Research in the Department of Agriculture

Research in the Department of Agriculture is directed mainly toward problems of regional or national significance. Many of the same problems are dealt with by the State experiment stations as they relate to local conditions. The Department takes major responsibility for regional coordination among States, for certain basic research that no one State can undertake, and for international cooperation. National plant and animal breeding programs with wheat, potatoes, oats, corn, alfalfa, pasture crops, and clover, with dairy cattle, beef cattle, swine, poultry, and sheep, and with other crops and animals, are examples. The national soil survey program, in cooperation with all the States, is another. Farm-management research requires both local and regional study.

In some programs national research groups must take the principal responsibility. The extensive research in agricultural and industrial chemistry, carried on mainly in four large regional laboratories at Philadelphia, Peoria, New Orleans, and Albany, Calif., requires large staffs of specialists. A few State stations do some of this work also, and their representatives assist the Department in developing the program, but most of the work is carried on by federally employed scientists. Similarly, most of the research in forestry is conducted at Federal experiment stations. Responsibility for management of the national forests has led the Department to undertake extensive research in this field. Those State stations that have a research program in forestry cooperate with the Department on problems of mutual interest, especially farm forestry.

Economic research of national scope must be organized by the Department. Many problems of supply, price, consumption, and trade relations, requiring the interpretation of national as well as local statistics, can only be dealt with nationally. As another sort of example, research on food preservation during shipment may be cited. It may be difficult for a local station to carry on effective research to discover the best ways to ship vegetables from California or Florida to New York City.

These are only examples. The kinds of work are illustrated in detail through the separate articles in this book. Mere listing of the research projects of the Department would fill many pages.

Location of Research

Some research can be done as well in one place as another. The initial laboratory research for improved methods of fertilizer manufacture can be done anywhere that adequate laboratory and library facilities are available. The same is true of fundamental work in genetics, nutrition, soil chemistry, and many other fields. Economic studies based upon national statistics are made mainly in Washington; farm management research must be carried on in the field.

Other problems must be studied in certain places or regions. Many soil researches can only be conducted on the soil types themselves in the field, wherever they are. Most of the work with specific plants and animals can only be done in regions where they grow to best advantage. On the other hand, it is often best to grow seedlings in greenhouses outside the region of their use, to avoid disease, and to experiment with plant diseases and insects in special laboratories and greenhouses far from the commercial areas of production.

Decentralization of research throughout the country has both advantages and handicaps. The scientist likes to be as close to his problem as possible. But he also needs equipment and libraries. He needs to consult other scientists, both in his own field and in other fields. These needs must be balanced against each other. Too much decentralization can be as bad as ton much centralization.

The Agricultural Research Center

The Department has developed at Beltsville, Md., a great research institution. At this Agricultural Research Center those basic phases of physical and biological research that can be done in one place as well as another, together with those that are appropriate within the climatic and other limitations of that place as a biological environment, are carried on. It is one of the finest research establishments in the world.

Fundamental breeding work is carried on in the Center, and the young plants and animals sent out to field stations for trial. During the war, for example, disease-free cinchona seedlings were grown there for planting throughout the tropical parts of the hemisphere. Facilities exist for studying both plant and animal nutrition, as well as diseases and insect pests, under well-controlled conditions.

Since most of the research groups of the Department have their headquarters at the Center, or nearby, the planning of large-scale undertakings is participated in by experienced scientists of all fields. Some of the most distinguished scientists in the world have conducted their investigations as members of the research staff. Including administrative and other necessary personnel, approximately 2,000 persons work there. The Center keeps about 3,000 experimental farm animals and 10,000 mature laying and breeding fowls. Some 5,500 rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, and mice are available for laboratory tests.

Thirty-six buildings, each constructed and equipped to meet special research needs, provide office and laboratory space. There are 31 greenhouses for plant experiments, an apiary for bees, and numerous barns and storage buildings. The land around the buildings, about 13,000 acres of it, is divided into experimental pastures, ranges, orchards, gardens, fields for cultivated crops, timber stands, and soil-treatment plots.

Impressive as this lay-out may appear, its real significance lies in its relation to the other research stations throughout the country. The visitor sees only a part—even though a vital part—of the picture at Beltsville. The investigations in the State experiment stations and the many regional laboratories and field stations are also vitally important to the whole.