Agriculture has always been part of the Washington State University's (previously the State College of Washington) curriculum; in the earliest days, all of its disciplines were taught in one department (the Department of Agriculture). By 1918 these agricultural disciplines including farm crops, soils, etc., had expanded enough to warrant the formation of separate departments. The Department of Farm Crops and Soils were consolidated into a Department Of Agronomy in February 1928. This name was changed in November 1969 to the Department of Agronomy and Soils and then to the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences in 1991.
Four individual volumes, recording observations of Washington State College (later Washington State University) wheat trials. They generally contain data on wheat types, including names, source, planting date, head type, date headed, plant type, lodging, smut heads, test weight, grain weight, and yield.
The 1910, 1948, and 1955 volumes contain little more than wheat recordings, while the 1934-1939 volume additionally contains notes on multiple work-related subjects by the volume creator, E.F. Gaines. The 1955 book was created by Orville Vogel, and the authorship of the other two is unclear.
Based on two post-it notes (since removed) dated Sept. 2007 and containing brief correspondence between a Bob and a Kim, these items were likely gathered as possible display items for the then new Vogel Building at WSU. One of the notes explains that other volumes had existed in the seed house, but “those books are gone.”
The four volumes are maintained as they came to MASC, with the exception of a few loose papers from the 1934-1939 volume having been moved, for preservation purposes, to an individual folder placed at the back of the collection.
This collection is open and available for research use.
Copyright restrictions may apply.
[Item description]
State College of Washington Crop and Soil Sciences Wheat Trial Records, 1910-1955 (Archives 404)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.
The four volumes were found in the office of the chair of WSU Crop and Soil Sciences in spring of 2022 while packing up that office for a cross-campus move. On April 25th, 2022, Karen Chase of that department donated this collection to the Washington State University Libraries’ Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, where they were retained as UA 2022-04.
University Archivist Mark O’English processed this collection in August, 2022.
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.