The Governor Kills the Puyallup Experiment Station — and Its Director Leaves for St. Louis
A budget veto strands four years of horticultural research as Prof. D. A. Brodie departs for the world’s fair.
Prof. D. A. Brodie, who has had charge of the Puyallup experiment station during the past four years, has resigned to take charge of the outside horticultural exhibit of the St. Louis Exposition. Prof. Brodie is a graduate of the Agricultural College of this state and has made a creditable record in his experiment station work. He will no doubt prove an able man in this position.
The Governor, by vetoing the appropriation for the Puyallup experiment station, has about put it, for the time being, out of business. The Ranch is informed that President Bryan has decided to conclude some of the experimental work which is well along, including the blackberry vine disease, regarding which marked progress has been made. The influence of this station has been felt throughout a section of the state representing two-thirds the population of Washington.
“The Governor, by vetoing the appropriation for the Puyallup experiment station, has about put it, for the time being, out of business.”
Public funding for agricultural science has always been a political football. The Puyallup station survives today as a WSU research center, but this 1904 veto shows how quickly a governor can strand research that served much of the state.
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