In 1926 scientists working mainly for western agricultural experiment stations organized an association for the purpose of studying oil spray insecticides. The group's objective was to discover new and better ways of protecting fruit crops from disease and insects without exposing humans to hazardous chemicals such as lead-arsenic compounds, DDT and Parathion. Initially, government and business expressed only a cursory interest in the oil spray project. As the quality of the research teams' work became apparent, interest in organizing a public/private cooperative intensified.
In 1935, agricultural experiment station scientists from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana, representatives from the agro-chemical industry, and officials from the American and Canadian agriculture departments formed the Western Cooperative Spray Project. The organization's objectives included: the rapid advancement of knowledge concerning the control of fruit insects and fruit diseases; the promotion of consistent test results from region-to-region through the use of a successful standardized system of experimentation; the broadening of knowledge among those engaged in the fruit industry through annual reports of findings, and the establishment of mutual confidence.
As a part of its research work, each cooperating unit included a spray project, provided it with sufficient operational funds, and assigned a chemist, an entomologist, and a plant physiologist or plant pathologist to the project. The cooperative decided on which materials, methods, insects, and plant diseases should be utilized and studied. At the beginning of each year, the project members gathered for a conference at which papers were read, findings were discussed, and proposals for future research made.
The project's members conducted many experiments on a variety of crop-damaging insects and diseases. The project also explored the effects of some insecticides and fungicides on humans.
By 1946, the project's scope was expanded. New member states were added, as were additional representatives from government and business. Research topics became more complex, and the papers presented at the conferences won wide acclaim. The Western Cooperative Spray Conference continued to operate through the early 1950s.
The Western Cooperative Spray Project records are arranged in two series: Administrative Records, 1921-1952; and Western Cooperative Spray Project Conferences, 1926-1952. The first series Administrative Records, 1921-1952, contains correspondence, meeting minutes, technical articles, reports, membership and mailing lists, and a variety of information on topics and problems regarding spraying such as: the dangers connected with lead residue as a preservative, and the hazards of utilizing arsenic by-products as a pesticide. Arranged alphabetically in a single subject series, it includes materials from 1921 through 1952, but bulks largest from the mid-1930s through the early 1950s.
The second series, Western Cooperative Spray Project Conference, 1926-1952, is an alphabetical subject file composed of the papers written for and presented to conferences by the members of the cooperative. It also contains conference membership lists, minutes, and correspondence relating to the anual conference. This series covers the period from 1926 through 1952, but bulks largest from the early 1940s through the early 1950s.
This collection is open for research use.
[Item Description]. Cage 493, Western Cooperative Spray Project. Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.
The records of the Western Cooperative Spray Project were donated to the Washington State University Libraries in March 1979 (UA 79-11) by the WSU Department of Entomology.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.