The rulers of Mysore kingdom (The Wodeyars) felt the need to establish research units in the field of agriculture and donated about 30 acres (120,000 m2) of land to set up an Experimental Agricultural Station at Hebbal, and appointed German chemist Lehmann to initiate research on soil crop response with Laboratory in the Directorate of Agriculture around 1900. Later in 1906, Leslie Coleman, a Canadian Entomologist and Mycologist succeeded Lehmann and served for 25 years. What began on a 30-acre (120,000 m2) land in 1899 was soon extended to about 1,300 acres (5.3 km2). The increasing reputation of this experimental station as a training center led to the foundation of the Mysore Agricultural College at Hebbal in 1946 affiliated to the Mysore University. This was soon followed by the Agricultural College at Dharwad in 1947 which was then affiliated to Karnataka