The HoFeO3 single crystal was successfully grown by the floating zone technique using a four-mirror-image-furnace under flowing air. Magnetic properties of HoFeO3 single crystal were studied over a wide temperature range. Magnetic measurements under different magnetic fields found that the spin reorientation transition in the crystal is well described by the earlier proposed theory with no fitting parameters. Specific heat of HoFeO3 single crystal was measured from 2 to 300 K under zero magnetic field. Schottky anomaly appeared between 2 and 5 K due to the Ho3+ spin ordering, and the anomaly of specific heat due to Fe3+ spin reorientation between 50 and 58 K was observed. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.