ABSTRACT
In the United States, scientific research in agriculture has been tied to the federal government and land-grant college system since 1862, when the federal government established agricultural (and mechanical) colleges in every state for the purpose of educating citizens, and particularly immigrants, in the ways of the mechanical and farming arts. When it was discovered by 1887 that few educated persons — ‘experts’ — possessed any systematic and reliable knowledge about agriculture, the Hatch Act was passed by Congress to fund the creation and dissemination of agricultural knowledge. In 1906 the Adams Act provided more funding for original scientific research, and in 1914 the legislation establishing the Extension Service was passed, which guaranteed that the results of college-based agricultural research would be carried out into the farming community. In the early years, virtually all agricultural research was conducted under the auspices of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and/or the state agricultural experiment stations. Much of what passed for scientific research was in fact the collection of raw material and data. In each state, scientists tried to determine the natural boundaries of agricultural practice, from soil types and climatic patterns to reliable crops and livestock for regional needs. At the USDA, scientists collected and compared these reports, attempting to chart national trends. Local knowledge formed the backbone of all later research programs.
