Abstract
A SUBSTANTIAL part of Dr. Karl T. Compton's Pilgrim Trust Lecture, “Organization of American Scientists for the War”, appeared in NATURE of May 29, p. 601. The Information Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture has pointed out that some of Dr. Compton's remarks about that Department require modification. The Department's initial work was in the field of scientific research, the introduction of valuable plant species, entomology, botany, chemistry, meteorology, and so on. Its first bureau, the Bureau of Animal Industry, was created by an Act of Congress of May 29, 1884, and still carries out research in animal diseases, breeding, feeding, and management of domestic animals, and related subjects. On March 2, 1887, an Act was passed which authorized the establishment, under the direction of the land-grant colleges, of stations in each State to conduct agricultural experimentation. The Office of Experiment Stations was established in the Department of Agriculture, in 1888, to act as a staff agency to administer Federal grants involved in this and subsequent supplementary legislation, and to coordinate researches.
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U.S. Department of Agriculture. Nature 152, 380–381 (1943). https://doi.org/10.1038/152380c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/152380c0