This collection contains project files, publications, photographs, and other material regarding the career of Dr. Frederick F. Halma, professor of subtropical horticulture at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and research scientist at the Citrus Experiment Station in Riverside, California. Includes lecture notes, examinations, photographs and other material from Halma's Horticulture 102 class as well as handwritten field notes and publications regarding his citrus/avocado research. The bulk of Halma's research focused on citrus rootstock experiments and avocado rootstock trials. Additionally this collection contains press clippings and other material regarding the Riverside Parent Navel Orange Tree.

Frederick F. Halma was born on January 31, 1887 in Vienna, Austria. He immigrated to the United States to attend college and earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Florida. In 1918, he relocated to Southern California and began working at the Citrus Experiment Station in Riverside, California as an assistant plant physiologist. In the early 1920s he moved to Berkeley, California to further his education and earned a doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley. Early in his career, Dr. Halma co-authored several leading publications on the chemical identification of citrus rootstock with Dr. Albert Haas. In 1935, he transferred to UCLA and became a professor of subtropical horticulture there in 1946. One of Halma's most significant contributions to the citrus industry was the discovery of the relationship between sour orange rootstocks and the citrus quick decline disease. He was also well known for the network of partnerships he formed with Southern California citrus growers to create specific plots for citrus experiments and trials. These plots became an integral part of his research and the partnerships he established with growers would continue until his retirement from UCLA in 1954. After he retired Halma moved to San Diego, California, but continued his avocado research at the Citrus Experiment Station. Frederick F. Halma died in San Diego, California in 1963.

1.75 linear feet (3 document boxes and 1 lantern slide box)

Copyright has not been assigned to the University of California, Riverside Libraries, Special Collections & Archives. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections & Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Regents of the University of California as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.