Plant breeder.
Born at Manhattan, Kansas on 2 December 1870, he was educated at the University of Kansas, later holding the position of Head of the Botany Department at the Kansas State Agricultural College. A plant breeder, he developed the Kanred variety of wheat that, according to his later colleague Reginald Buller, “has now for several years outyielded all the wheats of the hard winter wheat district, is practically rust-proof, extraordinary in winter hardiness and in its milling and baking qualities.” He also developed strains of alfalfa and fodder corn. In 1919, after the death of wife, leaving him with three sons, he left Kansas to join the academic staff of the University of Manitoba where he continued his genetics and plant breeding work and lectured in botany. In 1929, he published the book Hybridization Before Mendel. He was a member of the Natural History Society of Winnipeg. He died suddenly at his Fort Garry home, 906 Riverwood Avenue, on 14 January 1937 and was buried at Manhattan, Kansas.
Death registration [Herbert Fuller Roberts], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“Prof H. F. Robert[s] dies; originated noted U.S. wheat,” Manitoba Free Press, 15 January 1937, page 5.
“Originate of famed "Kanred' wheat is dead,” Winnipeg Tribune, 15 January 1937, page 4.
“Prof. Roberts dies suddenly Thursday night,” The Manitoban, 19 January 1937, page 1.
Obituary, Winnipeg Tribune, 18 January 1937, page 19.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 27 May 2023
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