USDA history

Content Description The USDA National Agricultural Library History Collection includes correspondence, reports, regulations, agreements, budget hearings, clippings, articles, newsletters, manuals, and photographs on library-related activities. Of particular note are the records from 1907 to 1940, when Claribel R. Barnett was not only head librarian for the USDA library, but she was also active in library-related organizations. The archival material includes papers relating to past directors of the library, such...

Content Description The USDA National Agricultural Library Photograph Collection contains approximately 16,000 photographs of activities and events that took place at the National Agricultural Library (NAL) in Beltsville, Maryland. The photographs are housed in 116 albums, and include prints, negatives, and contact sheets. Photographs were primarily taken by NAL photographer Joseph Swab, as well as other photographers, including Dan Starr, who photographed from 1989 to 1993. Subjects include the NAL building...

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The USDA National Commission on Small Farms Records include administrative files; transcripts (paper, tape, and disk) of public hearings; letters from farmers; executive correspondence; memoranda; drafts and a final copy of "Report of the USDA National Commission on Small Farms: A Time to Act"; letterhead and design for final report; email requests for copies of the NCSF report; computer disks containing small farm documents; NCSF committee reports; and miscellaneous resource documents.

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The USDA Office for Small-Scale Agriculture Records consist of letters, memoranda, correspondence, reports, newspapers, newsletters, and publications.

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The USDA Official Standards of the United States for Grades of Wool contains wool samples that document the 12 wool grade standards established by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for the 1920s, and the 13 standards for the 1940s. The standards are based on the fineness or diameter of the wool fiber. Samples show the maximum diameter or fineness of fiber for each of the grades. The collection includes wool standards for 1926, 1928, 1940, and 1966.

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The USDA Pear Psylla Control Investigations Lantern Slide Collection contains color lantern slides produced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine, Fruit Insect Investigations, Pear Psylla Control. There are 13 slides of pears infected with pear psylla, 3 slides of maps, and a slide showing a chart of spraying operations in counties of Washington, Idaho, and Oregon in 1941.

Content Description The USDA Pink Bollworm Project Photograph Collection documents the work of the Plant Quarantine and Control Administration on bollworm detection, prevention, and quarantine measures. The materials consist primarily of black-and-white and color photographs of plant and insect specimens, scientific activities, facilities, and personnel. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s (APHIS) Civil Rights (CR) and Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) offices donated this collection to the...

Content Description The USDA Plant Introduction Station Records consist of correspondence, notes, reports, plant inventories, photographs, lists, books, and drawings from files compiled by the Bureau of Plant Industry's plant introduction garden in Miami, Florida. The bulk of the files contain primarily notes, correspondence, clippings, and pamphlets on the subject of mangoes. There is also original and copy correspondence between David G. Fairchild and personnel at the Miami station. Other records include...

Content Description The USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection contains approximately 7,000 watercolor paintings of fruit and nut specimens received by the U.S. Department of Agriculture from growers and plant explorers. The paintings were created by artists employed by the USDA Division of Pomology from 1888 to the 1930s. Credit information was written by the artist on each watercolor, and typically includes the name of the property owner, county, city, and state or country where the specimen was grown. Many...

Content Description The USDA Potato Research Collection consists primarily of photographs used for research studies, which document labs, fields, experiments, types of potatoes, equipment, personnel, and staff portraits. Various locations are represented, including: Potomac Flats in Washington, D.C.; Honeoye Falls, New York; the Colorado Potato Experiment Station; and locations in Idaho, Oregon, California, Minnesota, Michigan, South Dakota, and Texas. Formats are mostly black and white photograph prints, but...