Chapter 3 



Prosperity, and Depression 

 (1920-1940) 



This was to be a period of great change 

 for agricuhure in New Hampshire and 

 for the Experiment Station. In the early 

 1920s, farms were showing profit, but 

 over a 1 0-year period numbers of farms 

 had decHned by 24 percent. Funding 

 of agricuhural research was in transi- 

 tion also. The state legislature had 

 made its first appropriation for Station 

 research. In 1924 the Station staff con- 

 sisted of 32 persons, three of them 

 having Ph.D.s. In 1925 the federal gov- 

 ernment established the U.S.D.A. For- 

 est Service and the Northeast Forest 

 Experiment Station, abranch of which 

 is called the Forestry Sciences Labora- 

 tory now located on campus. A year 

 later the Purnell Act provided addi- 



tional funding for research, especially 

 for marketing. By 1931, tractors were 

 replacing draft horses, electricity was 

 becoming a reality for the farm and 

 home, and pasteurized milk was on its 

 way. However, tumbling prices for 

 agricultural products, shrunken buy- 

 ing power of consumers and credit 

 difficulties made 1933 a difficult year 

 for the agricultural sector. The 

 Bankhead-Jones Act (1936) recognized 

 the need for regional research. By the 

 end of the era, the Station annual bud- 

 get was $150,000, the staff totaled 75 

 including 11 Ph.D.s, one D.Sc. and 

 three D.V.M.s. There were 2,000 stu- 

 dents on campus. 



T. G. Phillips, Agricultural and Biological Chemistry 



13 



