De Salis family with William Farrer at Lambrigg Homestead, about 1896
In 1886, William Farrer bought Lambrigg Station close to Cuppacumalong (near what is now Canberra). There he began crossbreeding different wheats. These were some of the first plant hybridisation experiments in the world. Farrer produced Federation wheat, the first specifically Australian variety that was both rust- and drought-resistant.
Source
National Library of Australia, obj-138000275
Details
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Type:
![A "COMMONWEALTH IMMIGRATION OFFICE PHOTO" postcard featuring a sepia coloured image of a rural scene of an eight horse drawn stripper and one man. A caption for the image, in the lower left hand corner, reads: "STRIPPING AN AVERAGE AUSTRALIAN WHEAT CROP. THE TOTAL VALUE OF THE AUSTRALIAN WHEAT CROP LAST YEAR WAS 62,169,360 [POUNDS]. AUSTRALIA IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS EXPORTED 1,895,630 TONS OF FLOUR'.](/sites/default/files/2023-08/1900s_BI_1903_FederationWheat-1200w.jpg?v=1)
