Chapter 2 



J. C. Kendall, Director, and World War I 

 (1910-1919) 



John C. Kendall, an alumnus of the 

 class of 1902, was appointed Director 

 of the Station in 1910. At the outset, he 

 directed that each department would 

 undertake one main line of research 

 related to a leading area of agriculture 

 and give it all or a major part of its 

 attention. This would narrow the re- 

 search effort, increase depth, improve 

 quality, build citizen confidence and 

 allow the Station to become an author- 

 ity in certain areas. He strongly em- 

 phasized the need for research in for- 

 estry, swine, dairy and poultry and, as 

 a culmination of persistent urging, the 

 New Hampshire legislature in 1921 

 voted its first appropriation for agri- 

 cultural research — $12,000 for the 

 biennium. 



Although Kendall favored dem- 

 onstrations to carry the work of the 

 College and Station directly to farm- 

 ers, he believed that some of the early 

 Station scientists spent a dispropor- 

 tionate amount of time on extension- 

 type activities. Therefore, he vigor- 

 ously advocated establishment of an 

 extension program and submitted a 

 request to the legislature for money to 

 initiate extension work. The request 

 was funded and the Board of Trustees 

 appointed him Director of Extension 

 in 1911 in addition to his duties as 

 Director of the Station. C. W. Stone 

 then became Vice Director of the Sta- 

 tion. Years later, in 1939, Kendall be- 

 came Director of the Extension Ser- 

 vice which spanned all departments 

 within the university, and relinquished 

 directorship of the Station to M. G. 

 Eastman. 



By 1911 there were eight depart- 

 ments, their names and heads were: 

 Agronomy, F. W. Taylor; Animal Hus- 

 bandry, T. R. Ackell; Botany, C. Brooks; 

 Chemistry, B. E. Curry; Dairy, F. 

 Rasmussen; Entomology, W. C. 

 O'Kane, Jr.; Forestry, J. H. Foster; and 

 Horticulture, B. S. Pickett. W. H. Pew, 

 head of Animal Husbandry until 1909, 

 resigned to go to Iowa State College as 

 Assistant Professor of Animal Hus- 

 bandry. W. L. Slate, Jr., Assistant 

 Agronomist, left in 1911 to accept a 

 similar position at the University of 

 Maine. Slate later was to become Di- 

 rector of the New Haven (Connecticut) 

 Agricultural Experiment Station. In 

 1912, several other resignations oc- 

 curred: President Gibbs entered busi- 

 ness; Brooks moved to the Bureau of 

 Plant Industry, U.S.D. A., Washington, 

 D.C.; Pickett accepted a position in 

 Pomology at the University of Illinois, 

 and Ackell went with the Division of 

 Sheep Husbandry, Livestock Branch, 

 Dominion Department of Agriculture, 

 Ottawa, Canada. Director Kendall in 

 his report of 1912 (Station BulletinNo. 

 163) commented that the Station per- 

 sonnel had left for higher salaries and 

 larger opportunities, not because of 

 dissatisfaction at New Hampshire. 



Agronomy evaluated corn variet- 

 ies and their crosses for maturing qual- 

 ity and yield, and tested the effects of 

 various chemicals and lime on grass- 

 land, alfalfa and pasture. A timothy 

 selection program was initiated, the 

 objective being to provide improved 

 seed for New Hampshire farmers. ' 



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