Agricultural Research in New Hampshire 



THIS REPORT covers eighteen months of time from January 1941 

 to June 1942. The longer time provides for a transition from the 

 calendar year to a fiscal year as a more desirable unit of time to be in- 

 cluded in annual reports of the Agricultural Experiment Station. This 

 is not merely a change of convenience but one of economy in time and 

 effort, avoiding considerable duplication in minor or departmental reports 

 for other purposes and making these narrative annual reports conclusive 

 with financial reports, both state and federal, which have to be submitted 

 every year as of June 30. 



FOOD FOR FREEDOM 



With the advent of war the farmer becomes at once the most indis- 

 pensable and the most harassed of war workers. Even as these lines are 

 being written and Hitler is staging by far the most terrible battle the 

 world has ever experienced, throwing in reserves of manpower he can 

 ill afford to sacrifice to win the Caucasus, he is doubtless haunted by the 

 growing dread of a hunger which oil cannot appease. The scorched earth 

 policy of his enemies and the shortage of dependable workers to carry on 

 with the good earth in cooperation with nature may yet destroy the 

 morale of his supersoldiers and his misguided countrymen. He may yet 

 learn that Nature favors those who do not fight! 



American farmers not yet recovered from the maladjustments follow- 

 ing the last war are suddenly urged to right-about-face and produce more. 

 A few years ago science and the American farmer's efficiency were being 

 blamed by many for mounting surpluses and failure to adjust production 

 to consumption. Now, as the result of army medical examinations, we 

 are aware of the results of much inadequate nutrition; at the same time, 

 the sudden need for producing, preserving, and transporting the health- 

 giving products of the soil for our Allies as well as for our own forces 

 in foreign countries becomes apparent. Fortunate, indeed, are we that 

 agricultural research and agricultural education were not unduly stifled 

 or curtailed in the 30's as advocated by. some. Research governing plant 

 and animal production, freezing, drying, and other newer phases of food 

 preservation, insect and disease control, fertilizer economy, vitamin needs 

 and sources— all the results and techniques of investigation are sorely 

 needed today and must be intensified in anticipation of an even greater 

 need tomorrow. 



THE ROLE OF THE EXPERIMENT STATION 



State agricultural experiment stations are sensitive to these needs. 

 Starting with international wars and rumors of wars and definitely ac- 

 celerating with the impetus of the Pearl Harbor episode and its resultant 

 United States declaration, our own experiment station plans have been 



