Agriculture. The Chairs vacated by Tribe and Stubbs were replaced, after some time, by the appointment of Professor Adrian Egan from the Waite Agricultural Research Institute in January 1983 and by Professor David Connor from the School of Agriculture at La Trobe University also in 1983.
In 1984, a review of the Bachelor of Agricultural Science and the Bachelor of Forest Science Degree courses was undertaken. In the case of the Bachelor of Agricultural Science, course objectives were reviewed in the light of changing opportunities for the employment of graduates from the course. Graduates were primarily equipped for positions in research, extension, teaching, and administration within the Victorian State Government Departments and in particular the Department of Agriculture. In 1984 the objective of the course was stated in the Faculty Handbook as being, the training of graduates with 'a broad understanding of environmental and biological science with special reference to agriculture and the economic use of resources consistent with accepted principles of conservation'. Such an objective confirms the long-standing focus on the production of generalists from the course. It was based on the continued assumption that specialist training is best obtained through in-service activities or post-graduate studies.
Discussions over the balance between pure and applied sciences within the course, the ability to teach all of the material felt to be required within the limited time available, and the functions of basic chemistry, physics and geology were debated again as they had been in the past and were to be in the future. The roles of biochemistry, economics, extension and engineering were confirmed although over time these shifted in emphasis. The weighting between plant, animal, soils and social science subjects was also a matter of debate through the early 1980s with outcomes apparently related at least partially to negotiations between sections within the school. Such a debate did not occur during the very early days of the School of Agriculture as it had no staff of its own; it became relevant with the appointment of full-time academics within the school and in particular during the Forster era and with Forestry joining the School.
The debate on course content also focused on the amount of practical experience which could be included in the course and its relative benefits. It seemed to have been agreed that graduates could not attain a full suite of farming skills in which they were highly competent and would rather gain more from work experience in rural environments to appreciate the application of science to agriculture. The objective was to sensitise student perspectives to the viewpoints of farmers. At this stage, practical experience was predominantly focused on the farm production sector with little reference to agribusiness, processing and marketing of food and agricultural commodities, although the concept of 'industry attachment' was developed from 1990.
Tulloh (1984) argued that it is inappropriate for universities to offer practical farmwork experience during an undergraduate course. The cost of delivering such a service is expensive, although it appears to be assumed that such costs would be borne by the University rather than any collaboration with industry. Second year residential requirements, complemented by 12 weeks of approved vacation work during the course, provided a basis for instilling the appreciation and practical experience thought necessary for the course. However, the residential year was to be dropped by the school in 1984 for reasons academic, social and financial.
The course review concluded that:
These changes were implemented primarily by reducing the input of basic science and through the development of special programs in agricultural experimentation, for second year students at Mount Derrimut, on a non-residential basis. It also represented the beginning of a shift back towards the applied science aspects of agriculture and a recognition of Wadham's focus on the human side of agriculture.
Research was not a focus of staff in the School of Agriculture before the 1950s, any more than it was in other parts of the University of Melbourne or other universities at that time. Its progressive development, arising from the curiosity of staff and the increased focus on research-based universities as institutions of the highest learning, led to the development of research activities in the School of Agriculture. By 1983, research grants totalled approximately $1.5 million associated with the 27 lecturing staff, 5 Research Fellows, 8 Tutors and 70 post-graduate students plus technical staff. Cooperative research activities between the School of Agriculture and other organisations, including the State Government and CSIRO, continued to be a feature for major research initiatives. Such research teams were necessary to tackle the integration problems common to agriculture and have produced several major outcomes. By 1994, annual research grants had grown to some $4 million.
Tulloh (1984) notes that the impact of the School on the community has been significant. He states that:
'graduates from the Melbourne Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry are spread widely throughout the community, featuring in science, education, agricultural extension, business, private practice, journalism, farming, politics and the bureaucracy. A significant proportion is involved with international agencies and working in developing countries. Although the statistics of the school tell of the achievements of our graduates only partially, at least they measure a level of activity of the School throughout its history. The numbers of degrees and post-graduate diplomas awarded reflect the numbers and types of professional people trained by the school. An indication of the scientific activity in the school by the academic staff and their post-graduate students is shown by the number of publications. Many of these have appeared in journals with an international circulation and in this context the influence of the School is acknowledged across the world. Within Australia, the results of the work of the School have been translated into farming practice through the extension services and have thus made a significant impact on farmers.
Most staff members contribute to the news media, through radio, television and the press and directly at the meetings of the learned societies and in the rural community at field days, conferences and lunches. Over the years academic staff has served (and still serve) the community on State and Commonwealth Committees and Commissions and as University representatives on national research committees. Being neither public servants nor business people, they have academic freedom to make independent comments about issues of importance to society. Of course such comments are not always well received because they may challenge conventional wisdom - but it is one of the responsibilities of the University to discover and extend new knowledge.'
Tulloh was writing in 1984. If he was writing today, he may well offer a similar comment and extend the range of involvement of graduates and staff to areas relating to international development, agribusiness, food processing industries, banking, insurance and international and domestic marketing.
In 1986, the position of Dean of the single department Faculty passed from Dr Rolf Beilharz to Professor (of Forestry) Ian Ferguson. In 1990, Professor Egan assumed the Deanship for the traditional three years and was requested to extend by one year to the end of 1993. By this time, a number of the changes were being planned for the Faculty by the University administration and Professor Robert White took up the position of Acting Dean in 1994 with two newly created departments- the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Forestry. He continued in this role until 3 April 1995 when a new Faculty was formed (refer to Chapter 12).
The mid 1980s saw changes in the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, particularly the curriculum of the agricultural science course. The fixed course, with the modifications to allow some controlled selection of electives in fourth year and with the second year spent at Mount Derrimut, continued during the major review of the course conducted in 1984. The subsequent restructure of the curriculum led to major changes, especially in fourth year with an increased number of electives, and the use of computer programs throughout the course, introduced a specific subject Computers in Agriculture. The old curriculum and indeed the Faculty had been seen by some as being backward in comparison to that of the competing La Trobe course in terms of computing skills of staff and students. From that position, the Faculty became a university leader with consequent spin-offs in improved teaching and the development of computer-aided learning packages.
At the same time, the review of the viability of Mount Derrimut as a student learning and accommodation centre, highlighted drawbacks of the Mount Derrimut location in the new curriculum. By 1987, no second year students were resident at Mount Derrimut and the agricultural science course was again reviewed. The site was seen as being inadequate for research and teaching in terms of soil types and the limited range of agricultural enterprises representative of south-eastern Australia. The withdrawal also led to some savings convenient in a tightening fiscal climate and hence no real consideration was given to a return, under newly defined arrangements, to Dookie or Longerenong. The new course consequently included excursions as major components in lieu of residential periods.
A proposal to link with La Trobe University and VCAH, drawing on the Scottish system as a model, was somewhat overtaken by initiatives of the then Federal Minister for Education, Employment and Training (refer to Chapter 12). Around the same time, in 1990, the McColl Review of Agriculture and Related Education called for submissions and produced their first draft in 1991. That draft proposed that the University of Melbourne be the recognised provider in Victoria for agriculture and related education. However, such recognition failed to survive the final editing and was modified to a more general recommendation that a State review take place which allowed one recognised provider to emerge.
Wider University interest in the Faculty and the agricultural science course in particular, introduced tensions between the Faculty and the University administration from 1992. A review commissioned by the Vice-Chancellor led to Professor Dennis Greenland of the United Kingdom, reporting on the Faculty and agricultural and related education in Victoria, albeit from a University of Melbourne perspective. One of Greenland's recommendations led to the separation of the Faculty into two Departments, a Department of Agriculture and a Department of Forestry, headed by Professors White and Ferguson respectively.
The period of discussion between the Faculty and the University administration was described by many staff as 'a period of uncertainty and a time of waiting' in which Faculty-wide activities could not occur. A 1993 recommendation to the University's Academic Board proposed a combined Science and Agricultural Science course, with cessation of intake into the first year of Agricultural Science and a second year entrance level from Science. This proposal was not adopted.
Throughout the decade, a steady increase in research activity was evident. The establishment in 1993 of the Joint Centre for Crop Improvement (an initiative of Egan followed by Connor), as a linkage between the State Department of Agriculture, the then separate Longerenong College, and the Faculty, widened the pool of expertise, provided an industry focus and contributed to a focus within the Faculty for disciplines which supported the cropping industries. The establishment of a joint centre with La Trobe University assisted the introduction of post-graduate soil science courses, while another centre, the Centre for Farm Planning and Land Management (Ferguson) promoted rural-based land management activities and to an extent involved the colleges of VCAH in research activities. In more recent times, joint activities and investment with the State Department led to the establishment of the Food Animal Research Centre at Werribee (Egan) through a major ($1.5 million) infrastructure investment, and to enhanced joint operations in support of the pig industry. This paralleled the work of Rolf Beilharz in genetics, with applications as diverse as racehorses, sniffer dogs, seeing-eye dogs and cattle. Simulation models for cropping (Connor) and the registering of patents from plant breeding programs (Halloran) were outputs during this period. Two large Meat Research Corporation grants, one of which was a core grant for fundamental, physiological research over five years and others of which modelled grazing livestock, especially sheep, provided an ongoing focus for animal production staff of the faculty. Through the decade, the rise in graduate student enrolments and grants attracted to the Faculty contributed to the development of the research culture of the Faculty. Internationally, 1984 to 1990 was a period of major involvement through the first of the large Australian Centre for International Agriculture Research (ACIAR) projects for the utilisation of crop residues.
Mention should also be made of the Meat Research Council's Temperature Pastures Sustainability Key Program which was coordinated from the University of Melbourne. This program led to the nation-wide Sustainable Grazing Systems Key Program, as well as the first of the ARC Large Grants to come to the Faculty, and participation in the multi-million dollar Phosphorus for Dairy Farms program with Agriculture Victoria, the Dairy Research and Development Corporation, Pivot Fertilisers and La Trobe University (White, Douglas and Chalk).
The decade, and the tradition it imbued through to today, also saw the production of several significant texts; Van den Ban and Hawkins, Agricultural Extension (in seven languages), Barr and Cary Greening a Brown Land: The Australian Search for Sustainable Land Use, Loomis and Connor Crop Ecology: Productivity and Management in Agricultural Systems, Malcolm and Makeham The Farming Game, Malcolm, Sale and Egan Agriculture in Australia, Connor and Smith Agriculture in Victoria, White Introduction to the Principles and Practise of Soil Science, and Falvey Food Environment Education: Agricultural Education in Natural Resource Management.
The late 1980s to early 1990s was a period of high staff turnover associated with retirements, One to retire early was Dr Michael Dalling who subsequently established the genetic engineering company, Calgene Pacific Pty Ltd. This provided an opportunity for the Faculty to reorient itself through strategic new appointments. Young staff in various fields were appointed and the field of soil science, seen to have been under-represented for many years, was supported by the appointment in 1992 of a Professorial Fellow, Robert White (subsequently Foundation Professor of Soil Science from 1995). White introduced the postgraduate soils courses with Victorian Education Foundation support and coordinated the soil research and teaching activities of the Faculty to become a significant component in natural resource management aspects. In addition to retirements, some key younger staff moved to greener pastures, perhaps indicating that the rate of change in the Faculty was not as fast as some wished.
Activity in the social sciences increased. Rural sociology expanded from one to two subjects and scientific communication was added as a client-oriented approach to social sciences supporting agriculture. International trade economics was developed through the appointment of Dr Donald McLaren. In the late 1980s John Cary led an extended research program concerned with understanding landholders' responses to regional and local land degradation problems, including irrigated and dryland soil salinisation, and problems of soil structure and soil acidification. Alan Lloyd conducted an extensive agricultural policy review for the Victorian Government in 1986 and Bill Malcolm expanded his farm management courses and research through the period.
Agriculture at Melbourne through this 90-year period, developed from an unfunded but clear aim in 1905 through periods of great vision, tenacity, strategic management and, at times, uncertainty. The Agricultural Science course continued throughout and students in Victoria and far beyond said, as they continue to say with pride, that they did Ag Science at Melbourne. The course has changed significantly over the years and will continue to change. With affiliation and now complete integration with the applied science activities of the colleges of VCAH, the science orientation of the old Faculty will blend with the practical orientation of the colleges - a circumstance reminiscent of the recurring themes of Wadham's own insights in the 1930s. Perhaps the single most important indication of the wide understanding of agriculture within the University of Melbourne was the change in the Faculty Department of Agriculture's title to be the Department of Agriculture and Resource Management. The recognition of this linkage and the implication that food and fibre production should be conceived as a component of natural resource management is consistent with the themes reiterated through the past nine decades.
The 'old' Faculty of Agriculture, which by then had become the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry (refer to Chapter 7), ceased to exist with the creation of its successor, the Faculty of Agriculture, Forestry and Horticulture, on 3rd April 1995. The two Departments of the "old" Faculty created in 1995 became components of this new Faculty with the higher education activities of the VCAH colleges; the story of which forms Chapter 12.
