USDA Small Fruit Improvement Programs Records

Donald H. Scott (b. 1911) received a B.S. in Agriculture from North Dakota Agricultural College and became an assistant horticulturist there from 1936 to 1937. His first position with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) was as a junior geneticist for the Bureau of Plant Industry's Fruit and Vegetable Crops and Diseases in Beltsville, Maryland, in 1937. From 1937 to 1941, he worked on breeding investigations of stone fruit, mainly peaches, and production problems and supervision of those operations at the U.S. Horticultural Station. In 1942, he moved from Beltsville to headquarters in Cheyenne, Wyoming. As an associate geneticist, he assisted in planning and conducting an extensive program of breeding work with tomatoes, squashes, strawberries, and other fruits and vegetables. By 1946, Scott relocated to Beltsville and served as geneticist, where he planned and conducted extensive investigations on the breeding and production of small fruit crops, particularly grapes, strawberries, and blueberries. Scott continued working for USDA as a horticulturist and research horticulturist until he retired in 1975.

George M. Darrow (1889-1983), who was known as one of the foremost American authorities on strawberries, worked for the USDA for 46 years (1911- 1957) as a pomologist and small fruits breeder.

Dr. Gene J. Galletta was a research geneticist and leader of the Small Fruit Improvement and Disease Biology Project of the USDA Fruit Laboratory at the Beltsville (Maryland) Agricultural Research Center upon his retirement in 1997. He contributed 22 years of his career with the federal government, including 18 years as the North Carolina State Cooperator with the Small Fruit Improvement Program led by Donald H. Scott. The program introduced over 50 new strawberry, blueberry, blackberry, and raspberry cultivars.