Imperial College of a program it had been enthusiastic about acquiring. Hop research Mycologist and accomplished tennis player, Ernest Stanley Salmon established a systematic hop breeding programme at the college in 1906. It was the world's first, and a model for those that followed. The importance of his work was rapidly understood so whilst the college's other hop gardens were grubbed out in 1917 to grow potatoes and support the war effort, Salmon's trial plots were spared. Seeking fungal resistance he crossed European plants with seeds grown on from a wild Manitoban hop cutting, and thence bred varieties including Brewer's Gold (1934), Bullion (1938), and Northern Brewer (1944). It was estimated in 2005 that over half of all hops grown commercially worldwide were descended from Salmon's original seedlings. Ray Neve succeeded Salmon in 1953 producing varieties such as Wye Northdown (1971), Wye Challenger (1971), and Wye Target (1972). In 1981, Peter Darby took over the programme focussing on dwarf hops such as First Gold (1995); aphid resistance (Boadicea, 2004), and flavour. At that time, the college's breeding program was producing 30,000 plants a year to evaluate. The unit merged into a newly formed Horticulture Research Institute in 1985; through subsequent consolidation became part of Horticulture Research International in 1990, and spun off with East Malling Research Station to form East Malling Research in 2004. As Imperial College sought to close their Wye campus in 2007, hop research activities transferred to Wye Hops Ltd, a subsidiary of the British Hop Association, based at China Farm, Upper Harbledown. , Wye Hops' national hop variety collection has been relocated to Shepherd Neame's Queen's Court at Faversham. Cyclamen Persicum In the 1960s, Allan Jackson's breeding program at Wye crossed large flowered cyclamen with wild forms, producing smaller houseplants with scented, elongated flowers and attractively marked foliage. These became known commercially as the "Wye College Hybrids" and , continue to be produced. The hybrid varieties include Wye Downland (white), Admiral (orchid-mauve), Peacock (pinky / red) and Fritillary (dark-red and jewel colours). Those named after butterflies are fragrant and breed true to the colour of their namesakes. Biological pest control explored biological methods of pest control and facilitated their widespread adoption. Mike Copeland's entomology team harnessed Australian ladybirds, and parasitic wasps to suppress mealy bug and soft scale insect pests. He launched Wye Bugs at the 1991 Chelsea Flower Show to make insect controls available to