Governor's Veto Shuts Down Puyallup Experiment Station
A $12,000 legislative appropriation for the branch agricultural station is vetoed, forcing the college to lease the land and sell the livestock.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
PUYALLUP STATION CLOSED. For the next two years the branch experiment station at Puyallup will be closed and the land worked under lease by H. Benthien, the well-known gardener of that locality. This action on the part of the agricultural college authorities was made necessary by the governor's veto of the $12,000 appropriation made by the legislature for the Puyallup station. From the funds of the agricultural college an appropriation has been made sufficient to retain the services of an assistant superintendent of the station, W. H. Lawrence, until September, and he will continue some scientific investigations which will be concluded about that time, and which will prove of great benefit to the whole state. The cultivation of the small fruits and the care of the station will be looked after by Mr. Benthien, as they have been under the direction of Prof. D. A. Brodie, and the livestock belonging to the station will be sold.
“This action on the part of the agricultural college authorities was made necessary by the governor's veto of the $12,000 appropriation made by the legislature for the Puyallup station.”
Then, as now, public funding for agricultural research was vulnerable to political vetoes. The closure of the Puyallup station meant a setback for farmers who relied on its scientific investigations, a reminder that budget decisions have real consequences for rural communities.
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