Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station (OAES)

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About

Name

• Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station (OAES)

Agriculture

• Support Activities for Agriculture and Forestry

Professional and Technical

• Management / Scientific and Technical Consulting Services

Facts

Founded

• Date unknown
  ^Wooster,Ohio

Related

Key Persons

Key Persons

• W. E. Krauss, Director
• 1887-1921), Director
• 1937-1948), Director
• 1948-1960), Director
• 1960- ), Director
• 1921-1937), Director

Location

• Wooster, 44691, Ohio, United States

On April 17, 1882, Governor Charles Foster signed a bill that established the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station "for the benefit of the interests of practical and scientific agriculture, and for the development of the vast agricultural resources of the State". During its first years, the Station had meager funding and staff with access to only 17 acres in Columbus, so by 1890 Director Thorne started pushing for a new location for the Station.

In 1892, the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station (OAES) moved from the Ohio State University campus at Columbus, to Wooster, in Wayne County, Ohio. The 1892 move was done by wagon train and followed the present Route 3 from Columbus to Wooster. The station took possession of 470 acres of farmland just south of the town of Wooster. The bulk of the land was composed of the two "Rice Farms" established by Barnhart Rice and Simon Rice in 1822. Both of the original farm houses are still on campus and are historical landmarks. Wayne County's proposal to fund the purchase of the station via tax bonds totaling $85,000 was declared unfair by the Ohio Supreme Court and the debt was assumed by the state, but the station stayed in Wayne County anyway. Over the next three decades, Director Charles E. Thorne supervised the growth of the station both physically and scientifically: one of farm land reclamation, fertilizers, horses and steam power. The sandstone building complex on central campus was constructed, with the Administration Building being dedicated in 1897.

During the First World War, the Station promoted farming efforts. In April 1917, Director Thorne prepared a poster encouraging Ohio farmers to support the war effort with growing wheat according to Station research methods:

Three million acres should be sown to wheat in Ohio during next September, and on three-fourths of this area acid phosphate or steamed bonemeal should be used at the rate of not less than 300 pounds of the former or 200 pounds of the latter per acre. ... Ohio farmers grew nearly 19 bushels of wheat per acre on a little less than two million acres in 1915. With equally favorable seasonal conditions and a more liberal use of phosphorus and manure they can grow MORE THAN SIXTY MILLION BUSHELS OF WHEAT IN 1918, and in doing so they will have performed a no less patriotic service than if they had abandoned the plow and shouldered the rifle.

Others at the Station contributed to the war efforts on the home front. Edmund Secrest, Station Forester, surveyed the amount of wood fuel available to replace the coal needed for war purposes as well as coordinated efforts to harvest ash, oak, walnut, and black locust for gun stocks, aeroplane parts, shovel handles, and other war tools. Mabel Corbould, specialist in baking at the Station, helped promote food conservation in the county and developed palatable recipes using reduced quantities of wheat, sugar, and fats to support wartime conservation.

The Station grew in size and reputation over the years, adding programs, buildings, and resources such as the Forest Arboretum (established 1908, renamed Secrest Arboretum in 1950). Director Thorne instituted the Station's Field Days program in 1917 to show farmers the facility's research results firsthand. By the Station's 50th anniversary in 1932, the Station encompassed 3400 acres, one-third of which were at Wooster with the balance located at 15 district and county farms. The Station's Department of Forestry also administered 58,000 acres of state forests and parks, a responsibility relinquished to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources when it was established in 1949. The 1950s and 1960s saw an even greater expansion of the Station, with additional departments established, buildings repaired or constructed, and a budget running into the millions of dollars. In 1965, the Station was renamed the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center "to better reflect the institution's expanding role".

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Timeline

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Quick Facts

• 1882 - Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station established by law
• 1887 - Charles E. Thorne named first full-time director
• 1892 - Experiment Station moved from Columbus to Wooster, Ohio
• 1897 - Administration Building dedicated
• 1904 - A. B. Graham hired as first director of Agricultural Extension
• 1908 - Wooster Arboretum established
• 1921 - Director Thorne retires; C. G. Williams hired as director
• 1926 - Departments of Agricultural Engineering and Home Economics established
• 1930 - Wooster Directory, C. G. Williams, Director, p. 168
• 1937 - Director Williams retires; Edmund Secrest hired as director
• 1948 - Leo L. Rummell named both dean of the College of Agriculture at OSU and director of the Experiment Station, returning control of the Station back to Columbus
• 1960 - Dr. Roy M. Kottman becomes fifth full-time director of the Experiment Station
• 1965 - Name changed to Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC)

Gallery

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  1894 Dairy Barn

Newspaper articles

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  Fitness of Limestone a Factor in Success .

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  Would Double Crop of Wheat .

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  500 Visit Station .

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  Station Closed Down .

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  The Director Still on Job at Station Today .

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  E. C. Witham, "How Radioactive Is Area? Wooster Station Finds Out," Daily Record, 6 November 1961, p.7.

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  E. C. Witham, "How Radioactive Is Area? Wooster Station Finds Out," Daily Record, 6 November 1961, p.7.

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