JOHN MILTON WEBBER



BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARIES
  • From Newsletter of Cotton and Cordage Fibers Research Branch, Volume 13, No. 7; August 1960.  [Crops Research Division, Agricultural Research Service, USDA]
WEBBER RETIRES.
Effective July 31, Dr. John Milton Webber elected voluntary retirement after almost 30 years of service with this Branch. Dr. Webber received his undergraduate and graduate training at the University of California.

For many years he was located at River­side, California, where, with the late Dr. Thomas Kearney, he made outstanding contributions on the cytology of the cultivated and wild species of cotton. Mrs. Webber also was a trained botanist. Under an appointment as collaborator, she participated in his cytological and other research work.

During World War II, Milton became inter­ested in studying the Yuccas of the South­west. He became one of the leading au­thorities on our native species and his studies resulted in a USDA monograph on Yuccas. In 1951, he was transferred to Berkeley, California, to conduct ecolog­ical. and agronomic studies on phormium as a potential fiber crop that might be produced in the United States. His work with phormium involved breeding for fiber quality and yield, methods of prop­agation, growth requirements and other cultural studies.

Upon his retirement, he accepted appoint­ment as Senior Botanist at the University of California Botanic Garden. at Berkeley.


  • Adapted from Application for Federal Employment and World Who's Who in Science
NAME:  John Milton Webber

STYLE IN WHICH PRINCIPAL FIELD IS TO BE LISTED:  Botanist

PLACE OF BIRTH:  Lincoln, Nebraska.  DATE OF BIRTH:  Sept. 18, 1897.

FATHER'S NAME:  Herbert John Webber.  MOTHER'S NAME:  Lucene Hardin

EDUCATION: 
Riverside High School
Michigan State, East Lansing, Sept. 1918-June 1919.
B.S. in Science from University of California, 1925 (Aug. 1922-Dec. 1925).
M.S. and Ph.D. from University of California (Jan. 1925-June 1930).

MARRIED:  Irma Eleanor Schmidt.  DATE OF MARRIAGE:  May 13, 1927.

BRIEF CAREER SUMMARY: 
Plant Breeder, Coker Pedigreed Seed Co. Hartsville, S.C., 1920-22. [cotton breeding, plant selection, testing and increase work].

Teaching Fellow, University of California Department of Botany, Berkeley, Calif., June 1926-July 1929. [Dr. J.H. Goodspeed].

Research Assistant, University of California Department of Botany, Berkeley, Calif., Aug. 1929-June 1931. [Dr. J.H. Goodspeed. cultivation of Nicotiana and research on cytogenetics of Nicotiana].

Associate Cytologist then Research Agronomist, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Riverside, Calif. June 1931-51 and Berkeley, Calif. 1951-60.

Senior Nurseryman, University of California Botanical Garden, Berkeley, Calif., 1960-65.



PUBLICATIONS OF JOHN MILTON WEBBER
1929. A smear method for the study of chromosomes in microsporogenesis. U.C. Pub. Bot. 14:345-352.

1930. Interspecific hybridization in Nicotiana. The cytology of a sesquidiploid hybrid between tabacum and sylvestrie. Programme of the final public examination for the degree of doctor of Philosophy of John Milton Webber.

1930. Interspecific hybridization in Nicotiana. XI. The cytology of a sesquidiploid hybrid between tabacum and sylvestris. U.C. Pub. Bot. 11:319-354.

1930. Chromosome number and morphology in Nicotiana. V. The character of tetraploid areas in chromosomal chimeras of N.sylvestris, Speg.& Comes. U.C.Pub. Bot. 11:355-366.

1932. Chromosome morphology and meiotic behavior in typical and variant forms of Kniphofia aloides. Amer. Jour. Bot. XIX:411-422.

1934. Chromosome number and meiotic behavior in Gossypium. Jour. Agr. Res. 491:223-237.

1934. Cytological features of Nicotiana glutinosa haplonts. Jour. Agr. Res. 47:845-867.

1934. Cytogenetic note on cotton and cotton relatives. Sci. 80:268-269.

1935. Interspecific hybridization in Gossypium and the meiotic behavior of F1 Plants. Jour. Agr. Res. 51:1047-1070.

1935. Cytogenetic note on Sphaeralcea and Malvaetrum. Sci. 81:639-640.

1936. Chromosomes in Sphaeralcea and related genera. Cytologia, Japan, 7: 313-323.

1936. Cytogenetic notes on cotton and cotton relatives.II. Sci. 84:378.

1938. Cytology of twin cotton plants. Jour. Agr. Res. 57:155-160.

1939. Relationships in the genus Gossypium as indicated by cytological data. Jour. Agr. Res. 58:237-261.

1940. Polyembryony. Bot. Review 6:575-598.

1945. The Navajo Yucca. A new species from New Mexico. Madroño VIII:105-110.

1948. (With B.B.Robinson) Yucca. Mim. U.S.D.A. Cotton and Cordage Branch. 16.5P Dec. 1948.

1953. Yuccas of the Southwest. Agr. Monograph number 17. (97pages).

1951 (With Irma E. Webber and Falba Johnson)  Phormium.  Section in Technical Report number 2. The Cordage Fibers. U.S.D.A. Cotton & Cordage Branch. March 3, 1959.

1957. Phormium tenax. Encyclopedia Americana.

1960. Hybridization and Instability of Yucca. Madroño 15:187-192.

1962. Fiber Qualities and culture of Phormium in California. U.S.D.A. Production Research Report No. 57. (20 pages).
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