Academic Affairs. Dean, College Of Natural Sciences, Forestry, And Agriculture. College Of Agriculture (University Of Maine) Records

The College of Agriculture was established at the University of Maine in 1868 and would go on to provide courses on animal husbandry, farm management, forestry, dietetics, household management, handwork, childcare and child welfare, home economics education, history and economics of agriculture, food processing, and horticulture. In 1965, during the tenure of President Elliot the College of Agriculture was expanded to include the Life Sciences and renamed the College of Life Sciences and Agriculture. Today many of the responsibilities of the College are carried out by the College of Natural Sciences, Forestry, and Agriculture and the Cooperative Extension Service is now a separate department.

The majority of the material in this record group was created during the tenure of Dr. Leon S. Merrill, who was both the Dean of the College of Agriculture (September 1, 1911 to September 3, 1933), and also the Director of the Extension Service (October 1, 1910 to December 31, 1930). Merrill was also a Food Administrator for the State of Maine and U.S. Food Administrations (August 1917 to July 1919). The Federal Food Administration was setup during the World War I to help ensure food was conserved for war efforts, including feeding U.S. civilians and the military. Merrill was also secretary and treasurer of the Maine Federation of Agricultural Associations which began meeting in 1911. The purpose of the Federation was to unite the various agricultural organizations in the state that all may work in harmony for the common interests of agriculture development. In 1930, Merrill Hall (which originally housed Home Economics) was named in honor of Merrill. Merrill died in Bangor, Maine on September 3, 1933.

Merrill’s successor as Dean of the College of Agriculture and Director of the Extension Service was Arthur Lowell Deering who had previously been the Farm Demonstration Director in Kennebec County. Deering also became the Director of the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station. Deering retired from the University of Maine in 1957. Deering Hall on the University's Orono campus was named for him shortly after his retirement. Biographical and historical notes on Deering's successors can be found in the notes of the College Of Life Sciences And Agriculture Records, UA RG 0006.007.018.

In the early 1940’s the Extension Service (now known as the Cooperative Extension Service) became part of the College of Agriculture. The Extension Service objective was to organize and direct cooperative extension work in agriculture and home economics in Maine. County agents were appointed by the University of Maine’s College of Agriculture and would conduct economic production demonstrations for Maine farmers. The Extension Service also ran schools for local people at which agents would instruct the students on agricultural production. The Cooperative Extension is part of the nationwide Cooperative Extension System, which works through the land-grant universities in each U.S. state. Maine’s land-grant university is in Orono at the University of Maine.

Closely related to the work of the College of Agriculture was the Experiment Station (now known as the Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station) in Orono. The Station was established in 1885 with assistance from the State of Maine and grew to the federal experiment station authorized by the Hatch Act of 1887. The Station dealt particularly with farm and home research, including: genetics and breeding, entomology, forestry, foods, and potatoes, but as the Station grew it started to expand into other areas as well like dairy and fruit. Starting in 1888, the Station began publishing its own Bulletins. Over time the Station grew to include more buildings for example, Highmoor Farm in Monmouth, Maine. Today the station is the College of Natural Sciences, Forestry, and Agriculture’s center for applied and basic research in agriculture and food sciences, forestry and wood products, fisheries and aquaculture, wildlife, outdoor recreation, and rural economic development. The station’s programs strive to enhance the profitability and sustainability of Maine’s natural resource-based industries, protect Maine’s environment, and improve the health of its citizens.

Also included in the record group are copies of the constitution and meeting minutes of the Maine Association of Agricultural Students which was founded in 1911.