He studied science under Francis Jones and received a Brackenbury Scholarship at Balliol College, Oxford, joining in 1881.

In 1891 he joined the University Extension Board and he sought to establish an agriculture college for which he selected Wye and through E.J.

Halsey, the chairman of the County Council, space and resources were allocated for the establishment of the Wye College.

The founding staff included Herbert Henry Cousins, chemist, John Percival, botanist, Frank Braybrooke Smith, agriculturist, and F.V.

In 1919 he became a director of the John Innes Horticultural Institution and was also a part-time advisor for the Ministry of Agriculture.