Chapter 4 



World War II and Beyond 

 (1941-1957) 



World War II necessitated major ad- 

 justments in research projects and 

 personnel assignments in the Experi- 

 ment Station and in agricultural pro- 

 duction in the state. One pressing need 

 countrywide was increased food pro- 

 duction despite declining supplies of 

 labor, feed, fertilizer and equipment. 

 Research projects were suspended, 

 terminated, revised or new ones de- 

 veloped to provide information di- 

 rectly related to the war effort. A few 

 examples: ways were sought to im- 

 prove pasture land, provide more 

 roughage and increase milk produc- 

 tion; a search was on for suitable sub- 

 stitutes for animal protein for animal 

 feeds; methods of preserving foods to 

 retain nutritive value, especially vita- 

 mins, were examined. Other research 

 suggested ways of rerouting trucks 

 gathering milk from farms or in retail- 

 ing milk, to save on vehicles, gas, 

 rubber, and labor. In the Station, main- 

 taining staff and replacing and adding 

 to equipment for laboratories and ex- 

 perimental farms was a major prob- 

 lem. 



When the conflict ended, spin-off 

 from the gigantic war effort became 

 evident. Electric calculators became 

 available for more efficient processing 

 of data. The colorimeter, fluorometer 

 and spectrophotometer, utilizing the 

 photoelectric cell, made possible more 

 rapid and sensitive chemical determi- 

 nations in the laboratory. Radioactive 

 materials and the Geiger-counter pro- 

 vided new horizons for investigations 

 in plant and animal physiology. The 

 University made use of electronic 



computing equipment at the Massa- 

 chusetts Institute of Technology in 

 1957 and in 1962 UNH acquired its 

 first IBM No. 1620 computer. 



R. Eggert conducting a radiation 

 experiment 



R. F. Chandler was named Dean of 

 the College of Agriculture and Direc- 

 tor of the Agricultural Experiment 

 Station in 1947. Chandler had earned 

 his B.S. degree at the University of 

 Maine and Ph.D. at the University of 

 Maryland. In 1950, at the age of 43, he 

 was elected President of the Univer- 

 sity. He resigned in 1954 to accept a 

 position in the foreign agriculture 

 program of the Rockefeller Founda- 

 tion where he administered the Inter- 

 national Rice Institute program in the 

 Philippines. 



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