- Herbert John Webber
Herbert John Webber (
December 27 ,1865 –January 18 ,1946 ) was an American plant physiologist who was born inLawton, Michigan and grew up on a farm inMarshalltown, Iowa , originally wanting to be a lawyer. In 1889 he graduated from theUniversity of Nebraska . For theUnited States Department of Agriculture he investigated orange diseases inFlorida (189397) and from 1889 to 1907 had charge of the department's plantbreeding investigations. He served asprofessor of experimental plant biology at Cornell (190708), where subsequently he was acting director (190910 and professor of plant breeding (191012) in theNew York State Department of Agriculture . In 1912 he went to theUniversity of California to be director of theCitrus Experiment Station , dean of theGraduate School of Tropical Agriculture , and professor ofplant breeding . With Swingle he originatedcitrange s, a hardy citrous fruit, by hybridization. He retired from active service in 1936.Herbert J. Webber coined the word “clone” in 1903 and was the first to use it to describe a colony of organisms derived asexually from a single progenitor. Webber’s contribution to “a more exact expression to our thoughts” found quick acceptance among scientists.
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