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University of California
Berkeley, California 94720
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of this oral history memoir and I agree to abide by the restrictions stated
therein:
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The Bancroft Library University of Cal i fornia/Berke ley
Regional Oral History Office
THE EDDY TREE BREEDING STATION:
INSTITUTE OF FOREST GENETICS
Gladys Austin (Mrs. Lloyd Austin)
Frances I. Righter
Wi I I i am G. Cummi ng
Alfred R. Liddicoet
Jack Carpender
Nicholas T. Mirov
Interviews Conducted by
Lois C. Stone
Copy No. /
Sponsored by The Forest History Society
1974 by The Forest History Society and
The Regents of the University of California
Panoramic view of the Institute Arboretum
Spring 1932
Buildings and grounds at Institute of Forest Genetics.
Taken October 22, 1942. U.S. Forest Service Photo.
TABLE OF CONTENTS - The Eddy Tree Breeding Station: Institute of
Forest Genetics
PREFACE
INTRODUCTION
I GLADYS AUSTIN (MRS. LLOYD AUSTIN) I
Written Memories of the Institute 2
James G. Eddy: A Dedicated Man 5
Lloyd Austin s Vision 6
Early Staff 7
Pioneering Work in Pollination 9
Depression Problems I 2
Institute Goes Under the U.S. Forest Service 14
Austin Establishes Iris Breeding Business 1 6
Notes on Institute of Forest Genetics 1 8
Letter from Mrs. Austin, April 6, 1968 I 9a
I I FRANCIS I. RIGHTER 20
Family Background and Childhood 21
University Education and Early Employment 22
Lloyd Austin Offers a Position at the Eddy Station 23
Background of the Eddy Station 23
Lloyd Austin Hired to Head Station 24
Placerville Favored as Site 25
Site Chosen, Staff Hired, and Work Begun 26
First Projects of Station 27
Arboretum Established 27
The Walnut Plantation 28
Pines in the Arboretum 28
Walnut Studies Discontinued 29
Techniques Developed by Staff 29
Tree Cl imb ing 29
How to Determine Ripe Cones 30
Hypodermic Pollen Technique 31
The Time to Pollinate 31
Depression Problems 33
Reorganization of Station 33
Fund Raising 34
The Interim Period 35
Staff Layoffs 36
Gumming and Liddicoet Return 38
The Institute Given to the U.S. Forest Service 38
Funding of the Institute of Forest Genetics,
U.S. Forest Service 39
Funds for Extra Land 41
Later Staff Changes 46
Mr. Austin Leaves, 1940 46
Palmer Stockwel I Made Director, 1940-1950 47
R.H. Weidman Becomes Superintendent 48
W.C. Cummings Made Superintendent 48
Righter Becomes Director, 1950-1960 48
Organization of Forest Service Research 49
Austin Declines to Leave Placervllle 50
Jack Duffield Made Geneticist 51
Johnson Takes Cummlng s Place as Superintendent 52
Callaham as Project Leader 52
Foreign Visitors 55
Comments on Mr. James G. Eddy 56
Mr. Eddy s Diet Ideas 56
Eddy s Ideas on Government 57
Mr. Eddy s Thoughts on Forest Schools 57
Mr. Eddy and the Seedling 58
WILLIAM C. GUMMING 60
Family Background, Education and Early Work
Experience 61
Employed by Eddy Station 62
Establishing The Tree Farm 64
Mr. James G. Eddy 65
Early Staff Members 67
Perfecting Poltination Techniques 68
The Station During the Depression 69
Working with the CCC 70
Returning to the Institute 71
Gumming Becomes Superintendent 72
Acquiring the Caldwel I Property 75
ALFRED R. LIDDICOET 77
Family Background and Childhood 78
Marriage and Early Employment at Eddy Tree
Breeding Station 78
Eddy Station Work and Staff 79
The Station Becomes a Federal Institution 81
New Interest at the Institute 83
Developing a New Records System 84
Devising Pollination Techniques 85
Co-Workers at the Institute 87
Accident at the Station 88
Retired Life 93
V JACK CARPENDER 95
Background and Joining the Staff 96
Stockwell s Leadership 97
Dr. Callaham: Project Leader 98
Echols: Project Leader 99
Possible Discontinuance of Institute 1 01
Older Out Plantings 101
Present Staff Problems 102
VI NICHOLAS T. MIROV 105
Mirov: Always a Middleman 1 06
Advisory Role 106
Program of the Institute of Forest Genetics 107
Mirov s Study of Chemical Composition of Pines 108
Influenco of Eucalyptus Work I 08
Mirov s Early Interest in Turpentines 109
Graduate Studies and Research I I
Mirov s Early Days in the United States I 13
Retires to Write Book, 1964 I 14
Scientific Work of the Institute I 15
Significance to Genetics I I 6
Mr. Eddy s Personality I 18
Building Hotel Claremont I | 9
APPENDIX I: Statement on Robert Harrison Weidman (1886-1964)
by Mrs. R.H. Weidman 124
APPENDIX II: Special Award of American Forestry Association
to James G. Eddy 126
APPENDIX III: Materials on Western Institute of Forest
Genetics. Submitted in 1962. 134
INDEX 146
Appendix A. Number of registered visitors to the Institute of Forest Genetics since 1927.
Appendix B. Some of the foreign visitors to the Institute of Forest Genetics since 1927.
Appendix C. A few of the distinguished U. S. scientist visitors.
Appendix D. Some representatives of industry visiting the Institute of Forest Genetics over the last 10 years.
Appendix E. Persons undergoing training or studying at the Institute of Forest Genetics for several days or months.
Appendix F. Some popular articles about the Institute of Forest Genetics.
Appendix G. Distribution of Institute seed, pollen or plants.
Appendix H. Pine hybrids produced for commercial exploitation.
Appendix I. Pine species and hybrids self pollinated at Institute of Forest Genetics.
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PREFACE
This volume is part of a series of oral history interviews
conducted by the Regional Oral History Office of The Bancroft
Library under a grant from The Forest History Society. The project
on the Eddy Tree Breeding Station was begun in 1967 with interviewing
and checking of the transcripts going forward during 1968. A lack of
funds prevented the final typing and completion of the manuscripts
until 1974 when a grant from the History Section, U.S. Forest Service,
enabled the Office to finish the work and deposit the volume for
research use.
Additional papers related to the Eddy Tree Breeding Station
will be found in The Bancroft Library. These include the typescript
of an autobiography by Nicholas T. Mirov, "The Road I Came."
Wi I la K. Baum
Department Head
15 May 1974
Regional Oral History Office
486 The Bancroft Library
University of California at Berkeley
FORESTRY INTERVIEWS j j
Sponsored by The Forest History Society
BLACK, S. Rexford, Private and State Forestry in California, 1917-1960,
1969.
COLGAN, Richard, Forestry in the California Pine Region and
KRUEGER, Myron, Forestry and Technology in Northern California,
1968.
Eddy Tree Breeding Station: Institute of Forest Genetics, 19?U .
Austin , Gladys
Carpender , Jack
Gumming, W.C.
Liddicoet, A.R.
Mirov, Nicholas
Righter, R.I.
FRITZ, Emanuel, Teacher, Editor, and Forestry Consultant, 1972.
ISAAC, Leo, Douglas Fir Research in the Pacific Northwest, 1967.
LUND, Walter, Timber Management in the Pacific Northwest, 1927-196$, 1967,
McCULLOCH, Walter, Forestry and Education in Oregon, 3937-1966, 1967.
METCALF, Woodbridge, Extension Forester, 1926-1956, 1969.
HUNGER, Thornton T. , Forest Research in the Northwest, 1968.
NELSON, DeWitt. In process.
SCHOFIELD, William R. , Lobbying in California, 1968.
ii
INTRODUCTION
Luther Burbank, wizard of plant life, received a letter,
one day in 1918, from James G. Eddy of Port Blakely Mill on
Puget Sound. Mr. Eddy wished to consult with Dr. Burbank about
the possibility of producing better forest trees through
breeding experiments. Though Burbank was reluctant to encour
age breeding experiments with such slow-growing genera as coni
fers, he was impressed with Eddy s knowledge of plant genetics
and breeding experiments. Burbank had done no breeding work
with conifers and he was always intrigued with a new problem.
Eddy was invited to join the famous "gardener touched with
genius" in his Santa Rosa home and nursery. Burbank soon dis
covered that James G. Eddy had read all of his published works
and everything else he could find relating to plant breeding.
Eddy was most impressed with Burbank s Paradox Walnut which
was a hybrid cross between Jug I ans n igra x Jug ! ans ca I I forni ca
and at the age of sixteen years was twenty-four inches in dia
meter at a height of four feet above the ground. But the
species of Jug I ans commonly produces flowers at an early age
and Burbank thought that conifers would have to be nearly twen
ty years of age before producing flowers. Eddy knew diffei
ently: he had spent years timber cruising and he had seen two-
year-old trees produce flowers. He had observed the very
great differences, within one coniferous species, in the rate
of growth, resistance to disease, and ability to withstand
the rigors of climate.
James G. Eddy liked to recall that one of his grandfathers
was a logger and the other was a scientist. Perhaps it was
this combination of close contact with living trees plus an
Inquiring mind--both a part of his her i tage--that caused him
to develop the vision he had. For even as a youth, tramping
the forests, Jim Eddy realized that America s trges could
not suffice for future generations unless something was done
to compensate for the increased harvesting of timber and the
rising popu I at ion .
Eddy came from one of the oldest timber families In the
United States. His ancestor, Jonathan Eddy, founded the town
of Eddington, near Bangor on the Penobscot Rlvar of Maine,
and the family operated sawmills there for several genera
tions, in I860 James G. Eddy s father moved to Bay City,
Michigan and established a large mill there. James was born
in Bay City on April 8, 1881. The boy became familiar with
the woods and the mills at an early age. After completing
iv
preparatory training he matriculated at Princeton University
and in due time received a Bachelor of Science degree. His
interest was in the timber business. In 1903 James and his
brother, John W. Eddy, acquired an Interest in the Port Blakely
Mill on Bainbridge Island in the state of Washington. Thus,
Jim Eddy was able to experience for himself the vast stretches
of logged-over land, from coast to coast, that were denuding
the country as the population pushed west. What could be done
to correct this devastation? James Eddy knew that we could
not depend on natural seedlings to replace the harvested tim
ber. Could not some faster-growing and stronger types of for
est trees be developed? This was his dream.
Luther Burbank, convinced by Eddy s facts and his deter
mination to make his dream a reality, became an ardent suppor
ter. Together, they spent several years exploring any ideas
that might provide help in setting up breeding experiments
with coniferous trees. Experts in several fields were consul
ted. Dean Walter Mulford, of the University of California
School of Forestry contributed valuable advice about western
forest species. Earle Clapp and Edward Kotok of the Forest
Service aided Eddy and Burbank with much practical knowledge.
Professor Ernest B. Babcock, far-thinking geneticist of the
University of California, offered scientific guidance. With
such strong support of his vision Eddy felt the United States
government might consider the breeding of superior forest trees
of sufficient value to warrant financial support. In the fall
of 1923 James G. Eddy appeared before the Select Committee on
Forestry of the United States Senate, meeting in Seattle. He
wanted to persuade the senators of the need for a station to
experiment with breeding better forest trees. Eddy told the
committee that:
Before they undertook a tremendous program of reforesta
tion In the United States, they should look to the seed
and the tree species that would re-establish our forests.
The Eddy family had seen the logging front move across
the cont i nent_f rom Maine to Puget Sound. . . . /James G.
Eddy stressed/ we cannot afford to reforest our lands
with slow-growing trees, many of which are of inferior
quality. Agriculture has produced miracles in fast-
growing and valuable plants, through the skill of plant
genetics; and the same can be done In forestry. Mr.
Princeton Miniatures XXI, "James G. Eddy 03", Princeton
Alumni. LV, no. 27 (May 20, 1955), 10.
:
Eddy urged the senators to get to the root of our forestry
problem, which Is to make available the forest trees that
will best meet our needs for fast growth and commercial
qualities. It was th^e most_unique and surprising state
ment of the entire /jneetin/. . . It made a great impres
sion . 2
Despite the Interest Eddy aroused in the Senate Committee,
financial aid was not forthcoming from the United States govern
ment. James G. Eddy decided something must be done right away;
he would establish and finance with his own funds--a research
station to breed improved forest trees. He asked Luther Bui
bank if he would consider heading such a program. Burbank de
clined, pointing out that he was in his seventieth year and was
already involved in more experiments than he could nope to
complete. Dr. Burbank suggested a young man, Lloyd Austin,
who had lately been consulting with him about tree breeding
experiments. Austin, trained at the University of California,
had recently joined the staff of the College of Agriculture
as a pomologist. Mrs. Austin recalled her husband s decision
to accept the position Eddy offered:
Early in 1925 Lloyd received a phone call from Mr. James
Eddy. . . . Lloyd at that time was teaching and was in
charge of building up the University s fruit tree col
lections at Davis in anticipation of a hybridizing pro
gram and had many conferences with Mr. Burbank in regard
to this program. He was 26 years old, and we had been
married less than two years.
After conferences w I th Mr. Eddy and with University of
California professors \jn both the forestry and genetics
departments, it was decided to start the project. Mr.
Eddy felt that probably the best place to implement
the program was in the timber belt in one of the south
east states; he suggested Lloyd make a tour of the U.S.,
to talk to forestry officials and university people to
get ideas on the feasibility of such studies, as well
as where best to concentrate the efforts.
Immediately Lloyd asked release from his contract at
2 W. B. Greeley, "Blood WIN Tell," American Forests.
September, 1952, 18.
VI
U.C. Davis, and we moved to Berkeley ... to have closer
contacts with forestry and genetics officials. After a
tour of the U.S., during which he was given very little
encouragement for a project in tree breeding, he came to
the conclusion that California offered optimum condi
tions for such experiments, especially on the slopes of
the Sierra Nevada. Mr. Eddy concurred. /~Mrs. Austin
states that her husband and Mr. Eddy were both fond of
writing long and detailed letters. Most of their confer
ences were conducted by letter_._7 That summer Lloyd, ac
companied by Prof. Woodbridge Metca I f and Prof. Emanuel
Fritz, toured by car the entire Sierra Nevada area looking
for the most desirable location.
The choice was narrowed down to two different sites--one
in Nevada City, and one in PlacervMle. Thu Nevada City
site was limited in area, with very little chance of later
expansion, so the Placerville site was ultimately chosen.
The purchase, from J. W. Young for $8,500, was made after
much discussion about mineral rights. This parcel consisted
of eighty-two acres, and was about four and a half miles east
of Placerville. It was an excellent choice for working with
pines. Mr. F. I. Righter, a former staff member, told me
why : 3
It was about mid-way between the top of the Sierra Nevada
and the valley floor ... It was a timber producing coun
try; th original country there was completely timbered
over. ^Natural stands of the three principal pine timber
trees occurred on the property: Pinus ponderosa. Plnus
Jeffrey! , and Pinus lambertlana in addition to eight
other pine species^T . . . The situation offered these
two very Important advantages: first of all, the products
of the Institute could be tested out under a wide variety
of environmental conditions on that Sierra Nevada tran
sect ... in El Dorado County. The ecology of the high
Sierra was very different from the ecology down In the
valley; and you would only have to go a distance of fifty
miles to get vast extremes ... in a level country you
The following quotations from members of the staff (or
their families) of the Eddy Tree Breeding Station are excerpts
from their tape-recorded Interviews and written memoirs.
VI
might have to go a distance of a thousand miles. The
other advantage was that you could work up the mountain
as the flowers came into bloom. The flowers . . . first
to bloom were those on the trees at the lower elevations.
As you went up the mountains other flowers of the same
species, or different species, would come into bloom,
which meant that you had a long breeding season. The
breeding season on level ground would be maybe ten days
to two weeks. We had a breeding season which started
In February on Monterey pine down In the Sacramento Valley,
and ended in July up In the high Sierra. Another advan
tage of the situation was that so many different trees
from al I parts of the world could be grown there. We
did not have much really frigid weather.
The land on which the research station was to be developed
was planted in a well-grown pear orchard. The first problem
that Lloyd Austin faced was to find someone to uproot the pear
orchard and prepare the land for planting forest trees. The
man hired for this Job was William C. Gumming, a genial and
capable Placerville youth, who rose from a man of all work to
become the superintendent of the Institute, until his retire
ment a short time ago.
Mrs. Austin s reminiscences continue the story of getting
the Eddy Tree Breeding Station started:
We moved t Placerville about the fourth or fifth of
December I_\^25J . Our first rented home in Placerville,
and the only house available at that time, was a three-
story home with heating and cooking entirely with wood
stoves and a fireplace. We lived on the first floor,
and the offices were set up on the second floor. Work
of building seed bed frames, etc., was done in the car
riage house. At first I had done most of the stenographic
work, but when the Lumsdens moved to Placerville, Mrs.
Lumsden took over this work part time. . . Mr. John
Barnes, a forestry graduate, was employed to assist Lloyd. 4
Lloyd had never seen pine flowers, so the day he and
John discovered the baby cones and catkins was a day to
be remembered!
4 Wllliam C. Gumming was hired In December of 1925, John
H. Barnes Joined the staff soon after, and H. M, Lumsden came
in Apr! I of 1926.
vi i i
Letters were written to forest areas all over the world
for seed of native evergreens, and especially pines, with
the request . . . that If possible seed be collected from
their bes_t specimens. Many plans were formulated that
winter /of I925/. Seedbed frames were constructed and a
pressure pump and pipelines installed. While the physi
cal work was moving ahead, plans were underway for the
layout of the . . . arboretum. This was done with the
idea of putting all closely related species in adjoining
plots, so as to facilitate hybridizing. The need arose
for someone to be directly responsible for the physical
work, so Mason Lumsden, a graduate of the University of
Michigan, was employed.
Many basic problems confronted Lloyd Austin and his staff.
Mr. Eddy s interest was In forest trees, but he left it to
the staff to decide what kind of trees to choose. Both Austin
and Eddy had been much Impressed with the success of Luther
Burbank s breeding experiments with walnuts and It was thought
suitable to include one angiosperm genus, so J ug I ans was selec
ted as one genus to experiment with. Mr. Righter has told us
of the decision about gymnosperms:
Mr. Eddy, of course, was a Douglas fir man. He probably
would have liked to go into Douglas fir. But there aren t
very many species of Douglas fir. So that was . . . not
regarded as one of the major projects originally planted
in the arboretum. ... It was decided that the major
effort would be devoted to the genus P I n u s . That genus
is one of the most important, economically, of all the
genera of forest trees. There were eight or ten local
species of pines on the El Dorado transect of the national
forest.
W. C. Cummlng, who was helping to plant the trees, recalled
That fall we started gettjjig in_shipments of trees from all
over the country. . . . ^Austin/ had gone around to ...
various nurseries where forest trees were grown and had
made selections of trees and tagged them. So that when the
dormant season came those trees could be dug up and
shipped to us. When we started planting trees ... we
were planting pines and firstand cedars and redwoods and
anything that might fall into the class of timber tree.
Many of the trees planted at this time were two or three
years old; they would not have to wait too long to begin breed
ing experiments. Some early experiments were conducted with
IX
other genera but soon the staff felt that efforts should be
restricted to pines. Even the work with walnuts, conducted on
land near Davis, was abandoned rather early.
An experimental program had to be set up. Lloyd Austin,
with the collaboration of his staff, drew up a plan. Mr.
Righter has commented on the implementation of the early
breeding program for pines:
The first thing ... in breeding for the improvement of
a particular kind of tree_is to assemble as many different
species of the genus as ^possible/ in one place, so that
the breeding operations could be conducted right there
without having to travel all over. That was one of the
first big projects which was started. Mr. Barnes and Mr.
Austin wrote letters all over the world to botanical
gardens and seed companies and seed collectors and uni
versities, requesting seed of various species which might
be obtained readily by people in those parts of the world.
The response was very generous and . . . I n_a short time
they had fifty or sixty different species /of pine/ in the
arboretum at Piacerville.
This arboretum, which was later named the Eddy Arboretum,
in honor of Mr. Eddy, was laid out in such a way that
the species of pines were separated and segregated in the
arboretum according to the relationship groups as estab
lished by Shaw. 5 . . . These species which were more
closely related to each other In a particular group were
planted in a particular block of the arboretum. So the
arboretum was divided up more or less according to re
lationship groups. The spacing had to be determined.
. . . The Institute couldn t give up too much room to
individual trees ... It had to reserve seme land for
nursery purposes and for field tests and . . . freak
gardens, where abnormal forms could be plan+ed out and
watched and used in genetic studies later on. So, It was
thought that fifteen feet at the start would be suitable,
ar[d_i f necessary thinnings could be made iater on. . . .
/It/ was enough space, we learned later, for individua I
trees to come into flower early in life. Many of them
produced flowers within five years, rather than twenty
years as most foresters thought. . . . That put a different
^George R. Shaw, The Genus Plnus (Cambridge, Mass., 1914).
light on tree breeding because these young trees flowered
very abundantly at that age, producing both pollent and
ovu late strobul I .
By 1931 /this/ was the most complete arboretum of pines In
the world. There were more different species assembled
there than had been assembled in any one place anywhere In
the world, probably because it was such a mild climate . .
and the environment was so favorable to their growth . . .
Pines are the second largest genus among the gymnosperms
. . . distributed ci rcumpo I ar ly . . . from high eleva
tions to low . . . from swamp to desert; there was Im
pounded in that genus a vast amount of genetic diversity
with which to work.
The next problem that the staff must decide was how to
select individual parent trees and then to determine proper
methods of pollination. One of the first approaches was to
determine the fastest-growing species. Measurements were made
and individual trees from different habitats, but of the same
species, were compared. Most early work was confined to Pinus
ponderosa , using specimens from many geographic areas.
To obtain the fastest-growing Individual of a certain geo
graphic strain the breeder may select a nursery seedling that
exhibits unusual growth, or he may find an exceptionally fine
tree In the forest. The usual systematic measurements and
increment borings did not solve all the problems, when going
into an apparently even-aged natural stand. Most such stands
really include trees of several ages. To more accurately de
termine the age of a tree, a method was devised of measuring
down eight internodes from the top of a tree. Yellow pines
produce only one whorl of branches on the leader each year,
thus comparison on the rate of growth for the last eight years
could be made. Although favorable location and environmental
factors Influenced better rate of growth, there still seemed
to be some individuals that showed more vigor in comparison
with those of similar habitat. In order to check the tree,
selected tests had to be run against controls. This Is but
one of t e many early problems faced and overcome by the
pioneer staff. Progeny tests were set up.
One of the early buildings put up was a nursery with an
underground basement for storage of seed and for preserving
valuable records. The office of the Station had, within the
first year, been moved to an office near the center of Placer-
ville. And while there they nearly lost all their records
when a nearby fire scorched their walls. In 1929 the need for
better office facilities on the Station property seemed urgent.
Plans were made for an administration building, and Mr. John
Eddy, brother of the founder, donated approximately $7,000 for
this building. The staff moved into the new quarters early in
January of 1930.
With a fine new administration building and a working nur
sery, pollination procedures were developed. Much experimenta
tion and creative thinking was involved in developing some of
these techniques. Only a few can be mentioned; coverage of most
of these developments may be found In the literature. 6 Ovulate
flowers have tc be protected at an early stage with strong bags
--ten-ounce duck was the standard bagand when the female cones
were ripe the pollen was introduced by a method Righter devised
and has described for us:
One of the main problems I worked on when I first came
here was how to get the pollen Into the bag without taking
the bag off or letting foreign pollen in. The method
which had been developed was rather crude. They took the
bag off sometimes. They had a copper tube which was large
in diameter and had a little hole in the bag and a flap
down over that hole which they lifted up and put the tube
in and then they d squirt the pollen in. The tube was
connected with a rubber ball.
But that wasn t completely pollen-proof. I conceived . . .
the Idea of using a hypodermic syringe with a rubber
bulb, and that solved that problem. It could be punched
through the fabric, and when you pull it out, you just
rub the place where it went through with your fingernail
and that closes up the place. Microscopic examination
showed that the pollen couldn t get through there . . .
No effort will be made to follow the complete staff changes
in later years, but we can mention a few early changes. John
Barnes left to work on rubber trees In Sumatra. William Wahlen-
berg replaced him and stayed with the Station until January of
1930 whe . he returned to the Forest Service. By that time
Clyde R. Berrlman and Clark H. Gleason, Jr. had become staff
members. Francis I. Righter Joined the staff f n March of 1931,
6 Lucille M. Tlchenor, Research at the Institute of Forest
Genetics (Berkeley: U. S. Department of Agriculture, Forest
Service, 1965).
X I I
leaving a teaching post at Cornell University to come to Placer-
ville. He was to make many valuable contributions to the Institute
of Forest Genetics. He has given us details of how he worked
out a few of his ideas:
Another problem was the best time to put the bags on the
flowers and when to pollinate and when to remove the bags.
. . . They had to determine when the flowers were most re
ceptive to pollen. If you put it on too soon the pollen
is wasted and your effort is wasted. If you put it on too
late the flowers are closed up. You put it on Just right,
when the carpels are at right angles to the axis of the
cone, that s the time to do it. But they don t all ripen
at the same time, so we adopted ... as our final criteri
on ... maximum receptivity and we tried to pollinate at
that time, which meant going up the same tree two or three
times to pollinate. Those things took time. There were
about seven different stages /of flower ripenl ng7 which we
recognized ... We had made tests by putting bags over
flowers at different stages pollinating at different
stages of the ripening. Those were some of the techniques
which had to be worked out. Others involved setting up
nursery tests, the evaluation of what we obtained from our
control pollinations and other kinds of seed collections
. . . the best size of a nursery bed of f o^r-and-a-ha I f
feet, but it was later widened to five feet for statistical
purposes and to save space, and lumber, because you had to
use more lumber for more beds. ... No other place . . .
had such a we I I -deve loped and perfect method of nursery
experimentation ... it was remarked upon by many visitors
who came from all parts of the world.
From the beginning of the Eddy Tree Breeding Station, until
he was badly affected by the depression In 1932. James G. Eddy
provided the total support for the Station. Financial support
was not based on income from an endowment. Rather, it consisted
of a monthly payment of costs of the program. Mr. Eddy consulted
with the staff, but left the final decision of the program up to
Lloyd Austin and his colleagues. This was a considerable finan
cial responsibility; It amounted to from $20,000 to $25,000 or
more per year. Mr. Eddy had foreseen that he could not expect
to meet expenses forever.
The advisability of establishing the project on an insti
tutional, rather than on a personal, basis had been discussed
as early as 1927. The possibility of an affiliation with the
University of California was taken up with Professor Mulford
of the Forestry School. In 1931, when Mr. Eddy was feeling
xi i
reduced in circumstances by the depression, the matter of affili
ation was taken up again with the University, The Eddy Station
was offered to the Regents of the University. The Regents were
very happy to accept it provided that the gift be accompanied
by an endowment sufficient to maintain the plant and continue
to conduct experiments In proper manner. The Regents Committee
on Finance of the University determined that an adequate endow
ment to support the Station would amount to $600,000. This
amount could not be raised so the affiliation had to be de-
cl i ned.
It was then decided that the Eddy Tree Breeding Station be
transformed into a national institution with control vested In
a national board of trustees composed of men distinguished in
the fields of science, education, and business. The reorganiza
tion was effected early in 1932 and a campaign to raise an en
dowment was undertaken under the office of the Tamblyn, Brown
& Co. The name of the Station was changed to the Institute of
Forest Genetics. It was felt that it would be easier to raise
an endowment if the Station bore a name that was not suggestive
of one man s personal enterprise. The scientific work of the
Institute was to remain the same. They would continue with
experimentation for the improvement of forest trees to improve
their qualities for use as timber, for resistance to disease,
and tolerance of any environmental extremes.
The Institute was Incorporated as a non-profit organization
under the laws of California. Efforts were made to Interest men
of means, but scant help could be found during those lean times.
Some of the staff were laid off. Others subsisted on reduced
salaries. John C. Merriam, of the Carnegie Institute, was in
terested and arranged to advance $10,000.
On July I, 1934, the Soil Erosion Service of the United
States Department of Interior, after Investigating the suita
bility of the Station s facilities and organization for the
purpose of producing stock which could be used for control of
erosion, made $40,000 available for that purpose for the en
suing fiscal year, and provided an official to administer the
fund. During the year negotiations led to congressional legis
lation authorizing the federal government to accept the Insti
tute as a gift from the Board of Trustees to the people of the
United States, to be maintained by the federal government and
administered by the United States Forest Service. The trans
fer was formally effected at a meeting of the trustees and
government officials which was held In San Francisco in August
of 1935. It was understood that If the government failed,
over a three-year period, to carry on forest genetics studies
xiv
at the Institute, the properties would revert to the board of
trustees. Thus, in essence, James G. Eddy made a gift to the
people of the United States of all the property of the Insti
tute plus all the funds he had invested in its support for
eleven years-~a sum in excess of $250,000.
In one respect the Institute of Forest Genetics benefited
by the depression years. Labor, available to government agen
cies through WPA and CCC, provided attractive and scientifically
adequate buildings for their research program and also ample
living quarters for visiting scholars. Lawns and perennial
borders surrounded the buildings. Rock walls provided borders
to walks and planted areas. Slate walks connected buildings.
Gravel drives led from Carson Road In through the handsome
gates to the parking areas. Regarding this degree of embel
lishment in a research institute, Mrs. Robert H. Weidman, widow
of the man who was for years the Superintendent of the Institute
of Forest Genetics, has recalled that when she lived at the
Institute there were no paving, lawns, or landscaping: in dry
weather red dust was everywhere. It was almost Impossible for
a housewife or a scientist to create an atmosphere free of this
dust. It must have given much trouble In the laboratory.
And what of the scientific results? With the hybridization
experiments conducted by the Institute, several hybrids of very
exceptional quality were brought to light. One Is a cross be
tween the Monterey pine of the coast of California and the
knobcone pine of southern California mountain areas. This hy
brid displays the rapid growth of the Monterey pine plus the
hardiness and frost-resistance of the knobcone pine. Another
excellent cross is ponderosa pine and apache pine. A third is
the cross between Jeffrey pine and Coulter pine, a fine example
of hybrid vigor.
Dr. Nicholas T. Mlrov has mentioned some of the most signi
ficant scientific achievements of the Institute of Forest
Genet! cs :
During the last decade. Interspecific hybridization has
been the most prominent feature of the division s pro
gram. Since the founding of the Eddy Tree Breeding
Station In 1925, sixty-six different hybrid combinations
(F| s, and F? *, backcrossed, and 3-way hybrids) have
been obtained at Placervllle, and of them fifty-four
were produced since 1940. Many of these hybrids have
exhibited great potentialities with respect to various
Important characters In nursery and field tests. Most
of these hybrids are more vigorous than one or the other
XV
of the parental species and some are clearly superior
to both parents In that respect; some have greater root-
systems; some have more abundant foliage; one makes abnor
mally rapid diameter growth as well as being superior In
rate of height growth and root development; one white pine
cross has resisted Infection by blister rust over a period
of five years In a heavily-infested test plot where every
other tree has been infected; two have stood up impres
sively against attacks of bark beetles to which one of
their parents Is highly susceptible; some are more frost-
hardy than one of their parents, and others react simil
arly with respect to drought resistance. These and other
results are based on the performance of hybrids ranging
In age from one to twenty-three years, and some of the
results have been replicated many times, and in widely
separated regions of the United States. The feasibility
of mass producing some of these hybrids through hand
pollination has been all but demonstrated. Aside from
their practical importance, these results carry impli
cations of great academic interest. These and other
considerations, including the availability of highly
refined crossing technique, comprise a weighty reason
for continuing to regard Interspecific crossing as the
division s most Important field of work . . .
Biochemical studies /.include/ the studies of the chemical
composition of the oleoresins of pines. The principal
result of this reconnaissance has been to establish
chemical composition of oleoresins as a feature which
serves in most cases to distinguish species; oleoresins
have proven to be much more specific than sugars or
fats, ... a routine diagnostic aid In the study of
insect resistance of suspected wild hybrids and of arti
ficially produced hybrids, and as a supplement to genetic
and morphological data in taxonomlc studies.
James 6. Eddy lived to see his Tree Breeding Station receive
the acclaim of savants from all the important genetics research
centers of the world. As long as he lived, his interest In the
research activities did not flag. It is fortunate that his ef
forts on behalf of American forestry were recognized and appro
priately honored when the board of directors of the American
Forestry Association, at their meeting of October 12, 1952,
prepared a formal citation to signal the great contribution made
by this distinguished citizen:
In recognition of notable aid rendered In furthering the
cause of forest conservation in the behalf of this and
xv i
future generations of Americans, the Directors of the
American Forestry Association bestow upon James 6. Eddy,
of Seattle, Washington, its highest award for outstanding
service to American forestry. This award is in recogni
tion of Mr. Eddy s effective efforts, continued for more
than twenty-five years, In the field of forest genetics.
His creative and tireless work has given to this country
the Institute of Forest Genetics at Placerville, Califor
nia, and a much greater Interest In the opportunities for
enlarging and improving the useful forest species of
North America.
Characteristically Mr. Eddy replied to this great honor:
This letter Is written to advise you that the writer,
some eight or ten days ago, received the Special Award
by the Board of Directors of the American Forestry Asso
ciation.
It Is now being put in a small gold frame and will be
placed on the walls of my office, but subsequently It
will be sent to the Institute of Forest Genetics, where
I trust it will bring great satisfaction to all the men
who brought about the many successful scientific steps
so that the officers, the directors and the lumbermen
of the American Forestry Association have approved the
results so far obtained, that better and more valuable
trees now and in the years ahead will be available to
future generations.
I wish to express my humble appreciation for this great
honor, as every word in the Award means a great deal to
me personally, and to the men in the past, present and
future, who gave, and will give, of their time, knowledge
and their heart to such genetic efforts, and thus offer
to the people of the world better commercial types of
trees by the use of such genetic laws as already demon
strated by the Institute of Forest Genetics. 7
James G. Fddy believed In the future of American forests.
He believed that forest genetics could help preserve our for
ests. Astute businessman that he was, he believed so completely
7 Letter from James G. Eddy to American Forestry Associa
tion, January 21, 1953, In the files of the Forest History
Society.
XVI I
in the value of breeding better forest trees that he was willing
to spend a substantial amount to establish the first research
center for forest genetics In the western hemisphere. Mr. Eddy
lived to see many changes take place in his research station.
The original plantings of little trees or tiny seedlings in the
Eddy Arboretum have become towering testimonials affirming
Eddy s vision and determination.
The Pinus ponderosa plantations at the eastern edge of the
Arboretum include trees from some fifty distinct geographic
areas throughout western North America. One may study exten
sive plantations of ponderosa pine progenies in an area south
west of the Arboretum. The nursery is an impressive develop
ment where hybrids and other pedigreed pine seedlings may be
observed in various tests to determine their potential future
trees. Elevational races of ponderosa pine are being studied,
in another area, to determine the optimum elevation from which
to col lect seed.
It is of Interest to view the original Monterey-knobcone
cross. This represents the first artificial hybridization of
pines at the Institute. Magnificent specimens have grown from
that pioneer cross In 1927. And one may also see the second
generation of hybrids of that cross planted In 1947 from open-
pollinated first generation hybrids.
Of considerable Interest Is the "freak garden." The staff
is constantly on the alert for unusual phenotypes that may be
found in the nursery beds. These trees often exhibit striking
abnormalities and some of them have proved valuable for horti
cultural purposes. Moreover, valuable genetic knowledge can
be gained from chromosomal studies of these "freaks."
The physical plant of the Institute has expanded and Im
proved to Include not only the administration building and
laboratory, but ample space for laboratory work and conferences.
There are lath houses and green houses and houses for the use
of the superintendent and the staff.
In the parking area a bronze plaque honoring James G. Eddy
has been set up by the Native Sons of the Golden West. It was
dedicated in August of 1964, a few months after Mr. Eddy passed
away. Towering above it are the beautiful conifers that he so
loved. The Inscription reads In part:
Businessman, scientist, conservationist, and a true
pioneer, his foresight and generous effort advanced
the science of forest genetics many years and helped
xv i i i
to conserve the supply of forest products for the
future.
Lois C. Stone *
I ntervl ewer-Ed I tor
July I, 1969
Regional Oral History Office
Room 486 The Bancroft Library
University of California
Berkeley, California
* Portions of this Introduction appeared as an article by Lois C. Stone,
"The Institute of Forest Genetics: A Legacy of Good Breeding," Forest
History. Vol. 12, No. 3, (October 1968).
GLADYS AUSTIN (MRS. LLOYD AUSTIN)
We felt very fortunate in being able to interview Mrs. Austin,
widow of Lloyd Austin, who had seen him plan and develop the Eddy Tree
Breeding Station from its earliest conception to the ultimate metamorphosis
into an important research unit of the United States Department of
Agriculture.
Mrs. Austin is a warm and perceptive lady whose varied roles have
included raising an active family and also assisting her husband in his
demanding scientific activities. Lloyd Austin s approach to the establish
ment of the Eddy Tree Breeding Station was imaginative and broad. James
G. Eddy had the wisdom to realize that he would gain most by letting
Lloyd Austin conceive and carry out his own ideas about the station.
Mrs. Austin recalls that her husband considered the development of the
experimental station in forest genetics a great challenge. And
Gladys Austin was as eager as he to meet this challenge.
When Llcyd Austin decided to leave the field of forest genetics
and become a hybridizer and grower of iris he had an able assistant in his
wife. Mrs. Austin deserves much of the credit for the fame of the
Rainbow Hybridizing Gardens of Placerville. This enterprise became known right
as more a scientific achievement than a business, but as a business
it was a success. When fire destroyed their home, Gladys Austin helped
to carry on their business, while faced with the problem of rebuilding and
furnishing a house.
Talking with her in her comfortable living room, overlooking the
hillsides of blooming pear trees above Placerville, one would little guess
the many problems this lady has met and overcome. She has been a most
understanding wife and devoted mother. Her keen mind has been used to
add enjoyment and satisfaction to a demanding life.
Lo i s S+one
I nterviewei Ed i tor
March 1969
Regional Oral History Office
486 The Bancroft Library
University of California at Berkeley
Written Memories of the Institute*
Early in 1925 Lloyd received a phone call from Mr. James G.
Eddy, who stated that Mr. Luther Burbank had recommended him for
a new project in forest tree breeding. Mr. Eddy, a lumberman, was
deeply concerned about the way the nation s forests were being depleted and,
at that time, nothing was being done to assure future generations of lumber
supplies due to long time required from seed to harvest. He felt the
need for a faster growing tree that could be harvested in a man s lifetime,
and felt so strongly that the way to reach the goal was through hybridizing
that he had asked Mr. Burbank to start such an undertaking. At that time,
of course, Mr. Burbank was recognized as a world authority on tree breeding
as his own work on tree fruits and walnuts had produced some outstanding
hybrids. Colleges and universities were only just beginning to offer
comprehensive genetic courses.
Mr. Burbank s immediate reaction was "you need a young man, for such
a project just could not reach accomplishment in a year or even ten years."
Lloyd, at that time, was teaching and was in charge of building up the
University s fruit tree collection at Davis in anticipation of a hybridizing
program and he had many conferences with Mr. Burbank in regard to this
program. He was 26 years old, and we had been married less than 2 years.
After conferences with Mr. Eddy and with LLC. professors in both
the forestry and genetic departments, it was decided to start the project.
Mr. Eddy felt that probably the best place to implement the program was
in the timber belt in one of the South East states and suggested Lloyd make
a tour of the U.S., to talk to forestry officials and University people to
get ideas on feasibility of such studies, as wel i as where best to concentrate
the efforts.
Immediately Lloyd asked release from his contract at U.C., Davis,
and we moved to Berkeley, so as to have closer contacts with forestry and
genetics officials. After a tour of the U.S., during which he was given
very little encouragement for a project in tree breeding, he came to the
conclusion that California offered optimum conditions for such experiments,
especially on the slopes of the Sierra Nevada. Mr. Eddy concurred, so that
summer Lloyd, accompanied by Prof. Woodb ridge Metcalf and Prof. Emanuel Fritz
toured, by car, the entire Sierra Nevada area looking for the most desirable
location .
The choice was narrowed down to two different sites one in Nevada
City, and one in PlacervilJe. The Nevada City site was limited in area, with
very little chance of later expansion, so the Placerville site was ultimately
chosen.
Immediately on purchase a local crew was put to work pulling out
pear trees, removing brush and rocks, and getting soil in condition for the
first forest tree nursery. We moved to Placerville about the 4th or 5th of
December and it was about this time Mr. John Barnes, a forestry graduate, was
*
The following material was written by Mrs. Austin and sent to
Mrs. Stone prior to the interview. The interview was planned with the
expectation that the researcher would have this memoir available also.
employed to assist Lloyd. Lloyd had never seen pine flowers, so the day
he and John discovered the baby cones and catkins was a day to be
remembered!
Letters were written to forest areas all over the world for seed
of native evergreens, and especially pines, with the request too that
if possible, seed be collected from their best specimens. Many plans were
formulated that winter, seedbed frames were constructed and a pressure
pump and pipelines installed. While the physical work was moving ahead, plans
were under way for the layout of the present arboretum. This was done with
the idea of putting all closely related species in adjoining plots, so as
to facilitate hybridizing. The need arose for someone to be directly
responsible for the physical work, so Mason Lumsden, a graduate of the
University, Ann Arbor, Michigan, was employed.
In studying the populations of evergreen trees over the world,
it was decided that the genus Pinus offered the best hope for a hybridizing
program because of its many varieties and climatic variants. In contrast there
were only 2 Sequoias, and 2 Pseudotsugas. So, in a conference with Mr. Eddy,
it was determined to limit the effort here to the Pines, and particularly
the hard pines, of which Pinus ponderosa (Western Yellow Pine) is the local
species. However, the Sequoias, the Pseudotsugas and some firs, spruces,
etc. as well as the soft pines are represented in the arboretum.
A nursery building was put up and this included an underground
basement for storage of seed and valuable records. Fire in a theater across
a narrow street from their downtown office, which scorched and charred their
walls and some records showed the need for a fire proof room for records,
so all buildings put up after this contained fire proof vaults.
In 1929 the crew felt the need for better office facilities, as well as
facilities nearer to the physical plant. So ptans were made for an admin
istration building and Mr. John Eddy, brother of the founder, donated
approximately $7,000 for this building. The crew moved into their new
quarters in early January, 1930.
Mr. Wahlenburg left the organization to return to Forest Service work,
and Mr. F. I. Righter was employed. The rest of the permanent crew was
composed of W. C. Gumming, Clyde R. Berriman and C. H. Gleason, Jr.
On_ Sunday morning, I think Dec. II, 1932, Mr. Eddy phoned Lloyd
that he was no longer able to completely finance the Eddy Tree Breeding Station,
due to losses -luring the depression. A staff meeting was immediately called
and, before the day was over, letters had been written to the Carnegie
Institution and other philanthropic organizations requesting information as to
the availability of funds.
The entire staff felt the work under way was important enough to
warrant personal sacrifices Lloyd and Pet e Righter took no pay at all,
and other staff members and employers took half pay until such a time as
adequate financing could be worked out.
Needless to say, Lloyd had been warned of this eventual ty, and
told to arrange for an endowment. Mr. Eddy, though, felt that he had no
right to ask anyone else to help finance his dream, yet he did not feel
that he was able to provide an adequate endowment himself. So from its
beginning in 1925 to that day in 1932 the Eddy Tree Breeding Station had
"just grow d like Topsy 1 , 1 with financing on a more or less day to day basis.
In order to facilitate the raising of an endowment fund, it was decided
to elect a national board of trustees and also re-name the organization
"The Institute of Forest Genetics." The Board felt that an affiliation with
the University of California would be desirable, and it was with this idea,
that a funding drive was launched. In the meantime, the Carnegie Institution
was supplying some funds so work would not come to a complete standstill,
and Mr. Eddy paid the costs of the funding drive.
However the timing was wrong, and no matte>- how worthwhile a cause,
money for an endowment just was not available, so, reluctantly, the U.S.
Dept. of Agriculture was contacted with reference to taking over the
property and work of the Institute. I believe it was Dr. David Fairchild who
suggested the Institute be placed under the Bureau of Plant Introduction,
but in the end it was placed under the California Forest and Range
Experiment Station of which E. I. Kotok was director.
Mr. John Barnes was offered a position doing breeding work with
rubber trees in Sumatra, and left the organization. Mr. William Wahlenburg,
from New Orleans, took over his work.
Gladys Austin
James G. Eddy: A Dedicated Man
Stone: This is a recording of the Institute of Forest Genetics,
known also as the Eddy Tree Breeding Station in early days.
We are recording some reminiscences of Mrs. Lloyd Austin, the
widow of the first director and first employee of the Eddy
Tree Breeding Station from its beginning. We are recording
in Mrs. Austin s home in Placerville, California on March 21, 1968.
This recording is made by Lois C. Stone of the Regional
Oral History Office of the Bancroft Library, University of
California, to be deposited in the manuscript division of the
Bancroft Library.
Stone: Mrs. Austin, you must have had some very early contact with
Mr. Eddy and some very interesting early impressions. What
sort of a man did he seem to you?
Austin: A very dedicated man. He was intensely interested in genetics
and its relation to forest trees. He was very far-sighted,
I thought, in his approach, because no such notion had ever
occurred to anyone else: that the forest trees, our natural
resources, could be improved upon.
Stone: Do you think he had this idea for some time before he talked
to Luther Burbank about founding such an institute?
Austin: I m sure he did have. He had been in the lumbering business in
Seattle for a good many years. At that time he was in his mid
years, probably in his early forties. Ever since childhood
he had had these contacts and had been a witness to the way
the forests were being depleted and the hillsides left nude,
and
chi I
he was
dren.
concerned about his children and his children s
Stone: When Mr. Eddy first talked to Mr. Burbank, did Mr. Burbank give
much encouragement about the idea of founding an institute of
forest genetics? Did Mr. Burbank feel that you could work with
conifers in this way?
Austin: Oh, yes, very definitely he felt that any plant was susceptible
to improvement and he encouraged him in that regard. But
Mr. Eddy, of course, did not envision an institute the way
it has grown. His idea was for one man, and he thought Mr.
Burbank himself could start such a project. He felt with one man
working on it that enough progress would be made so that
eventually it might work into something bigger. But his original
concept was for one man to work on it.
h im
Stone:
Austi n :
Stone:
Austin
Stone:
Austin:
Stone:
Austin:
Stone:
Lloyd Austin s Vision
Then it was largely your husband s thinking and dreaming
that brought it into its larger development as time went on.
Yes, very definitely. Lloyd felt, as he delved into it,
the need for a larger knowledge and a larger (Pause)
of course, geneticists always work with millions of plants,
millions of seeds, not just a few. And Mr. Eddy s concept
was not in that direction. He understood the need for the
work but not the magnitude of the work. And a geneticist felt
that he must work with millions of plants and must have the
background knowledge to bring it into fulfillment.
Did Mr. Austin immediately feel that he wanted to take this
position? Or was he somewhat concerned about going in with
Mr. Eddy on this privately supported enterprise? After all,
he had a good job at the University and was giving that up
if he took Mr. Eddy s offer.
It was a challenge. Anything that was a challenge, he did.
He was advised that he should look into Mr. Eddy s financial
background, his reliability. And some insisted that he should
insist on an endowment. But there was that challenge that
he couldn t ignore. It was something new. All his I i f e he had
been, apparently, just waiting for something that would
challenge his ability in the genetic field.
I think he was very venturesome. He was a young man, twenty-
six, when he undertook this position. The future of the
Institute seemed, from the outset, a little bit dubious
just one rich man backing it. I think your husband was very
brave.
Yes, I don t know that he felt brave,
was just the challenge of the unknown.
But there, again, it
But you both were brave you were just young people to
undertake such a venture. You must have been very much impressed
with Mr. Eddy, when you came to know him, in the early meetings.
Yes we were. His dedication to his idea. And yet he was a
sensitive man. He was a very wealthy man. But he felt because
he was wealthy he could not invite his friends to share in his
dreams of these unknown things with the questionable outcome.
Thaf was the reason the financial end of it was rather
perhaps, boggled.
In the end. Yes, but for a long time he carried it entirely
alone. And as far as I can gather there was almost no money
from the outside except for the money his brother John gave,
a little bit later on, to help finance the administration
building. The rest of it was entirely carried by Mr. James
G. Eddy. Is that correct?
Austin: That is correct. From the inception in 1925 until in the
mid-Depression era in 1932.
Stone: It must mean that he gave really a small fortune to supporting
this station: the men must have drawn fairly substantial
salaries. Many were college-trained and able to command reasonable
salaries. To say nothing of all the physical expenses of
supporting the station. And, in the beginning, your husband had to
plan for all the building arrangements, all the installation of
electricity and water and gas and all that. It was a big order.
Austin: Yes, that is true, and Lloyd was a perfectionist and every
detail had to be planned perfectly before it could be implemented.
Salaries were comparable with Forest Service salaries at that
time. There were several employed to take care of the physical
plant, planting trees and nurseries, doing the pollinating and
things of that sort, but the organization did keep getting bigger
and bigger as Lloyd felt the need for more research in different
phases. And it did become a burden that was unbearable
financial ly .
Early Staff
Stone: Some of the first people who were added to the staff must have
been interesting people and, probably, carefully selected.
Mr. Mason Lumsden was one of the early staff members. He, you
mentioned, came from Michigan, I believe.
Austin: Yes.
Stone: I suppose your husband knew something about him, or else he had
recommendations from some places?
Austin: No, he was a very close friend of John Barnes, who was first
employed. And John recommended him very highly. And Mace was most
anxious to move his family to California, so he was glad of the
opportunity.
Stone: How did you come to get John Barnes?
Austin: I believe he was recommended by Professor Wcodbridge Metcalf.
Stone: Then there were others in the early days who came in I m
not talking about the people who just came to maintain the
station but Howe I I was one who c-jme in at an early time, too,
didn t he?
Austin: Yes. He was there only briefly, that first winter, and assisted
the set-up of the first forest tree nursery. I don t recall now
just why he left.
Stone: Some other job?
Austin: I believe it was some other, better-paying job.
8
Stone: Most of these people were young men; they tended to move from
job to job.
Austin: That s right.
Stone: After they came here and settled in Placerville with families they
were more likely to remain?
Austin: That is true.
Stone: Employees are always something of a problem and I gather that
as the Institute expanded your husband had quite a lot of choices
to make in selecting employees. Mr. Wahlenberg was one of the
fairly early ones. What sort of a man was he?
Austin: He was very scientifically oriented and he enjoyed the work here.
But his concern was the lack of an endowment and eventually he
pul led out so as to go back into the Forest Service where he
felt he had better security.
Stone: He felt that the thing was not likely to last?
Austin: That s right.
Stone: Because Mr. Eddy was financing it. I see. Was he a married man?
Austin: Yes, but no children.
Stone: Still fairly young?
Austin: Yes.
Stone: Now, Mr. Gumming I know about, he finally ended up being in charge
here at the end. Then you had Clyde Berniman.
Austin: Yes. I talked to Clyde very recently. I had forgotten that he
came into the organization as early as he did, but it seems that
Bill Gumming had contacted him and had suggested to Lloyd that he
would be a good man to help with the physical work. He was with
us until after the Forest Service took over. And then he felt there
was an opportunity for employment in other fields, in the Forest
Service, or civil service; and he was retired only a year or so
ago, from other work.
Stone: From the Forest Service.
Austin: Yes.
Stone: So he was actually with you about seven years, something of that
sort?
Austin: Yes.
Stone: And all that time he did mostly just the physical work,
the upkeep?
Austin: Yes, his job was mostly the upkeep of the complete arboretum
and the gardens, whereas Bill Gumming was involved more with
the pollination and the hybridizing, seed care and things like
that.
Stone: Now, what about Mr. Gleason? He was also one of the early staff
members. Was he more the scientific type or was he doing
physical work?
Austin: I believe he was an ecologist, and he was hired to do work in
that field. I do not recall. He was not here too long, and
I do not recall. He was a young man just out of college, with
very little experience, so I m not sure just what he contributed
to the Institute as a whole.
Stone: I gather he wasn t here very long.
Austin: That is true.
Stone: Did you have some interesting visitors in the early days,
aside from Mr. Eddy, of course, who came very often?
Austin: Yes, there were many visitors. I did not have as much contact
with them, of course, because I was tied up with small children.
But from mostly the universities in the East and the Midwest,
and a lot of Forest Service people visited us from time to time.
But the station was not known world-wide at that time, so we
didn t have any foreign visitors that I can recall offhand.
Pioneering Work in Pollination
Stone: It must have been exciting to these foresters and to the
geneticists in the United States to realize that something like
this was going on.
Austin: Yes, that is true, and a lot of them came who questioned the
advantages to be gained by such a study. But I believe they were
impressed with the feasibility, the way the experiments were
working out, even in those early days.
Stone: Perhaps some of them didn t realize that working in California,
in such a site, would be better than in some eastern situations,
where a more rigorous climate would limit The kind of experiment
that could be done. Also, it s possible that- some geneticists
didn t even realize that under some conditions coniferous trees
would produce flowers and seed at an early age.
Austin: Well, it was interesting. When Lloyd first took up this work, he
had never seen the pine flowers, to recognize them, what they were
10
Austin:
Stone:
Austin
Stone:
Austin:
Stone:
Austin
Stone:
Austin
Stone:
Austin:
And the excitement when he first saw them was immense. Then
came the study. I think that many felt that because the pollen
was so very fine and windblown that the chances of getting control
conditions would be almost impossible. There, again, the study of
different materials a lot of materials were tested to make the
bags. Paper bags were out of the question because they would be
immediately torn by the wind. To get a suitable bag that would
protect the flowers until they were ready for pollination and allow
a visual view of the flower during the poM_mation technique. By
working it out, using very, very tightfy~woven canvas bags with
a cellophane window, and a hypodermic needle injected the pollen
into the opening flower. It was amazing the new techniques that
they worked out in those early days.
Really, very clever, very imaginative.
a research project, wasn t it?
It was a creative sort of
Yes, it was, because there was nothing to work from no guidelines
at all. In all the fruit tree pollination that Lloyd had helped with
they could use paper bags. The flowers are emasculated and then
paper bags put over them. The pollen was carried by bees, so all
they did was protect the flower during a short period of time. But
with the windblown pollen wind constantly was a menace. They had
to evoive a different procedure entirely.
Mr. Austin s work at Davis was almost entirely with fruit trees,
then?
Yes, it was. He was in the pomology division.
Did he work particularly with pears, apples? Or did he have any
special ity?
Well, I think it was more peaches, probably, but he was in charge
of the entire fruit orchards and the building up of the new varieties
for a future hybridizing program there.
In the very early days of the Institute there was a little
plantation of walnuts, too. There was some thought of studying
walnuts as genetic material. That wasn t carried on very long,
I gather.
I don t believe so. The idea, of course, was to carry on
Luther Burbank s work. He had evolved the Paradox Walnut, which was
a black walnut which was much larger and meatier than the native
b I ack wa I nut.
It was derived from the native black walnuts?
Yes, It wasn t suitable to carry it on here so a plantation
was set up at the state nursery site near Davis. And 1 did not
hear what eventually became of that plantation, whether it s still
there or if it was completely abandoned.
II
Stone:
Austin:
Stone:
Austin
Stone:
Austin:
Stone:
Austin:
Stone:
Austin:
I suppose the Institute couldn t spread itself out too far when
things got too big, and especially after they settled on the
genus Pi nus.
Yes, that is true.
So you needed to concentrate your activities on one thing or
another. It certainly seems that your husband made the ideal
selection of a site here; because of the possibility of studying
trees from lower altitude to higher altitude and having the
long growing season here in addition to the variety in slope.
That is true. But here he had the help of Professor Metcalf and
Professor Fritz, who toured the whole Sierra Nevada with him that
first summer for the purpose of choosing a suitable site.
And here on Highway 50, with its elevation from practically sea
level to 10,000 feet appeared the climatic changes and the
rigorous winters as well as the milder weather, so that all
possible combination could be endured by their potential progeny.
It certainly has worked out magnificently. I feel that your
husband had a very great deal to do with it, in spite of the
help he got from these two forestry men who were involved.
Because it was the genetics point of view that he brought to it,
and that was very important in thinking what was going to happen.
Now, when they started bringing in seed and small
trees, in the beginning, they hadn t narrowed it down to the
genus Pinus at that time, at all, had tney? I understand they
brought in all sorts of coniferous trees.
Yes, that is true. The idea was to wcrk wilh the evergreen forest
trees. The hardwoods, I believe, were eliminated practically at
the beginning, except for small work with the walnuts. But the field
appeared to be so immense. And yet at the same time the genus
Pinus offered such variableness, both in varieties and in
climatic variance, that the potential there appeared great enough so
that it was felt that it would prove best TO concentrate the
efforts there.
So rather soon this was narrowed down.
Yes.
Do you think Mr. Eddy was disappointed that your husband chose
the genus Pinus rather than the Douglas fir, for instance,
which was his own forest tree, we may say, in the lumber business?
I don t recall. I know that the decision was unanimous. I believe,
knowing the reasons for it, he was very much in favor of it. Because
of course, the Pseudotsuga taxi folia had only ono other variety
12
Austin;
Stone:
Austi n :
Stone:
Austi n :
Stone:
Austi n :
Stone:
Austin:
Stone :
[species] and there was so little chance for great variation.
Yes, there s just that one in southern California. I believe
there are other species in the world, but not in the Western
Hemisphere. So it gave you little opportunity to do much
genetic work with a number of species.
That s right.
Mr. Eddy must have spent a
beginning stages.
lot of time in California in the
Well, perhaps not as much as you think. Lloyd was quite a fetter
writer and Mr. Eddy replied in lengthy fashion also, so that a
lot of the problems were resolved by correspondence. But he was
here probably three or four times each year and was always
intensely interested in the progress.
Did Mrs. Eddy come with him, or the girls?
Mrs. Eddy came only once, that first spring, or the spring
of 1926 she came with Mr. Eddy and he wanted her approval of
the program and of the site. That is the only time I recall
meeting her. Of course, Lloyd met her a number of times when
he went up to Seattle for conferences with Mr. Eddy and he
knew the other members of the family. _[ did not, until the summer
that Mr. Eddy s son [James G. Eddy, Jr.J"Jack." worked here.
Yes, Jack worked here, I guess, when he was in college?
Yes, that is right. He spent two summers here.
He seems to be, still, intensely interested in the Institute.
He was very pleased to hear that we were recording these
reminiscences of early-timers because he felt it was
unfortunate that something hadn t been historically recorded about
the early days of the Institute and about the really great
contribution that his father had made. So I think he s going to be
particularly pleased that you re taking pert in it, too,
participating in this historical record, [interruption].
Depression Problems
Stone: Now, when Mr. Eddy called up on Sunday morning and said he would
no longer be able to carry the financing of- the station that
must have been a very shocking thing for your husband to
contemplate, and a great worry to him. Did he get a very favorable
response at all from the Carnegie Institute? I know they sent
somebody out. Did they send out Dr. Herbert or somebody to look at
1he situation?
13
Austin
Stone:
Austin:
Stone :
Austi n:
Stone:
Austi n:
Stone:
Austi n :
Stone:
Yes, there was a Mr. Herbert who was here and acted sort
of as a manager to see that the funds were put to good use, and
he assisted a good deal in the work, in the management of
the office work, actually, a very capable person. The staff
all cooperated just unbelievably well with Lloyd s suggestion
that sacrifices were necessary. It was all voluntary.
Mr- Gumming said he
Austin:
Some of them actual ly took other jobs,
went into another job at that time.
Yes, that is true.
To lighten the burden.
I believe the CCC camps were being formulated, and he went
as manager there to relieve the financial strain here.
Mr. Eddy, during this period, did continue to provide what
support was given, except for the little bit that the
Carnegie Institute was able to put into it. Or did you get
some other government help?
There was no other government help, no. I was just trying to
remember. I don t believe there was any appreciable income from
Mr. Eddy. He did finance the drive. I believe the funding
company CTamblyn and Brown] asked $10,000, and that was about
as much as he was able to do at that time. I think the funds
came mostly entirely from the Carnegie Institution.
That really cut the income of the Institute of Forest Genetics
i
practically down to nothing.
It was just a trickle. There was a little money came in, a
few people did donate a few hundred dollars, but it was
infinitesimal in relation to the need.
Mr. Righter told me about going around to the various rich men
in San Francisco, hopeful of getting a little donation. And
your husband, I guess, did that in southern California. He felt
it was a very disappointing enterprise to try to get anything
out of these rich men.
That is true. It was just the wrong time to try to raise an
endowment fund.
Stone: It must have been a very discouraging time for your husband. Did
he at any time during that period consider that he should try to
get into some other work himself?
Austin: Not once, not once. He was too dedicated to the Institute
by that time, that I doubt that it even occurred to him to try
to get into other work. We had a small savings account and
14
Austin: we lived on that. Then we took $100 a month, I believe it was,
after the Carnegie Institution supplied us funds, so we
managed , persona My.
Stone: But it must have been a worrisome time for you, with children
to raise and so little money to go on, and not knowing
what the future would be.
Austin: Yes, you learn to cut corners.
Institute Goes Under the U.S. Forest Service
Stone: Now, when it came to the time of its CThe Institute] being put
under the government, there were these two choices: the
Bureau of Plant Introduction Cnow the Bureau of Plant Industry]
or the Forest Service. 1 gather your husband favored the
Bureau of Plant Introduction if that could have been managed,
in the first place, because it was more scientific in a sense.
Austin: Yes, that s right. He felt that the genetics would get more
favorable treatment through the Bureau of Plant Introduction.
Of course, he had met Dr. Fairchild and he had done a lot of
testing of varieties that Bureau of Plant Introduction had
shipped into the country and he felt that the genetics approach was
more important than the forestry approach. And he did strongly
favor, and there was quite a little pressure brought to bear,
but eventually the Forest Service won the battle, shall we say?
And the California Forest and Range Experiment Station was placed
in charge.
Stone: I suppose in a way Mr. Austin was relieved that something had
been settled even though he had favored the Bureau of Plant
Introduction as being the more genetically inclined. But was
he happy with the arrangement? Of course, the way the Forest
Service is set up, they have somebody in charge and a little
Institution of this sort just is working under something higher
up in the Bureau. This puts you under Kotok. I suppose he
didn t know much about genetics, did he?
Austin: No.
Stone: It was new to them to have genetics.
Austin: It was definitely new to them. Of course, it meant a lot of
pressure on Lloyd because it put him under a good many other
people. The organization was already set up.
Stone: That s right. He d always been the boss.
Austin: And independent. Up until that time, he had such a great degree
of independence. Mr. Eddy was very appreciative of the ideas
and problems and gave him a lot of latitude to carry on. Then 1o
be suddenly placed under the direction of so many higher ups was
a little bit difficult to take.
Stone: Yes, that s bureaucracy. How did the Forest Service seem
to adjust to the idea? Did they take this favorably and give
it lots of support, or were they a little bit reluctant to
give support to scientific work, do you feel?
Austin: They were perfectly willing to give support. It was quite a
feather in their cap to have the Institute placed under the
California Forest Range and Experiment Station. And they
gave it support, both financially and otherwise. But of course
they had their own ideas about how the administrative programs
should be continued, and there was conflict.
Stone: There was no curtailment in the scientific work, though,
at that time.
Austin: No.
Stone: That s good. I wondered whether they would graciously accept
something that is so well, purely scientific as genetics;
the Range and Experiment Station was more practically oriented.
Austin: Yes.
Stone: They always had been. Even in 1935 the idea of forest genetics was
still new enough that possibly they didn t consider it a wholly
worthwhile project.
Was Mr. Eddy happy about this solution, do you think?
Austin: He was resigned to it.
Stone: He knew somebody had to do it and he couldn t.
Austin: That s right.
Stone: Did he continue to come down pretty often, in those later years,
after it went under the Experiment Station. Let s see, he
passed away in 64, I believe, something like that.
Austin: It was only a few years ago, yes.
Stone: So he lived quite a number of years after it went under the
Forest Service. I wonder if you saw very much of him during
those I ater years.
Austin: Yes, he was here at least once or twice a year. And he
contributed in a small way. He set up a fund to buy some books
that Lloyd needed and there were other small things that
he contributed to that were not available through the Forest
Service.
16
Stone: Then, he also was allowed to make suggestions and to work
with your husband in planning some of the scientific work here.
Austin: Yes.
Stone: As he had done heretofore, before the government took it over.
Austin: Yes.
Stone: It was fair that he would have a part in the planning in later
years.
After the Forest Service took over and your husband had,
as you say, the problem of working under many different
higher-ups, I suppose he had quite a lot of paper work and quite
a lot of bother from the bureaucrats higher up and possibly
that interfered with his own ideas about carrying on the
scientific work. Did he find it something of a bother and think of
getting into some other kind of business?
Austin: Yes, the red tape of any government agency, the need for reports
on a I I the different phases of the work, did require an excessive
amount of time. And also, from the time he could remember his whole
life had been beamed towards beautifying the world.
Austin Establishes Iris Breeding Business
Stone: You were just saying your husband had always looked toward
beautifying the world. And I can believe that, certainly. He
has created a beautiful place here.
Did he think, of going into some other type of plant
breeding to allow himself to continue with this pleasure of
beautifying the world?
Austin: Yes, he did think some of it, yet his heart was tied up with the
Institute, so nothing concrete was done about it until the
conflicts became too great.
Stone: And then he undertook this iris project?
Austin: Yes.
Stone: This was before he d really separated himself from the Institute?
Austin: No, not until after, actually.
Stone: Oh, I see. Then he went into the iris business.
Austin: As a full time commercial, rather than as a hobby.
Stone: And you both worked together?
Austin: Yes.
17
Stone:
Austin:
Stone:
Austin:
Stone:
Austin
Stone:
Austin:
Stone:
Austin:
I think that that must have been an entirely happy and
rewarding experience for you, though, wasn t it?
Yes, it was, and it was a challenge because it was a new
field, a scientific man entering into business. But here again
he was a perfectionist and every detail was planned so that
the business could not help but be a success.
He had run the Institute for so long, he certainly was used to
handling people and organizing things and setting up a plant that
you to help him with all the office work.
would run. Besides he had
I had been a trained office worker before my marriage, so that
it came naturally and was no actual burden. Our children were
then almost grown. The youngest daughter was still in high school,
the older daughter in college, and our son in the army, so that
we didn t have the care of a family and could concentrate our
total efforts on making a success of the business.
Well, it was really very nice for you at that time, then,
because you had a chance to exploit your early training and
keep busy with something that was rewarding. So many women,
when their children are gone, when the birds have flown the
nest, are left high and dry with nothing to do. And you had
a f ul 1 -time job.
Very definitely.
I think you have had a very happy life here in Placerville, you
might say almost from beginning to end, with maybe a few little
the whole it s been a
disappointments here and there, but on
very satisfying situation, hasn t it?
Yes.
And in a very beautiful environment which you have done a
deal to add beauty to.
great
Yes, and it was rewarding for Lloyd., too. Because these last years
he was able to work with perennials rather than forest trees,
which is a lifetime project. He saw the results of his work within
a few years, rather than waiting generations.
Reorganization meeting when the Eddy Tree Breeding Station was changed to the
Institute of Forest Genetics, April 26, 1932. Left to right: John Dierdorff,
Walter A. Starr, James G. Eddy, Walter Mulford, Donzel Stoney, Lloyd Austin,
J.H. Hutchinson, G.O. Tamblyn, James A. Irving, Francis I. Righter, Clyde R.
Berriman, William C. Gumming.
Lloyd Austin, James G. Eddy, William C. Gumming, Freshpool Planta
tion. October 1930.
NOTES ON INSTITUTE OF FOREST GENETICS
lowing the interview, Mrs. Austin
sent the following notes to Mrs. Stone. ]
Mr. Eddy s determination to get something under way can be
attested by the fact that he waited two days in Santa Rosa before he was
able to get an appointment with Mr. Burbank.
Our first rented home in Placerville, and the only house available
at that time, was a 3-story home with heating and cooking entirely with
wood stoves and a fireplace. We lived on the firsf floor, and offices were
set up on the second floor. Work of building seed bed frames, etc., was
done in the carriage house. At first I had done most of the stenographic
work, but after the Lumsdens moved to Placerville, Mrs. Lumsden took
over this work part time.
Before we had been here a full year, though, the house was sold and
we had to find other quarters. Our next house was too small to house the
office too so office space was rented in the Farm Building near the center of
town. One of the secretaries employed during this period was Doris Liddicoat,
whose husband later became a full time employee. Offices remained there
until administration bldg. was ready in early 1930.
In retrospect the trip East may have been after the California
tour with Profs. Metcalf and Fritz. Mr. Eddy had taken his family to
Europe that summer, and the plan was for Lloyd to meet him in New York then,
together, they could see Forestry and Genetics experts in the East. But
Lloyd did not receive Mr. Eddy s cablegram advising date of arrival, so both
were disappointed. I do not believe, though, that a decision about land
purchase was made prior to the eastern trip.
In rethinking the period between Dec. 1932 and the time the
Carnegie Institution came to our rescue I believe Mr. Eddy did send a minimum of
funds each month, for most employees were given half pay. Lloyd, though,
took no pay from that date until perhaps October or November of 1933, when
funds were available, and then not a full salary (only $100 a month)
until the Forest Service took over.
After Institute Was Taken Over By Forbst Service.
There followed a period of re-orientation in the program, plus
great activity re-building the facilities. A librarian and a qualified
taxonomist (Palmer Stockwell) were added to the staff.
Due to the depression the Federal Government" was employing many
men under the WPA program, so, by taking advantage of this, a new administra
tion building was built first, then a residence for the Superintendent, plus
roads, rock walls, fences, etc. The old buildings were destroyed. Other
buildings were added as funds became available.
19
The experimental program was evaluated. At that time Lloyd wished
to postpone the project he had started of trying to locate superior seed
trees by testing their progeny, until he could report on the projects under
way or completed, but Mr. Kotok felt this important work should not be stopped.
Hybridizing work to produce new hybrids was energetically carried forward
under Pete Righter.
Then the question arose as to whether the administrative staff should
have its headquarters in Placerville, or be more accessible to Forest
Experiment Station and University contacts at Berkeley. Lloyd felt strongly
that the staff, which was not only administrative but was also the scientific
staff should be headquartered at the site of the laboratory (the arboretum),
with trips as necessary to Berkeley for conferences, rather than vice versa.
However, he was in the minority, so arrangements were made for the Institute
library to be moved. Also Pete Righter and Palmer Stockwell took up
residence in Berkeley, though Lloyd was allowed to remain temporarily at
Placerville. Eventually, though, Lloyd resigned as Director, and remained
on the staff as a Geneticist, with headquarters at the Institute.
But without his former control he was increasingly frustrated when
help was not available to take records or analyze existing records. So much of
his time was necessarily spent taking detailed records, or making the
many reports required by the Experiment Station, that writing for publication
was delayed and interfered with to the extent that he received a low
personnel evaluation.
Even though Lloyd was unhappy over the turn of events, he had not
seriously planned to quit his job, for he felt obligated to write up his
findings. But in the end he was not allowed the opportunity to do so,
and the thesis he spent many months writing was, eventually, never published.
I
Gladys Austin
PLACERVILU, CAUPOtWIA, O.SA
April 6,
IRIS OF RARE BEAUTY
Sound the Woitt
For Btoom -Roui ft. Yw
ttor Bray QaHko SKuatfoe
F*r Prlzo-Wiimlns ExMbta
Far Ftowwr ArrufeDMate
foe Year HybridSac
Do you laiwi if X raable a hit? l afraid ay tMnkit* it sore about Lloyd than
about the InrWtnte.
that that Lloyd aa enine, ant he was definitely a
Unfortunately he wa* net aa eaojr MUb f*T ethe* workers to et aloaf with. It wan
just not petsi M.e far kin to tvsra project* aaf to others oog^leteljj, aad this wa
a source f discontent. CoieplaiBts were aai* directly to Mr. SWy "-- but Mr. BAdy
aever o&oe interfered with Lloyd s decisions ia hlriag * *irin$, o* la the
of lat*r He Showed great confidence in LI *ya<i imtfcrity Mi ability.
*.-
not too aany face-to~faje neatly s with Mr. Vddbr pertops 2 or 3 . ^ ,
timee a year; but Ho was kept iaforaed, opiaft*a aeked, aad utbri^r for projects ^
requsste*. in l&c detailed letter*. As I raaeatoer Mr. T,ddy aaswrred ia kind. This
habit of writing long, detailed tatters wns partly responsible, X mok, for the ladaVi-,. , ;
of regard shown Lloyd froa the Perkeley office X donbt they ever took tine to read
then carefully. Face to face wot lac* wore not easy for Lloyd, for he was a slow,
careful thinker, wad often was not able to answer criticism en the spot,
The enu script mentioned vae written at reat pareonal pacrlf ioe. Mr. Talbot
(then director of the Befflonal office) and Pal-aer Stockvsll (director of the
Institute) believed Lloyd should do his writing In Berkeley, where library f*c 11 it iee,
wera immediately arailable, to iasisted that ha lire twspomrily In Berkeley as I
recall he wae away froa hoae avreral aonthe, and eaae hope rarely. Vhen the .aanueei i pt
was finished, shortly before he left the Institute, it waa turned over to Palmer 81
well for his approval before publication.
X do not know what happened to the manuscript, but think Kr. fttookvall was *a
invelvad ia the cork oak project, which included a trip to Spain, that it J vat sat
around until the data tecaate so old it was not worth publishing I I only
of courga. About a yaar ago X asked Pete Bighter about tie flaasMfript, aadhe
the data was obsolete, so it was not published. I WAP eorry to learn this, but
realized that Pete always bellevaa Lloyd s Progeuy Test not worth the time fiva to
and he did net hesitate to say so. X do feel, tbo, that Lloyd should have had this
recognition ae a partial reward far hie personal sacrifices and for his long hours ?
(uKU/aiy from 5iOO AM to 6:00 fM, often 7 day* a weak) of dedicated work. X understand
the manuscript is in the X&etltuta files and available for r44seuroher*. X do not
recall its title.
After rapil&r salariee were ATailable to Institute aployees, Pete
and Lloyd ooncurred, that employees who had boon ftettiaf half pay shoold be reiabursed,
and this was dene by Pate and Lleyd wut of their own salaries.
1 want to assure you that X ac not in the least bitter about Lloyd s ouster, for
zoon his health iaproTed aad, abore all, ha was happy to be his own master aain and
in rewarding work with perennials. X feel aur* he would not aave left the Institute
of bis own aocord.
Bead He Today for My Infonaetto IRIS COLOR GUIDEBOOK Covering M Racei of Iris
I9b
Thos3 first years in thi Iris tusinees v re difficult, and our tw^ ^A-^ht.pi;
were gtlll ia school needing finnnci&l help out It *.; not tro lr,r t Ve^or- Mny
was veil fcnown for his daring and vision. le fir**: ta-iklcd. th littie- .caOKn ^ril
Ii-i*: he do .ned tha word to cover thn Onrocj clua Iris fror. Pnlertin . , th* ,? -.; Mar
from T-irk^ftftn, and the hybrids of these two, termed Cnco^elias. ^e^ovn th>>* tr^r-
luxi o m LO tsra which linked these Iris, v/itb ideut.igAi culture rr.qolvr-.-.o t-- , -..d l <- -
white collar on the Beads. Lloyd developed cny V^aat.iful V^fi f . V fare
co.mnerce.
, relnct* .*.-;,, ht fe^vo up th? Arils, R8 they we.-.- s-. diff ?xlt to ; ; * ?.fi
thr.t tbpy ;:r J - cd not corvraeroially feaniule - &r..l snlef luii l;o t. u: * j . : .*
i^i^j] ?heii he turned to M s -secpad lovo - th* Ke- Blcor.-dn;-, Ii i?. C".
tht> idr, al" 1 of thi? time, t>;o, h WBS q.uitly worl:i:ij; -vi*-h his cvn epe.rltT lri -
th op^ce A& Iris, vith wO^rda elonfoRt^d into horns or fl? .ut:es, i.w.a * tlio"- juiios*
Jo;/j?f. th^ floar.^ir^j W&T ao hoavy. Eut again, he v nha?. of hin time, nn^ evrm
tp.^V the ATericnn Iri<. Society hirachy have not a7.,ipt?i . hi=> ne- f.jr:BS -- tut v r*
hs did ujt huk-e to rely on the AlS.for hie reco^iiltio . :;t*^. fiv. n Ui- ^er,cral t-iidc^lr^;
puMic, and. hie ;ie* Ivrat are widely accept*!*! and lovi .
the?*- yen re Dr. C-. K. Gothe, a ph lanthro^V-* ir. ia WKr^t::, va: ieeplj
in Lloyi 1 ? vror 1 :, ^ after Lloyd s death h a-.i. pasted, and flanr. .r.l, a
Irir G-ftr^en i:; *!vr. C.M.Croethn a-liuretua at Sacra.r.pnto Stnto Con.tvt. T:,*
was d<=dica*f. ou I-^rch 2S, 1^6U, on Dr. 3oethc f - ?^tli
"he etouo read?; LI,On>
SOMOBI/J, THIS
TE/L^uHUK THS l^TS C^
183? - ^363
With hi3 vision aul sriei.tlflc
<i i ; b. hj-hrid*r.i- ar.d gen ticist
he cieated tf X ocs v^.y j Iris,
rr.-* li^aiiiTeil for^-j* "enctics
i- 15 year? of -ledi-ated SR . vic j to th=
ct G-JOs
o", if or n
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Ter-.jiial /-isits (never ai:* fitancial he! :>) ii. iee---.luc Llov-l r s-nir 1 ,*- of ad" ir
in j-.r
I d . itt th^se uot^s are -if ar.y heir t > yc i, exr^t, :->rha"s, " ;;iv? .">u a
j?t^--: picture of L1-5V.1. ?; the way, LI: yd hn j h 4 . ? p^-\ure t --ken atjont I ^T
>:.. : I h; <? "i,of th Ji -
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Cat.
20
FRANCIS I. RIGHTER
Because Mr. Righter was our principal interviewee for the series
on the Eddy Tree Breeding Station: Institute of Forest Genetics, we
had several Interviews and various additional meetings with him. Our
first encounter with "Pete" Righter was in Berkeley. In appearance and
in dress he looked like a retired professor. A handsome white-haired
gentleman, with an intelligent face and careful scholarly manner, we were
not surprised to learn that he had given up a teaching position in a
university to join the staff of the Institute. He had been wise enough
to realize that duties of a rising academician were less well suited to
his talents than the activities of a research scientist in a field
station. Perhaps his choice of career can be explained by his poetic
nature for "Pete" is a poet. He is also an historian and a man of
broad artistic and scholarly interests. "Pete" Righter appreciates
the world of living things with more than a scientific passion. He
knew he would be happiest working with the trees and studying them in
their native habitat.
Had Righter continued his academic career he would likely have
become a dean, or a college president. He has a most remarkable gift for
getting along with people and adjusting to the limits of the agency he is
working for. This has been shown, during his supervision of genetics work
at the Institute, as he coped with the occasional financial and personal
prob I ems.
Some later meetings with F. I. Righter were in his attractive
residence in Sacramento. Here "Pete" and his wife Jean have arranged a
comfortable home for retirement years. Nothing more refreshing could
be imagined than to come from the heat of Sacramento Valley to their
house, and to be invited to visit the refreshingly cool "Bamboo Room"
with its unusual decor. "Pete s" adjoining study affirms the fact that
he has not laid aside his scholarly interests.
Lois Stone
I nterv i ewer- Ed i tor
March 1969
Regional Oral History Office
486 The Bancroft Library
University of California at Berkeley
21
(November 6, 1967)
Family Background and Childhood
Stone:
Righter :
Stone:
Righter:
This tape is a recording of Mr. Francis Irving Righter of
Sacramento, California, recorded in Berkeley, California by
Lois C. Stone. The interview concerns the history of the
Institute of Forest Genetics at Placerville, California.
This station was originally known as the Eddy Tree Breeding
Station. The recording is made on November 6, 1967.
Now, Mr. Righter, would you like to start in by telling us
something about your childhood, your family background?
Yes, indeed. I was born in Port Jervis, New York on September 22, 1897,
My birth is not registered but it probably could be found if
necessary in one of the censuses. My father was Irving Righter.
My mother s maiden name was Lizzie Condit Towel I. I had two
brothers and two sisters. The older of the brothers was George
Edgar Righter. The next in line was Harry Mulford Righter; then
an older sister, Caroline Righter; and a younger sister,
Lilian Elizabeth Righter.
Were there some special influences in your childhood, people who were
important?
more influenced,
a civil engineer
I th
and
with them and
The special
and woods and
Yes, there were. I was
persons. My father was
were civil engineers. I worked
not want to be a civil engineer
youth were mountains and rivers
I spent much of my time along the Delaware Ri
even in the winter, in skating. As I grew ol
school age and the high school age, the local
Carnegie Library -- in Port Jervis was the th
greatest influence on me, I believe.
ink, by things than by
both of my brothers
decided that I did
influences in my early
things like that.
ver in the summer, and
aer, in the grammar
library the
ing that had the
My education consisted of ki ndergarden, I suppose, and
grammar school and high school. I went to the Port Jervis High
School, and there I took what was Known as the college preparatory
course. I went out for athletics there and led a practically normal
life for a young boy. Then I became a lumberjack for about a year.
The war started in 1917 and I enlisted shortly after the declaration of
war and stayed in until the end. I had some education at Harvard
University, where I was transferred near the end of the war to study
for a commission. Then when the armistice was signed it was back
to civilian life again.
22
University Education and Early Employment
Righter: After an interval of almost a year I entered Cornell
University as a forestry student, graduating in 1923. I
returned the next year for a year of graduate work in the
same field of study.
Then I had a brief spell of work with the Boy Scout
Foundation of Greater New York at Kanawaki Lakes, near
Tuxedo Park, after which I took a job with the United Fruit
Company in Cuba, where I became timekeeper on a sugar plantation.
After about a year in Cuba I was offered a position in
Hawaii at the Pioneer Mill Company at Lahaina on Maui,
another sugar company. I decided to accept that and went to
Hawaii in the summer of 1925.
After two years in that sort of work as a section
"Luna," which is actually an overseer of a section of a
plantation on one, and assistant agriculturist on another,
the Oahu Sugar Co. plantation at Waipahu on Oahu, I felt
that what I had learned in Cuba and Hawaii respecting methods of
producing sugar canes had application to forestry. For I
learned in Hawaii, very shortly, that they were growing about
five times as much sugar cane per acre there as in Cuba. And
a large amount of that increase in yield per acre was due to
the fact that they were intensively breeding sugar canes.
It was these superior sugar canes which were producing much of
the increased yield. So I decided to return to Cornell and do
some more graduate work, specializing more in genetics, and
finishing up my master s in forestry.
When I completed the work for a master s degree there were
no jobs open in forest genetics. At that time forest genetics
was almost unknown and no forestry school had courses in that
field of work. Genetics was not a required subject in the
curricula of forestry schools in the United States, and probably
not in any other part of the world, either. The only place where
very much of that sort of work was being done, as I recall, was
in the East Indies in connection with breeding of rubber trees,
and in Brooklyn, New York, at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden
where in 1924 the Oxford Paper Company had established a poplar
breeding program, which was being carried out by one of the
botanists at the Botanical Garden, and Dr. Ernst Schreiner, a
forest pathologist, who is now the dean of tree breeders in
this country, and at the Eddy Tree Breeding Station, which was
established in 1925 at Placerville, California.
I therefore took the Civil Service examination for a
position in the Forest Service, and was accepted and spent
about a year at the Southern Forest Experiment Station at
New Orleans, Louisiana.
While in the Southern Forest Experiment Station in New
Orleans I was unable to do any genetics work because such studies
were not on the official program of the station. Rather, I was
23
Righter: there engaged in forest management research. That is,
research into the management of forests, particularly
the si 1 vicul tural operations such as thinning, and I
helped out in turpentining studies also. Such work was
not particularly to my liking since I studied genetics and
wanted very much to get into genetics.
Lioyd Austin Offers a Position at the Eddy Station
Righter: Mr. Lloyd Austin, who was the director of the Eddy Tree
Breeding Station, wrote asking me if I would be interested in a
position with that Station. I wrote back and told him I
would be interested.
Shortly after that I received a telegram from Professor
Hosmer of Cornell University requesting me to come back to
serve as an acting Assistant Professor of forest management
for three terms. This I declined because I felt that I
didn t know enough about the subjects I would teach there
if 1 accepted. But my refusal was not accepted. I received
a long letter from Professor Hosmer afterward, again request
ing me to reconsider, so I did.
Mr. Austin wrote me after that and offered me a position
and I told him I had accepted another position; there was a
little misunderstanding about it but that was cleared up
and he decided to offer me the position again and hold it open
for three terms, until I finished my work at Cornell in
February 1931. That is what eventually ensued, and I
reported for duty at the Eddy Tree Breeding Station in
March of 1931 .
Background of the Eddy Station
Righter: The Eddy Tree Breeding Station was founded by Mr. James G. Eddy,
a Washington timber man, in 1925. He had, for a long time,
been considering such a project. He knew, of course, that
the curricula of the forestry schools and the programs of the
experiment stations were devoted to the study of the environmental
relationships of the growth of trees and that the genetics
side of the study of forestry was being completely ignored
all over the world, except perhaps in those places which
I mentioned previously. He therefore, after a long time,
extending back at least to 1918, decided to establish the
Eddy Tree Breeding Station. He did, as I said, in June, 1925,
do th i s .
Mr. Eddy, in view of the obvious difficulty of applying
genetic principles to the improvement of trees, must be
considered a very exceptional individual, if not a very
24
Righter: eccentric one. He was cautious about this and he sought
the advice of people who were supposed to be conversant
with the problems and the possibilities in that field of
work. There is no question in my mind that he encountered
a great deal of discouragement from some of the scientists
he met, though this discouragement was not handed out
point-blank to him but more in the method of answering his
question than in the type of words used. However, one
distinguished scientist in a great university said,
"Young man, if you go ahead with your project you will fail."
The reason for that, of course, was that forest trees
those which are of importance economically are slow to
attain economic maturity as well as reproductive maturity.
Consequently the problem seemed similar to one of breeding
the seventeen year locust or the century plant.
When he first went to Luther Burbank, Luther Burbank
was skeptical about such a project, although he had, himself,
done work in the breeding of walnuts. The reason for this was,
as I have said, the long time lapse between generations, which
was generally accepted by foresters and botanists alike.
Mr. Eddy, however, had observed at various places in
the woods, where the trees were not crowded, that timber
trees were capable of producing flowers when very young.
And that made all the difference in the world to him.
And 1 think, myself, that it is actually the thing which
convinced him that it would be a feasible project. When
he told Luther Burbank that he had seen smal I trees with
flowers on them, Luther Burbank said, "Well, in that case
it s all right to go ahead!" and did give him some encourage
ment. But I am sure that Mr. Eddy would have gone ahead
anyway because he was incandescent with the subject,
virtually burning with it. I think that much of his conversa
tion with his colleagues and his associates, in those days,
must have been on the breeding of forest trees. What I mean
by that is his social associates.
Lloyd Austin Hired to Head Station
When, in 1925, Mr. Eddy decided to go ahead with his project,
he visited Mr. Burbank and asked him to head up the project.
Burbank, of course, had his own project going there and was
an older man than Mr. Eddy, and Che] felt that a much younger
man would be more suitable. Mr. Eddy asked him to recommend
one. Mr. Burbank thereupon recommended Lloyd Austin, who was
at that time working in pomology at the University of
California at Davis. Mr. Austin had h ad no forestry training
whatever. But he was very much interested in breeding, and
had made numerous visits over to see Luther Burbank and discuss
.his work, and find out about such things. So Mr. Eddy approached
Mr. Austin and offered him the job. Mr. Austin was at first
25
Righter: very reluctant to accept such a position because Mr. Eddy did not
put it up as an endowed position. It was a thing that would
go along from month to month, from year to year, to see
how it was working out first. Mr. Austin held out for an endow
ment. Mr. Eddy said, "I ll refer you ..." etc. That sentence
i not a verbatim quote from his letter but only a memory
of the substance of a statement in one of his letters to Mr.
Austin. So I suggest this revision: Mr. Eddy then in his
answering letter referred him to people who knew about his
financial status, so that he could contact them about his
ability to support the project, at least for the time to find
out whether something can be accomplished in this field."
So he gave Mr. Austin these references and Mr. Austin, of
course, looked them up and learned that Mr. Eddy was a multi-
mi I I ionai re. After much argument, which lasted over a period
of some weeks, Mr. Austin finally decided to go along, and
accepted the position.
Once the decision had been made by Mr. Austin to go ahead
with the work, Mr. Eddy immediately implemented the project
financially. Mr. Austin did a very good job in working out the
details of the financial arrangements. In the end, this cost him
a lot of time because no specified monthly or annual budget was
set up in advance. So he had to send Mr. Eddy a record of
expenditures every month with explanations for some of the
items as well as reasons, justifying proposed expenditures for
major new items. In addition, he reported on the progress of
the work, outlined needed new projects, etc. But the main
decision other than that was where to establish the Station,
and after that, what to do at the Station. Mr. Austin made
a trip around the United States to look into various sites
which might be suitable for such a Station. He had the
problem of deciding on what to do about the selection of
a site, which he did almost immediately upon returning. He
had had some work up at Placerville, or near Placerville
at Camino, above Placerville in a pear orchard up there.
He was struck with the suitability of that sort of a location
for the work of the Eddy Tree Breeding Station.
Placerville Favored as Site
The situation at Placerville was that it was about mid-way between
the top of the Sierra Nevada and the valley floor fifty miles
from each would bring you to Placerville. It was a timber
producing country; the original country there was completely
timbered over. There were good stands of timber, mostly above,
but some second growth below Placerville. The situation offered
these two very important advantages: first of all, the products
of the institute could be tested out under a wide variety of
environmental conditions on the El Dorado transect of the
Sierra Nevada. The environment of the high Sierra was very
26
Righter: different from the environment down in the valley; and
you d only have to go a distance of fifty miles each way to
get vast extremes. But in a level country you might have
to go a thousand miles to get such a thing as that. So the side
of a big mountain range was considered a very good place to
put such a station.
The other advantage was that there you could work up
the mountain as the flowers came into bloom. The flowers
which were first to bloom were those on the trees at the
lower elevations. As you went up the mountain other flowers
of the same species, or different species, would come into
bloom, which meant that you had a long breeding season.
The breeding season on level ground would be maybe ten days
to two weeks. But there we had a breeding season which started
in February, on Monterey Pine, introduced down in the Sacramento
Valley, and ended in July up in the high Sierra.
So the decision was made to establish the station at
Placerville. Actually, Placerville is at about 1800 feet
elevation, and the experimental tract was situated four miles easi
of Placerville, at 2760 feet elevation. Another advantage
of that situation was that so many different trees from all
parts of the world could be grown there. We did not have much
really frigid weather, that is, it seldom got below 20 below
Fahrenheit. A gocd many species of timber trees would be
capable of surviving that. As it turned out, that proved to be
the case.
Site Chosen, Staff Hired, and Work Begun
Having decided where to locate the station, a site was
established four miles east of Placerville, as I said, on a ridge
top, and Mr. Eddy purchased, in the end, about 106 acres of land
there not al I at once, but at two times; and we can give
you the dates of those later.
The first job after that was to determine what genera
of trees would be investigated and worked with. Mr. Eddy, of
course, was a Douglas fir man. He probably would have liked
to go into Douglas fir Pseudotsuga minzesie, but there
aren t very many species in Pseudotsuga. So that was considered
but not regarded as one of the major projects, although a few
collections of Douglas fir seed were made and some Douglas firs
were originally planted in the arboretum. Finally it was
decided that the major effort would be devoted to the genus
Pi nus. That genus is one of the most important, economically,
of al I the genera of forest trees. There were eight or ten
local species of pines on or near the El. Dorado transect of the
Sierra Nevada. It was felt at the time, too, that thfey should
go into the breeding of a hardwood genus, and they finally
selected walnuts for that. The purpose there would be not to
produce walnuts, but to produce walnut timber of superior or
particular utilization characteristics.
27
Righter: Having decided that they would go into those two different
genera the first job was to organize a staff. Mr. Austin
canvassed the forestry schools. He obtained Mr. John Barnes,
who was a forestry graduate at the University of Michigan; and
after that Mr. Mason Lumsden, who was also a Michigan man, to
come there and help get the arboretum established and the
program going. Of course they had to recruit people to do
the laboring work also. Mr. William C. Gumming was first
employed as a man who would do odd jobs around there, things
of that sort. He came on as a regular staff member and
was a charter member of the Eddy Tree Breeding Station staff.
First Projects of Station
Righter: The work of establishing a breeding project on the site
selected consisted of, first clearing off the pear trees
which were there the pine trees had been removed to plant pear
trees and now the staff was removing the pear trees to
replant pine trees there. That was a job in itself, and one
which was readily accomplished in a short period of time.
The next job was to determine what the breeding and genetics
program would be, and from that decide what had to be done.
Austin drew up programs after collaboration with his staff.
Once a orogram was settled upon, what had to be done came
along almost automatically. The first thing a breeder would
do in breeding for the improvement of a particular kind of
plant, is to assemble as many different species of the genus
as he could in one convenient place, so that the breeding
operations could be conducted right there without having
to travel all over. That was one of the first big projects
which was started. Mr. Barnes and Mr. Austin wrote letters
to botanical gardens and seed companies and seed collectors
and universities all over the world, requesting seed of
various species which might be obtained readily by people in
those parts of the world. The response was very generous and
very quick, so in a very short time they had fifty or sixty
different species of pine represented in the arboretum at
Placervi Me.
Arboretum Established
Righter: This arboretum, which was later named the Eddy Arboretum in honor
of Mr. Eddy, was laid out in such a way that the species of pines
were separated and segregated in the arboretum according to the
relationship groups of the pi/ies as established by Shaw at the
Arnold Arboretum. His book The Genus Pinus*was used as a guide.
Those species which were more closely related to each other
were planted in a particular group in a particular block of the
arboretum.
George R. Shaw, The Genus Pinus, Gambridge, Mass., 1914.
28
Righter: So the arboretum was divided up more or less according to
relationship groups. The spacing had to be determined.
It was figured that the trees would grow to a large size and
take up lots of room. In order to accommodate all the trees
that would be needed it would be necessary to plant them not
farther than fifteen feet apart. You see, there s a problem!
The spacing arrangement was finally decided to be fifteen feet
between trees. This was because trees ,as they grow larger,
take up much more room and require more room, and yet the Institute
couldn t give too much room to individual trees. Otherwise it
would soon be out of land. The land would all be occupied, and it
had to reserve some land for buildings, nursery purposes,
field tests and suchlike things, and for freak gardens where
abnormal forms could be planted out and watched and used in
genetic studies later on. So, it was thought that fifteen feet at
the start would be suitable and if necessary thinnings could be made
later on. Fifteen feet was enough space, as we learned later,
for individual trees to come into flower early in life. Many
of them produced flowers within five years, rather than twenty
years as most foresters expected. And that put a different light
on tree breeding because these young trees flowered very
abundantly at that age, producing both pollen and ovulate
strobi I i .
Stone: Why do you think that was? More light?
Righter: Yes, more light, space and special care.
The Walnut Plantation
Righter: The walnut plantation was established on land leased from
the State Department of Forestry at Davis. Austin himself did
most of the work in assembling the walnut materials. Walnuts
can be easily propagated through buddings. All they had to do
was to get cuttings of different species of walnuts and
walnut hybrids and assemble them at Davis. Later on a small
plantation was also put in up at the Institute.
Pines in the Arboretum
Righter: In Shaw s The Genus Pinus sixty-some different species are
recognized, and all the other pines which had been observed
up to that time were regarded as varieties or forms of those
species. Some species of pine Included one or more varieties.
Indeed, the Montezuma pine of Mexico was so endowed with
varieties that- it was long regarded as the most variable of
species of pine. S.ince then, soms of these different varieties
have been elevated to species rank. Dr.Mirov can straighten
you out on this, as he s made special studies of those things.
Nursery Building - Eddy Tree Breeding Station
July 1930
Francis I. (Pete) Righter
April 1931
Pollination technique. Bag, hypo, and Bill
Gumming holding syringe. 1932
F.I. Righter transferring from climbing
rope to limb. May 1948.
29
Righter: .The upshot of this work in assembling an arboretum was that
the arboretum at Placerville, in a very few years by the
time I arrived there in 1931 was the most complete arboretum
of pines in the world. There were more different species of
pines assembled there than had been assembled in any one place
anywhere in the world, probably because it was such a mild
climate there and the environment was so favorable to their
growth. Some of the high elevation cold climate trees wouldn t
grow there and some of the tropical trees didn t do well there.
So they were missing.
Stone: Did you include the white pines as well as pitch pines or
hard pines?
Righter: Yes, the white pines as well.
Stone: Did you continue with walnut breeding?
Walnut Studies Discontinued
Righter: The work in the walnuts was not carried on for very many years.
It was found that we had all we could do with the pines with
the money available and staff available. But the pines are the
second largest genus among the gymnosperms, consisting, as is
recognized now, of some ninety different species. They were
distributed ci rcumpolarly in the northern hemisphere from
high elevations to low elevations, from swamp edges to desert
edges so there was impounded in that genus a vast amount
of genetic diversity with which to work. And genetic diversity,
of course, is the raw material of the breeder and the geneticist.
Techniques Developed by Staff
Tree CI imb i ng
Righter: Another problem was to work out the various techniques which
would be required in the experimental program. Everything had to
be reduced to a technique, you might say. Tree climbing itself
an occupation which required considerable agility and strength and
endurance, and was dangerous had to be mastered. That meant
people would have to familiarize themselves with climbing these
trees what had to be done, how best to climb, and this thing
and that and work out some sort of ideas and at least give the
neophytes in that field the benefit of their experience and
knowledge. We know that the limbs of the white pine, for
instance, are more brittle than those of the hard pines. And
the wood is softer as a rule, and things like that. Other
techniques involved the collection of seed cones usually grow
out on the ends of the limbs. Actually the ovulate flowers
in the pines are produced up in the top part of the tree and pollen
is generally produced mostly in the lower part of the tree.
30
Righter: It meant climbing up and getting these cones and being sure
that they were not mixed with cones of neighboring trees: you
didn t just throw them down on the ground. You had to collect
them on the tree and put them in bags there as a rule, if you
wanted to keep the seeds separate by seed parent. So there
was much to be done on learning how to do these things. We
didn t have large ladders that we could easily handle out in
the woods. It eventually meant climbing with ropes, which
we learned to do.
How to Determine Ripe Cones
Another thing was to determine when the cones were ripe for
collecting. You couldn t trust the squirrels, because they
went in too early sometimes. That required a little observation
and testing when to collect the cones. The extraction of seed
was another problem that had to be gone into. Because in
almost any collection of seed that you make from a pine tree
you get seeds which are hollow and seeds which are sound.
We had to separate the sound from the hollow and we didn t
want to waste seeds, particularly hybrid seeds because they
were very valuable seeds, or waste time on hollow seeds. So
that had to be worked out.
And the collection of pollen was another thing. That
wasn t too much of a problem, except that the isolation of the
pollen from a single tree was difficult because pollen grains
are about thirty microns in diameter, very small. They get all
over everything in your clothes, and in any bags you may have.
Foreign pollen can easily get in.
Those things were eventually worked out and reports
were made on them, articles were published and so on, but
it took time, lots of time. The control of pollination was
partially worked out when I arrived. What has to be done is to
put a pollen-proof bag or barrier around the ovulate strobili
of the pines. How best to do that had to be determined; and
the kind of bag which would be suitable had to be worked on.
A heavy bag on small limbs would bend them down, out of shape.
If there were storms they would bend the limb down maybe and
break it off, or thrash it around and hurt the flowers things
of that sort. They had a very good bag, called the standard
bag, made of ten-ounce army duck. Its specifications are given
in publications which have been issued, and it has been widely
copied throughout the world. Actually it was my favorite bag.
Other people like to use sausage casings which were developed later.
One of the main problems I worked on when I first came
here was how to get the pollen into the bag without taking the
bag off or letting foreign pollen in. The method which had been
developed up to then was rather crude. They took the bag off
sometimes. They had a copper tube which was large in diameter
and there was a hole in the bag and a flap down over that hole,
which they lifted up to put the tube in, and then they d
31
Righter: squirt the pollen in. The tube was connected with a rubber
ball.
Hypodermic Pollen Technique
Righter: But that wasn t completely pollen-proof. I conceived of the idea
of using a hypodermic syringe with a rubber bulb, and that
solved that problem. You see, that could be punched through
the fabric. And when you pull it out you just rub the place where
it went through with your fingernail and that closes up the
small hole. Microscopic examination showed that the pollen
couldn t get through there. It was a perfect way of solving
that problem.
At about the same time people doing breeding work in
pecans had also adopted the hypodermic syringe. So it wasn t a
unique adaptation of a medical instrument. In fact, very
shortly after I went to Placerville and got acquainted with
some of the problems of controlling pollination I made a trip to
Sacramento to visit a medical supply store to see what would
be suitable for application to our problems up there. I came
up with this idea of the hypodermic syringe, which worked out
fine.
The testing of pollen had to be perfected. That was
another problem I worked on. My rather practical method of doing
that has been widely copied and much used since. It has been
described in publications and so on.
The Time to Pollinate
Righter: Another problem was the best time to put the bags on the flowers
and when to pollinate and when to remove the bags. That took
studies of several years. They put bags on certain flowers
of one tree, and on the same tree they d bag them but at a
different time, to see how the 1 flowers ripened. They had to
determine when the flowers were most receptive to pollen. If
you put the pollen on too soon the pollen and your efforts are
wasted. If you put it on too late the flowers are closed and
no longer receptive. You put it on just right when the
carpels are at right anglps to the axis of the cone, that s
the time TO do it. But they don t all ripen at the same time,
so we adopted that as our final criterion of what we call
maximum receptivity and we try to pollinate at that time, which
of course meant going up the same tree two or three times to
po! I inate.
32
Righter: Those things took time. The flower ripening process
has been described and published and our application of
this description and the various stages I believe there were
about seven different stages which we recognized, from bud
closed to buds open, to things like that, maximum, partly closed,
closed. It was finished after a few years. We had made tests of
putting bags over flowers at different stages pollinating at
different stages of the ripening, seeing how they came out.
Those were some of the techniques which had to be worked
out. The techniques in setting up nursery tests, the evaluation
of what we obtained from our control pollinations and other
kinds of seed collections had to be worked out the best size
of a nursery bed. At first it was deemed to be the standard
nursery bed of four feet, but it was later widened to five feet for
statistical purposes and to save space, and lumber, because
the smaller size required more beds, and hence, more space and
lumber. Various things like that, those things were all worked out
in due course.
At the time I arrived there, the nursery experimental work
had been developed so highly that there was no other place
I knew of which had such a we I I -developed and perfect method of
nursery experimentation with tree seedlings no other place in
the world like that. It was remarked upon by many visitors
who came from all parts of the world.
Stone: Who was responsible for setting up the nursery?
Righter: The forestry people did that, John Barnes, and Mr. Austin supervised
it very closely but he was so busy with the office work, the
accounts and working on the programs and working on the library
work and all this business that he didn t get out into the field,
very much. They did a good job, whoever did it. Wahlenberg
was very prominent in that, I suppose. The record will tell.
But at any rate, there was a tool available for anybody that
had ideas on how to set up breeding tests and go ahead with
the work. Al I you had to do was to adapt the proper
statistical designs for your particular test, and the nursery
technique was there.
33
Depression Problems (October 27, 1967)
Reorganization of Station
Righter: One of the most interesting periods of our history at Placer-
ville was during the Depression. Shortly after I arriveded
in 1931, it became quite evident that the Depression was
having its effect on Mr. Eddy, because of financial circumstances,
When he started the station it was learned by Mr. Austin, the
first director, that he was a multimillionaire, but he evidently
lost quite a lot of money. And even before the Depression
started in fact in 1928 he had come to the realization
that this program of genetic studies and systematic breeding
for the improvement of forest trees was bound to be something
that would, in its requirements, exceed his financial capacities.
Thus, before I arrived on the scene at Placervi I le Mr.
Eddy had broached the possibility of affiliation with some
outstanding educational or research institution, such as the
Carnegie Institution of Washington and the University of
California at Berkeley. It was clear to him then, and to the
staff, that something like that might eventually have to be
done. In 1932 the situation became such that it was necessary
to lay off several members of the staff, just keep a skeleton
staff there to keep the premises in order, and to see what they
could do about raising funds to carry the Institute along.
This was a problem that necessitated reorganization of
the Eddy Tree Breeding Station because it wasn t likely that,
if we ran a campaign to raise funds, other people would be
interested in contributing to Mr. Eddy s pet project. So the
reorganization idea was considered intensively by Mr. Austin,
myself, and others. We felt that we should go ahead with the
reorganization of the station. Mr. Austin started immediately,
with Mr. Eddy s approval, to do that. The idea being that
once the station was reorganized into a national Institute of
Forest Genetics, we could then go out and try to raise funds for
an endowment, the interest of which would give us the money
needed for our operations.
The first problem was to get a national board of
trustees. That was done; and incidentally, this is something
that s of record and can be copied down as it was in the by
laws and articles of incorporation of the institute. A very
34
Righter: distinguished board of trustees* was assembled after a
period of time. And then the problem of raising an endowment
fund of a million dollars was tackled, it being supposed at
that time that the interest on a million dollars would carry us
along quite well for a number of years.
Fund Raising
So we employed the fund-raising concern of Tamblyn and
Brown to carry on this campaign. Tamblyn and Brown was a very
successful fund-raising concern. It had raised twenty million
dollars for Yale University and the money for the cathedral
of St. John the Divine in New York City, and suchlike things
and was currently in 1932 conducting a campaign to raise funds
for the Stanford Medical College. They sent their representatives;
we didn t actually sign a contract for the complete campaign
which they proposed because Mr. Eddy didn t feel that he
wanted to put fifty thousand dollars into it during a Depression.
People were rather reluctant at that time, as we certainly
found out later, to donate money to anything in those days.
But Mr. Eddy put $3,500 into it. That was sufficient to have
a staff member of Tamblyn and Brown sent to Placervi I le, go over
our work there, and learn what our objectives, and methods, and
so forth were. He wrote up a booklet, Science Seeks New Trees for
the Forests of the Future [Placervi I le, Ca I i f . I933J. Once
the booklet was prepared, it was feasible to send copies of
this booklet to people whose names Tamblyn and Brown & Company
had in their files as being interested in conservation and
philanthropy and request consultation, or engagements,
OF appointments with Mr. Austin and myself to go over our
program with them to see if they would give us money. That
was done, they Cttte bookletsl] were sent out in due course and
then arrangements were made to visit the offices of distinguished
men who were in this particular category. Austin took southern
California and I took northern California and we went around
and explained our program and our nee.ds to these men.
Now, in San Francisco, for instance, I went to Timothy
Hopkins, who was one of the trustees of Stanford University.
I announced myself to his secretary there, overlooking San
Francisco Bay, high up in a Sutter Street building. He said,
"Oh, come in, Righter, I ve been expecting you." I went in and
I saw on his desk he had rows of big balls of tin foil.
He had a paper cutter and he was going through a pile of things,
which were tinfoil wrappers partly, and was separating the
paper from the tin foil. He saw my look of amazement and
he said, "Oh, my wife makes me do this. She thinks it ll help
in the Depression somehow or other. I have read over your
prospectus and ! like it very much. If we weren t in a
Depression now I would contribute substantially to it. But
I ve sewed up my pocketbooks and declared a moratorium on my
debtors and if everybody II vote for Herbert Hoover everything I I
Complete list of trustees in Appendix.
35
Righter: be all right." Then we talked about fishing and things
like that for a while, and I left. That was one of the
things.
Then I went to Mr. Hill, of the Hill s Brothers
Coffee people. He was very glad to see me and very cordial.
He was interested in our pollination technique. He said,
"By the way, Mr. Righter, I knew you weren t a salesman the
minute you came in my office." Well, of course we had been
cut down in salary and I was a little bit threadbare around
here, Chis coat cuffH. A salesman doesn t look that way.
So then I went to many other people over there and it was
always the same. One fellow almost kicked me out of his
office. He said, "Nobody s got any money for this sort of
thing in these times." That s one of the episodes.
Austin didn t do any better down south. Another man
went to was the brother of Mortimer Fleishhacker. I didn t
even get to him; I just got to his secretary.
Stone; Didn t you get any money?
Righter: We got maybe several hundred dollars, I guess; not much.
Another man that I visited in San Francisco
was Mr. Kent, a son, I believe, of former U.S. Senator
Kent. He was greatly interested in this program but he
took the attitude that our work should be conducted by the
United States Forest Service. We didn t at that time feel
that we wanted to get into the Forest Service, we d rather
remain a private institution. He and I argued all morning
long on that point. We got nowhere of course. He gave me
very good ideas which were later used in working out the
destiny of the Institute of Forest Genetics.
The Interim Period (Feb. 28, 1968)
Stone: The last time we were recording, you told about efforts
to raise money and they turned out to be unsuccessful.
Obviously, you had to make some other plan for the Institute.
What did you do, finally, to bring it into the U.S. Forest
Service? What happened next?
Righter: The next step was more or less unpremeditated. We did make
a request to the Carnegie Institution of Washington that
they investigate the Institute for the purpose of
ascertaining whether they would want to affiliate it with
the Carnegie Institution or aid it financially. The Carnegie
Institution sent Dr. Herman Spoehr, who was in charge of the
Carnegie establishment at Palo Alto, and Dr. I. W. Bailey
of Harvard University to investigate the Institute. I
have forgotten the date of this, but it can be obtained from
the records.
36
Righter: They spent a day or two at the Institute going over the
premises, the facilities, the program, and talking with
the staff, and then disappeared. After a while we received
a grant of money from the Carnegie institution to keep us
going for a while. And I, believe that one or two or several
more grants were subsequently made by the institution to
the Institute. So evidently these men made a favorable
report to Dr. Merriam, who was the president of the Carnegie
Institution at that time.
Stone: Dr. C. Hart Merriam?
Righter: It was John Merriam, I think; wasn t it?
Stone: Did this money support the Institute of Forest Genetics
adequately?
Staff Layoffs
Righter: No. In 1932, the policy adopted by Mr. Eddy, who had suffered
heavy losses in the Depression from various causes, was that
various staff members would have to be laid off and just a
skeleton crew kept on to keep the Institute going, until some
other measures for obtaining funds or becoming affiliated with
some other organization could be worked out.
So various men were let off. And you can get their names
from the records. But several were kept on, including Mr.
Austin, Mr. Righter, Mr. Berryman (probably), and the clerk.
And the grants from the Carnegie Institution kept the work
going for a while. People had to be employed, from time to time,
to carry out some of the work. But eventually things became
so bad that Mr. Austin wrote a very gloomy letter to Mr. Eddy.
At that time I was generally asked by Mr. Austin to go
over all the correspondence before it went out, make any
changes or suggestions which I deemed appropriate. And I felt
in such strong and impressive terms
on Mr. Eddy alone, since he had
that he had to put us in snug
it should be sent to Professor
Mulford at the University of California. Mr. Austin accordingly
sent a copy of the letter to Professor Mulford, and from that
act the United States government did take action to keep the
Institute going.
Stone: Did that happen immediately?
Righter: No, what happened was that before this time No, while we
were on the Carnegie fund, I believe it was, Mr. Knowles
Ryerson, (Dr. Knowles Ryerson, who was then in charge of the
Bureau of Plant industry) came through and inspected our premises
there. And later when he was head of the Soil Erosion Service
now the Soil Conservation Service he was approached,
that this letter was couched
that it should not be wasted
already expressed his views
harbor for a while, but that
37
Righter: apparently by Dr. Merriam in Washington, I believe, who had
been notified of our circumstances by Professor Mulford.
He CDr. Ryerson] had received quite a bit of money to
establish nurseries around the country. And since he had seen the
place he decided to make available $40,000 for one year
fiscal 1934 to keep the Institute going, and to grow soil
erosion stock for planting out, for erosion-control purposes.
In the meantime it was determined that influential
people in Washington would work with The Forest Service in
getting legislation through Congress to accept the Institute
of Forest Genetics, as a gift from the board of trustees,
to be operated by the branch of research of the United States
Forest Service.
That happened in 1933 or 1934, so that by the beginning
of fiscal 1935 the money which was available was allocated to
the Institute for use in fiscal 1935. This was used largely
for experimental purposes. It enabled us to take on several
of the members of the staff who had been laid off.
Stone: Who were some of those who d been laid off?
Righter: Bill Gumming.
Stone: Oh, he d been laid off!
Righter: Yes. Al Liddicoet.
Stone: Oh, I see. They went on to other jobs.
Righter: I guess Clyde Berriman may have been kept on. I don t know, I d
have to check. But several of them were laid off. Then we
could take them back on.
Stone: Mr. Gumming said, for instance that he worked for the ....
Ri b nter: State Forestry Division, yes.
Stone: Yes. He told me about how you came after him to get him
when he was fighting a fire.
Righter: Oh, yes. You see, the Soil Conservation Service sent Fred
Herbert out to supervise the expenditure of this $40,000, to be
sure that it would be used in the proper way; no foolish use
of it. And Fred Herbert had a man working with him down at
Taft whom he wanted to put on the staff. And I did not think
that this man although he was a good man would be the
equivalent of Mr. Gumming. So I prevailed upon Mr. Austin
and Mr. Herbert to at least consider Mr. Gumming again.
And finally we decided that since Mr. Gumming had been a
charter member, and was so experienced in the work had
the experience that this other man lacked, and everything,
and was a very likeable man, and a hard worker that
we should put him back on instead of this other man.
38
Gumming and Llddicoet Return
RIghter: Fred Herbert and I went down to where Mr. Gumming was working
with the California State Division of Forestry and persuaded
him to come back up to the Institute, which he subsequently
did. And that happened in June or July 1934. That s that
I ittle i ncident.
Stone: And Mr. Liddicoet came back, too, about the same time?
Righter: He may have come back even sooner, I m not sure. I think he did.
Stone: Now, by that time, were you securely under the U.S. Forest
Service?
Righter: No!
Stone: That was just temporary.
Righter: The legislation was passed during this period when we had
the funds, in fiscal 1935; that s when if was passed, not 33.
The funds which became available July I, 1934, for that
fiscal year, 1935, were available until July I, 1935. And
in the meantime legislation was put through Congress to accept
the Institute as a gift from the board of trustees to the
people of the United States, to be operated by the Forest
Service.
And then the propositions of the United States Forest
Service had to meet with the approval of the board of trustees.
So, you see, there was a back and forth correspondence
between Mr. Eddy and the board and also the people in Washington,
to determine just how this would work out, before they would
turn it over to the government. And there was quite a bit
of argument back and forth.
The Institute Given to the U.S. Forest Service
We would have preferred, at that time, to have stayed
under private auspices. But there was nothing else that we
could do. The Carnegie people wouldn t take it on because we
were engaged to a large extent in the practical application of
science, not pure science as they are engaged in. And the
University of California wouldn t take us on because, we didn t
have $600,000 (endowment) to give them. This was the last
hope for us. It took quite a bit of tjme to reach an agreement
between the members of the Institute, the trustees of the
Institute, and the officials of the government; to reach a
conclusion as to what should be put into the documents which
39
Righter: would effect the transfer. And those things are all on
record, of course, now. In August, 1935, agreement on all
sides was reached. The Board of Trustees Cof the Institute
of Forest Genet icsD met with the Forest Service officials in
San Francisco. There they signed the various agreements and
documents which had to be signed, and the transfer was
officially completed there.
Stone: Now, from that time on, it has been officially under the
Forest Service?
Righter: That s right.
Funding of the Institute of Forest Genetics, U.S. Forest Service
Stone: Has the Forest Service entirely funded the Institute?
Righter: No, not entirely.
Stone: There has been some funding from the outside?
Righter: Oh, yes. Mirov got quite a lot of money from grants, you know.
He got grants from the Rockefel ler Foundation and the Resources
for the Future. He got $30-, 40-, or more, $50,000 -- I don t
know how much.
And then some extra money was provided by other people
who became interested in our work. One very surprising and
conspicuous example of this was a contribution from Mr. Fred
Searles, who was a director of the Boyce Thompson Institute at
Yonkers, New York. There they were engaged almost entirely
in pure research. Mr. Fred Searles was a very wealthy mining man
who was born in Grass Valley and who had extensive holdings in
mineral wealth throughout the country, if not throughout the
wor I d.
He became interested, and he sent, unbeknown to us, a
Mr. Mann who was superintendent of the Empire Star Mine at
Grass Valley, over to inspect the Institute one afternoon.
Bill Gumming brought him out. We were working in the nursery.
And he asked me if I would show him about and I did.
When he left he said that he was manager of the Empire
Star Mine, and he thanked me for showing him about. Later on
we received from Fred Searles, Jr. $10,000 gratis, with
no strings attached at a I I. We could use it any way we
wanted.
\
Stone: Just for the Institute?
40
Righter: Yes. Those gifts were especially welcome because they re
very different in their handling from the funds which were
allocated by the federal government. Because, everybody
knows, in a case such as ours, the appropriation which
is made by Congress for a certain fiscal year has to be
usea only in that fiscal year, and it cannot be overdrawn.
To have a fund like Mr. Searles sent is a sort of a cushion.
We could start studies which could not be covered entirely
by the Forest Service appropriation, and could be carried
on through by his fund if we didn t have enough government
money. That was a wonderful thing to have, you know.
And Mr. Eddy often gave us money to carry us over, too.
Stone: I was going to ask that.
Righter: Many contributions by Mr. Eddy. Not large ones, but they
were something we cherished and found very useful.
Stone: How about the Bpard of Trustees which functioned? There
was some money that came into their hands ^rom other sources, too.
Was there any kind of an endowment fund?
Righter: I don t remember anything of that. But subsequently this
happened long afterwards not too long after Fred Searles
first contribution. The reason Mr. Searles made this contribution
was that he and several other directors of the Boyce
Thompson Institute felt that the work at the Boyce Thompson
Institute was not practical enough. It didn t seem to be
directed to some practical ends, they couldn t see it.
That is the way of many businessmen, I guess, At that time,
they liked to see practical results, and didn t appreciate
fully the importance of fundamental work.
And so he was looking around for something else to
put the money in, or for another field of work which could
be adopted at the Boyce Thompson Institute, you see. That s
the reason he liked trees, having been born up at Grass Valley
where these nice forests existed. So we got that grant.
Apparently he didn t at once succeed in having the Boyce
Thompson Institute go into forest tree breeding, and forest
genetics. And so eventually he made another grant of
$20,000 to the Institute through the Forest Genetics Research
Foundation .
He actually made it to the Institute. This is another
long story. Mr. Wycoff, who was then director and about to
retire, was going to be executive vice-president in charge
of the Forest Genetics Research Foundation and he wanted to
have this fund to show that the Foundation was doing
something, so it came through the Foundation.
Stone: Oh, Brownie points for the Foundation.
Righter: Yes. So we got from Mr. Searles $30,000 altogether.
Stone:
4!
That s wpnderfuj .
Funds for Extra Land
Righter: Then, of course, Bill and I raised $25,000 up there for land.
Stone: How did you raise that? Oh, going around to various people.
Righter: Well, yes, you might say we wrote to them. This is a long
story. I don t know whether I told you about it or not .
Stone: Not that, no.
Righter: Well, you see, the Institute had 107 acres of land and Mr.
Eddy bought ten acres more and gave it to us. The Forest
Service needed that for their nursery up there. So we
leased it to them for fifteen years.
Then a ranch up about three mi les from the
Institute on the same kind of land which we have at the
Institute was put up for sale. The owners were three
sisters back in Indiana who wanted to sell it over a period
of four years. Bill didn t tell you about this?
Stone: He told me something about it, but you didn t say anything.
Righter: Well, Bill impressed me with the value of this land for
our purposes. And all I had to do was go up there to look
at it to see it was so. He said, "This is our chance to get
some new land. And we gotta try to raise some money for it."
And I agreed with him.
So I took it up with the director, who was Dr. Arnold.
I told him that this land was for sale and we needed it
because our own land was being filled up with plants and
stock and pretty soon it would be all filled up. And I said,
"I have certain ideas about how to go out for this fund,
but if you have other ideas, why I ll be glad to go along
with your ideas."
He said, "No, you do it the way you want to."
So, we started in. Bill told me about a man up at
Winters who had known Dr. Stockwell, gocd friends with him,
and had met Bill, and he recently had been up to the
Institute. This was around in 1957. And Bill said,
"Did you ever meet Charlie What s-his Name? This man up there
at Winters? Charlie Lambert?"
I said, "No, I heard about him. Palmer spoke about him,
Palmer Stockwell, but I never met him. And I don t remember
that he ever came to the Institute when I was there."
42
Righter: Bill says, "No, he didn t, but he was up here
recently. And when we were driving away he saw some bags
high up on a big tree alongside the driveway into the
Institute on the left-hand side there, as you go out.
And he looked up at those bags and he says, How d you get those
up there? And Bill says, We put them up. And he says,
The hell, you say. And he says, We sure did. And he
says, Well, I m not going to let you do that anymore, I m
going to buy you a mounted ladder. "
And Bill told me that he wanted to meet Mr. Eddy, too.
So, I asked him, "Do you think we should go to him for
funds?"
And he says, "No, I don t think so, not right away,
anyway." But we had to do something, and one day I decided
I d call him up. And he was a rough and ready old fellow.
I called him up. And he says "Who re you?" "Who the hell re
you?" he d say.
I told him I asked him if he remembered Dr. Stockwell.
He said, "Sure, 1 remember him. He was a great friend
of mine."
I said, "Well, when Dr. Stockwel ! died, they put me in
his place. So that s who I am."
He says, "Are you a good fellow?"
"Well, I don t know if I m a good fellow. You ll
have to ask some of the people at the Institute."
You know, it s hard to go asking people for money.
CLaughterU
And he says, "Well, what do you want?"
And I says, "Well, uh, Bill Gumming told me that you
wanted to meet Mr. Eddy. And I think I can arrange that for
you the next time that he comes down. And also I think I can
save you some money. 1
He says, "Oh, yeh? How?"
I said, "Well, Bill said that you re going to buy
us a mounted ladder to work around in The arboretum with."
He says, "That s right, I ll do that."
I said, "Do you know how much that ll cost you?"
And he said, "No."
43
Righter: I said, "Well, I looked it up. It s $12,000.
And I said, "We could use about half that much for a much
better purpose and that would save you some money."
He says, "You could!" And he asked, "What is it?"
And I told him this land was for sale and we were trying
to raise money for it. And he says, "Well, I ll contribute."
But actually, Mr. Lambert had had cancer already,
and he died from cancer, before he could do anything about it.
And that fell through. We had a few disappointments like
that.
Another one was Mr. West of the Placerville Lumber
Company who agreed to give us one quarter of it, but his
colleagues in the company objected to it, and that offer
was withdrawn.
Stone: What company was that?
Righter: Placerville Lumber Company. Then, before that some years
before that I received a letter from Mr. Bloedel,
Prentice Bloedel, whom I didn t know. But I looked him up
afterwards and found he was in Who s Who a prominent lumberman,
and everything. He wanted to know i f he could visit the
Institute one Sunday, and so I made arrangements with him
to meet in Sacramento and take him to the Institute. And
I said, "Surely I ll be there."
So I picked him up at the Senator Hotel and took him
up there and showed him about. And you knew you were in
the presence of an exceptional personality there, refined and
gentlemanly, and everything, you know. At the end of the
show-me trip he indicated that he might make a contribution.
"Well, I would like to make a contribution."
This was a little bit unexpected for me. I knew we
needed contributions. But at that time we hadn t started
on this thing for land and I never felt that you should go
out for small contributions. Make it big. So I thanked him
but made no suggestions then. And I said, "I ll keep that
in mind." And so I wrote him a letter and explained every
thing. He wanted to know a little more about it.
Dr. Arnold was to meet him at a meeting in the Olympic
Hotel in Seattle one night but that didn t come off. Mr.
Bloedel some of his most important holdings are up in
Vancouver and he d come down from Vancouver and apparently
missed Dr. Arnold there, or they didn t connect and so nothing
came of that and I didn t do anything. I felt that he would
eventually contact me, which eventually he did, by telephone.
He said, "Do you still need money?"
And I said, "Yes."
And he says, "Well, I ll pay one quarter."
44
And I said, "Well, we need someone to start it off with."
Righter:
He says, "I ll make the first payment."
And then Bill Gumming had had contact with one of the
men from the Winton Lumber Company. That s an outfit that
has its headquarters back in Michigan I believe, or Wisconsin,
or some place like that. And we had had quite a bit of doings
with them, we d planted on their land and things like that, our
tests, you know. Their manager at that time apparently seemed
to regard our wishes, or our needs, as something very important.
So Bill says, "Let s go down to Marti I it s just
this side of Jackson, and see him."
And we went down there. And he said he d give one
quarter.
Then the director of the Morton Arboretum, in Illinois
was out here about that time, or a little earlier a year
or two earlier to a meeting of the Shade Tree Association
in Yosemite Park. And after that he came up, on Saturday,
and spent the morning with me at the Institute. And after
I showed him around he said, "How are you for finances?"
I says, "Well, we need money all the time. We never have
enough. "
He said, "I have it running out of my ears." You know,
Mr. Morton is the salt man. And his grandfather was the
founder of Arbor Day and so on, and secretary of agriculture.
So I thought of that occasion and I wrote a letter to
the director of the Arboretum there, who was Dr. Gottschalk,
asking him if he would mind if I went to M~. Morton for a grant.
And he wrote back and says, "No, I ll do it myself." And
he wrote to Mr. Morton and explained the situation and Mr.
Morton came through with $5,000, although he was then over in
Europe.
The final disappointment was that we had gone down to
see a doctor down below Santa Cruz. We had pretty good hopes
that he would give us the other quarter, but he died of a heart
attack a couple of days after Bill and I were there. So
something drastic had to be done. I went back to Mr. Bloedel and
told him the circumstances.
It just happened that his father-in-law, who was
Mr. Merrill of Merrill and Rink Company, had some years previously,
at the constant instigation of Mr. Eddy, decided to visit the
Institute. Mr. Merrill was a Douglas fir man. He was about
eighty-five years old, or so then. Or maybe a little younger.
45
High ten:
Stone :
Righter:
Stone :
Righter:
Stone :
Righter:
He was a big tall fellow, a handsome man, alert, vigorous
and perspicacious. He came in a Cadillac with a chauffeur.
He got out of his car and he said, "You got anything here
that I I beat Douglas fir?"
And I said, "Well, I don t know much about Douglas fir,
but I ll show what we have."
So we had some very good looking hybrids out in the
nursery. I took him out and showed him these hybrids. They
were really up there. He looked up at them and he says,
"How old are they?"
And I told him and he said, "Yep, that ll do it." He
got out his European camera, which he didn t know how to use
and I didn t either, but after some time, figured it out and
got it going, he took some pictures of it. And then he went
away. Next year he came back and he asked, "You got those
trees sti 1 I here?"
And I said, "Yes."
He said, "I d like to see them again." So we went out
there and saw them. Again, he took more pictures. And then
the third time he wrote beforehand, gave us notice he was
going to be here and he had a little job he wanted us to do.
So we did it for him before he came so that he wouldn t have
to stay overnight.
What kind of a job was that?
Something about some correspondence of his to try to get
it out of the Placerville Post Office, or something. He came
on a Sunday that time and Bill has these connections, he could
do anything up there like getting mail out of the Post
Office on Sunday. That s what I mean by a_fellow who s a
good public relations man.
third time and then left.
So he C Merrill] came through this
I learned in the meantime that he was Mr. Bloedel s
father-in-law. So I felt that Mr. Bloedel might go back to
him, which he did. And we got $6,000 worth of stock from
Mr. Merrill. The little that Mr. Merrill saw was apparently
aM that was needed to convince him of the value of our work.
What did you say the company was?
Merrill and Rink. Or Rink and Merrill. One or the other.
Well, now, that gave you quite a bit of money. Did that cover all
the money you needed?
Well, no. Mr. Eddy gave some. And then we got some from the
Calaveras Land and Timber Mr. Eddy s was one of the
company s stockholders $300 from them and $300 from a local
man. We needed $300 finally. And Bill said, "Well, if
46
Righter: that s all you need, let s go down and see this man
downtown . "
So we went down to his office and Bill introduced me
to him. And Bill said, "We come down here about the matter
I spoke to you about before."
And the man asked me, he says, "How much you need?"
I said, "$300."
He said, "All right, I ll give it to you." Just like
that.
Stone: I guess Mr. Gumming did mention this. He did tell us in
general that you got some of the money from Morton and so on,
but he didn t go into all these details you have. He s more
taci tern.
Righter: Laconic.
Later Staff Changes
Mr. Austin leaves, 1940
Stone: Well, now what was happening with the staff during that
period? You still had Mr. Austin?
Righter: We had Mr. Austin. He was in charge until 1940. Then on
July I, 1940, we I I, he asked to be relieved of his job as
head of the Institute, or division chie*.
There was a lot of trouble there. They wanted him to
move down to Berkeley. And he didn t want to move down
Berkeley. He refused to do it.
Stone: Why did they want him to move to Berkeley?
Righter: Well, because they have a policy of having their technically
trained men in a place where there s a good library
and where you can have contacts with other scientists, and
that sort of thing. It s invaluable, you know. And we did
have library privileges, some faculty privileges, things of that
sort then.
Stone: But he didn t care to move?
Righter: He didn t want to move, no. He fought it right to the end,
and he wouldn t move. And, of course, having the head of
affairs down at Berkeley was more convenient for the director
beceuse he could get to him right away if something came up,
instead of trying to get it through mail or calling him up
on the telephone, and this and that.
47
Righter: So, there were many advantages. There were some
disadvantages, too, to being in Berkeley. But I think
the advantages Cwere greater.] At the time, when the
big argument about where the headquarters would be located
was in progress, I was at first in favor of Placerville but
after I d been in Berkeley a while I saw the wisdom of being
down here.
You see, I used to attend the genetics seminars, and
other seminars, and meet the people, and get ideas that way.
Invaluable and you could use the library more conveniently
and so on.
Stone: But Mr. Austin didn t care for that sort of life.
Righter: No. Against their express request he built his house up there,
you know. And finally they may have made it hard for him so
that he wanted to be demoted. I don t know what it was there.
But at any rate, it came out that he d asked to be relieved of
his Job as head so that he could go on and work on back data
and things of that sort and bring his tests up to date and
write articles about them.
Palmer Stockwell made Director, 1940-1950.
Stone: So then somebody else became director.
Righter: Yes. Dr. CPalmerD Stockwell came in in 1937. He d been with
us three years before he was made Cdi rector] you see he
wasn t a forester and he wasn t a geneticist, although he d
studied cytology and maybe some genetics. But he came on the staff
as cyto-taxonomi st. He had gotten his degree at the University
of Arizona, I think. And perhaps he did some work at Stanford.
But at the time he came with us he was working as an assistant
in the Carnegie Institute Lab down there at Stanford, Palo Alto.
He was the head of the Institute of Forest Genetics for ten
years.
Well, they were really called Division Chiefs in those
times although we weren t recognized as a special division.
Later we were. But he had the status of a Division Chief.
And he may have been called "in charge," or something like that,
but actually in effect he was Division Chief.
Stone: So that was until 1950?
Righter: Fron 1940 to 1950 was his.
!
Stone: And then what happened in 1950?
Righter: Well he died.
Stone: Oh he died?
condition late in
away. But most of
48
1949.
50
Righter: Yes, he got some kind of a cancerous
And in May, the 20th, 1950 he passed
he couldn t do anything, I had to take over his work and
do my own too. So that s what happened to Palmer, who, I think,
was a highly effective leader.
R. H. Weidman Becomes Superintendent
Stone:
Righter:
Stone:
Righter:
Stone:
Now, where does Weidman come in?
Well, you see, Weidman was a former director of a station up
at Missoula, Montana, had published an important bulletin relating
to tests in our field of work. And we needed a manager, who had
technical training, at the Institute of Forest Genetics, what
they call a superintendent, which Bill Cumming later was.
And for some reason or other Mr. Weidman was demoted. They
have a system whereby you re offered a job somewhere else and you
that s
either take that or you re not employed anymore
they do. So he accepted this job down here. He had Bill
job for about ten years, 1937 to about 1947, somewhere in
So you had a division chief and a ---
Superintendent, yes.
And a superintendent.
what
s
there.
W. C. Cummings Made Superintendent
Righter: And when Weidman retired, Palmer got Bill in as superintendent
something we all wanted, you know. Although Bill didn t have
technical training he was a pretty important man in that position
because of his knowledge of people around town and could
get things done, and this and that for us.
Riqhter becomes Director, 1950-1960.
Stone :
Righter:
He must ve been very good. Well, now, after Dr. Stockwell died,
who took his position?
I did. They put me in charge then. And then I was on for ten
years. A year longer than I wanted to be., You see, I wanted to
be relieved of my job when I got to be sixty-two, but Keith Arnold
CDi rector of Pacific Southwest Forest end Range Experiment
Station] wanted me to stay on another year, until they could get
a good man. So I did, and I left in the following year,
I960. I was on from 1950 to Sept. 20, I960.
49
Stone: And all during that time the relations with the U.S. Forest
Service were good?
Righter: Oh yes, we had ups and downs. During the war the appropriations
were down. That was when Mr. Austin was laid off. We didn t
have enough money, and . ...CPauseH
Stone: But in general, the support was good?
Righter: Yes, it was very good as a rule.
Stone: And there weren t any hard feelings with the people down in
Berkeley who were in charge of the Institute s program?
Righter: No, no, no. Everything went along, as far as I know, pretty
smoothly then.
.
Organization of Forest Service Research
Stone: What was the general organization plan for Forest Service
research?
Righter: When the research work of the Forest Service was brought under
systematic organization, Dr. EarleClapp was put in charge. The
country was divided up into a number of forest regions and
experiment stations were established in each of those regions.
Some of these regions were the Pacific Northwest, which
included the forests of Oregon and Washington. Another region
was the California Region, which was just California. And the
spec! f ication,
personnel of the
regions.
suppose, for these stations was that the
various stations would do work in those
And another requirement, which was put into the program
by Dr. Clapp, was that where possible these regions would have the
headquarters in cities where there were universities.
Because he felt that the contacts, which I have gone over previously
in this talk, were very important and it would be advantageous
to have the various stations operate on a cooperative basis
with some university in that region.
In the California Region for example, the California
Forest and Range Experiment Station had a loose affiliation
with the University of California. And their offices were
housed on the campus at Berkeley for many years, in fact,
until about 1958. That is from 1926 or 27 to 1958.
So, the headquarters being in Berkeley, it was felt
that the man In charge of the work, and the other technically
trained staff members, should be in Berkeley also, for about
the same reasons. But particularly anyone in charge of the
work, because there the director of the whole station would
have ready access to the Division Chief and the other
50
Righter: members of the staff any time he wanted to. And that
was a great convenience, and it was insisted upon by
the Forest Service. So, really it was a matter of
moving down here or else.
Austin Declines to Leave PlacervMIe
Righter:
Stone :
Righter:
Stone :
Righter:
But Mr. Austin would not do this. He insisted on
building his own house at the Institute. You know where
it is. It was sort of an eyesore, I suppose, to Mr. Kotok,
who was under orders from Washington of course. That did
create quite a bit of friction, I suppose. It could not have
hslped but be an important factor in relationships between
Mr. Austin and Mr. Kotok. So there was quite a bit of
criticism on both sides. I don t know, myself, how much
bad feeling; I think they got along all right together
without coming to blows, but there was a big disagreement
there.
Do you think
leaving?
Kotok had a great deal to do with Austin s
Oh, not necessari ly so,
Service requires of the
no. It was something which the Forest
Division Chiefs all over the
United States, in all of their stations. There wasn t any
particular reason why they should make an exception here.
In other words and I went along with the Forest Service on
that here we were proposing marriage with the Forest
Service and he wanted to determine how they were going to run
their household. See what I mean?
Yes, I see. Well, Mrs. Austin also indicated to me, and
maybe she had a good point here, that her husband was not one
who would work well in an organization. She said he just didn t
have the right constitution.
Well, apparently that was it. And he had a long argument
with Dr. Claude B. Hutchison, you know, the dean of the
agricultural college and the experiment station. I guess he
was acting vice-president at one time. Well, he argued all
morning with Hutchison about the matter. This was a
different matter, though. Mr. Austin said it s a national
station, and he kept insisting on it, that it be a national
station.
And Dr. Hutchison said, "Well, if you re getting
monev from the University of California, you re staying
right in California to do your work." You see what I mean?
Stone:
I see.
51
Righter: That s where you work. It isn t a national thing, its a
California thing. And they had a big argument about that.
No hard feelings though, just wasted a lot of somebody s
time, to reiterate something like that all the time, insist
on its being national when it wasn t national, when it
couldn t be national in the University of California.
Stone: But, at the end now, when you were in charge and Bill Gumming
was up there, everything worked out smoothly and nicely.
Righter: Well, no, you can t say it was entirely smooth. A lot of
time was spent just travel ing back and forth.
Jack Duffield Made Geneticist
Righter: And Dr. Jack Duffield, or Mr. Duffield, as he was at that
time, he was a very able fellow, he was also from Cornell.
(I coached him in track back there, I guess, when he was a
freshman.) He stayed down he had his headquarters down
in Berkeley just like everybody else. But when Mr. Weidman
left, why, Bill didn t want to move into Weidman s house, so
that house was vacant and Duffield asked permission to move
up there. And Stockwel I gave it to him. Duffield said,
"I spend all together too much time traveling back and forth.
So, he felt it was more important to be up there than it was
to be down in Berkeley.
Stone: And Duffield s position at that time was ...?
Righter: He was geneticist. He was a darn good man. He s a full
professor of silviculture at North Carolina State now.
Stone: Yes, as a matter of fact, I wrote to him. Hit was he, Mr.
Maunder said who gave the first enthusiasm to get started with
this, gave Maunder the first enthusiasm.]
Righter: He s a very good man, Jack Duffield. He did some wonderful
work for us. A very wonderful personality, too.
Stone: He started in up there when he was just a youngster, before
he finished his dissertation?
Righter:
Stone:
Righter:
Stone:
Riqhter:
Well, no, he was a ...
Graduate student?
Yes. He was studying at the U.C. in Berkeley in 1936 when
I moved to Berkeley from Placerville.
You said he didn t have his Ph.D. yet.
necessary
Yes. He didn t have it in 1936. He was taking the
courses in genetics, cytology, etc., at that time.
Later on, Dr. Ernst Schreiner, who was then in charge of
the genetics program at the Northeastern Forest & Range Experi
ment Station at New Haven it was then loosely affiliated with
Yale University wrote to me, asking if I knew of anyone
who could do cyto logical work. I told him about Jack
52
Righter: Duffield, and he offered Jack the position of cytologist,
and Jack accepted it. I think he d recently married
and needed the money. That was quite displeasing to
Stebbins who didn t like to lose a student that way,
especially a good one.
Stone: G. Ledyard Stebbins, you mean?
Righter: Yes. Stebbins may have known that I recommended Jack to
Schreiner. Anyway, some years later, he told me he
didn t like to have a man drop out that way.
As Duffield was a reserve officer, he left the North
eastern Station to serve throughout W.W. I I in the Army (Quarter
master Corps) in the North Africa and Italian campaigns.
When the war ended, Dr. Stockwel I arranged for him to join our
staff. So he came to Berkeley early in 1946 and occupied my
office and caught up on the I iterature, etc. until the
beginning of the fiscal year on July I when he was put on
our payroll as geneticist. That s how he became a member of
the Institute s staff with headquarters in Berkeley where he
shared offices with me until he moved to the Institute as mentioned
previously [page 51]. Some time later he resumed (in his
spare time) his graduate work with Dr. Stebbins. And eventually
got his Ph.D. in genetics. At the same time he did a great deal
of very valuable work at the Institute.
Stone: His name is on a lot of papers, I notice, in the bibliography.
Johnson Takes Cumming s Place as Superintendent
Stone: And then of course, after Gumming left, this young man, CLeRoyD
Johnson, went on?
Righter: Yes, he studied forestry. I ve forgotten just where.
Stone: Oregon, I believe.
Righter: And he had been working on the Forest Service payroll as
one of their tree breeders. You see, we had several
hybrids which were being mass-produced for planting in the
region, and he was assigned to that work. When this job
at the station became vacant with Bill s resignation they
put him there because he knew something about it by that
time.
Callaham as Project Leader
Stone: You said you thought there was some other reason for
Gumming resigning another than this business about
Liddicoet s accident. Was there some other problem?
Did they put some pressures on him?
53
Stone: I don t remember saying that Liddicoet s accident
had anything to do with Bill s resigning when he did. Bill
was on a trip with a man from the Berkeley Station when
that accident happened. That was the only "last time"
accident Liddicoet had throughout his federal employment at
the Institute. It may be that Bill came under criticism
because of the accident; but, if he did, I did not hear of it.
Righter: I don t know. I said there might have been.
Stone: Oh, I see. You just didn t know specifically.
Righter: I know that he was disturbed even before Echols, Dr. Robert Z.
Ca! laham was ragging him a little bit. I don t think Bill got
along too well with him. Of course those men now Dr.
Cat laham was a very capable fellow you know. But sometimes
you get a stricter man in charge, you know, and Stockwell
had always been free and easy. Now here s a difference
that we felt, and Stockwell felt, and I felt ~ Mr. Austin did
too that it was to our advantage to have distinguished
scientists come there and stay overnight if they wanted to.
We d get ideas from them. They could look over our work
and see what was being done. You ll read that thing there.
CReference to a visit from an Australian savant.] He stayed
overnight. He was a distinguished forester down in Australia.
Stone: I think its a wonderful idea.
Righter: I was told by someone that the Institute was not to be run
as a hotel anymore. I was under the impression that the
statement or decision came from Washington and applied to all;
but I may have been mistaken: it may have applied only
to Regional Office personnel in San Francisco and on the
National Forests. Many of the RO (Administration) men
stayed at the Institute while visiting the Eldorado National
Forest or passing through, when I was there.
Stone: When did that happen?
Righter: Some of them stayed we had some foreign fellows stay there
for a year almost not quite maybe. Dr. Sin Kyn Hyun of
Korea. And Dr. Chiang or somebody, who s down at the
University of Singapore now. And we had others for two weeks or
a month, as the case may be. And overnight.
A member of the National Academy of Science, Dr. Brink of
the University of Wisconsin, stayed there for a week, with
another man he brought out. They were setting up a forest
genetics research organization at the University of Wisconsin.
They don t have a forestry school there, but they wanted to go
into forest genetics. So, when it was decided to do that, he
wrote Dr. Stockwell and asked if he could come out and have
the advantage of seeing what we were doing and talking with
us, and bring the man who was going to head up the work there.
Of course Dr. Stockwell was agreeable to that. And he came
54
Righter: with Mr. Hitt and they stayed there for a week. Had a
good time with them. They were very wonderful men.
Stone: Well, Mr. Johnson was extremely cordial about letting us
stay.
Righter: Well that was a special case. Maybe now, but for a while
they didn t.
Stone: It seemed to me he went out of his way to be cordial about it.
Righter: And the Forest Service people from the Regional Office used
to go there and stay overnight. I don t know whether they
do anymore.
Stone: Dr. Mfrov does.
Righter: Yes, but he s one of the collaborators of the station.
I don t know what the policy is now, but for a while they
ceased doing that. If they have done it again, have gone back
to the old system, it s fine as far as I m concerned.
Stone: I don t know exactly what they did before, but this time we
took our own food, and they had sheets and linens and things
and we put them on the bed and we cooked our own meals.
Righter: And made your own meals?
Stone: Made our own bed and cleaned up after ourselves they had
brooms and things there. But that was all.
Righter: Sure. That s all we ever did. Some place where they could
stay. And they could go in town and eat or prepare and eat
their own food in our kitchens there, snd use the labs and
offices for study, and things of that sor+. They received
a Forest Service key those that stayed for a week or more
to get into the building and all that sort of thing.
We had many distinguished men stay there. [G.L.H
Stebbins used to bring his class up there and stay overnight.
Professor Howard McMinn used to bring his girls up there.
That was a good time. CLaughterU You know McMinn in botany
[at Mi I Is Col lege]?
Stone : Yes .
Righter: He usedto come up there. In fact the man down there now, "Baki ,"
is doing it.
Stone: I illustrated a book for McMinn. That s the first illustrating
job I ever did, before I even graduated from the University.
55
RIghter: He used to bring his class up there quite often.
And now I understand Baki who took McMinn s place is
doing it too.
Stone: Well, Dr. Mirov has done it recently because a young
woman I talked to in the library told me that she d been up
there. She s a graduate student in geography, but she was
taking a seminar with Dr. Mirov, and he took a group of
students up and they stayed in this dormitory arrangement.
Righter: Could be.
Stone: But apparently they re doing it again.
Foreign Visitors
Righter: Wei! good. There was a man from Mexico brought his class
up. Several years. And other people just came and stayed
a short time. They didn t use the buildings at all much.
Such a one was Professor Harold P. Olmo -- the grape man at
Davis he used to bring his class in viticulture up there,
every year to look over our experiments and show them
practical applications of genetics and so on. In fact, one
of his students, I think, one year, was an Egyptian. A
year or so after that I got a lot of literature, speeches
by Gamal Nasser, you know, and severa) copies of their
weekly news magazine, which was published in English, and
everything. It was a propaganda thing. I still have those
things up at home.
Stone: Was this man a forest geneticist, the Egyptian?
Righter: No. All I know is that he was a member of the class. But he
brought them up there, the professor did, every year to look at
our experiments, show them something about statistical work
and that sort of business.
Stone:
Righter:
Stone:
Aside from the Korean and the other Oriental geneticist
who were there, and this Australian, were there some other
distinguished visitors you recall from foreign countries?
Oh, yes, many
Fi n I and. He s
of them. For instance Risto Saarvis from
in charge of forest research over there. He
was there for about a month. I can give you a
these, everybody that s been there up to I960.
whole I 1st of
Oh, that would be very interesting. I think that would be
helpful to have in the record, to know just exactly who came.
Righter: And Dr. Syrach Larsen, of Denmark.
56
February 28, 1968
Comments on Mr. James G. Eddy (February 28, 1968)
Mr. Eddy s Diet Ideas
Stone: Now, Mr. Righter, you were saying something about Mr.
Eddy s peculiar and unusual feelings about diet. Were
there any special ideas of diet that he had, that you
reca I I ?
Righter: Yes. He had very definite ideas abou+ diet. One of the things
he emphasized, in talking to us about diet when we would go
into a restaurant or hotel for meals, was that there s
nothing more important to you than what you put in your
stomach. He kept himself on a very strict diet. He
always talked about a balance, presumably between the
alkaline and the acid sides, and tried to maintain a
balance between them, as I understood his talk. He was
a great advocate of soybean products, particularly
soybean bread. He carried a lot of soybean bread about
with him. He got the soybean bread from a little store down
on Shattuck Avenue (Berkeley), diagonally, across from the
American Bank building. That s where he got it.
This bread was sent up to him by mail, to Seattle. He
maintained that relationship with them for a long time.
They may remember it down there even yet. But he always
had soybean bread with him, slices or a loaf. When the
waiter came to get our orders he would take out this loaf
of soybean bread from his overcoat pocket and tell the waiter
to take it back.
One time, as I recall, he did that. And after the
waiter left he decided he d go out and show the cook how
to do it, how thin to cut it. After a while he came back,
chuckling. He said, "You know, I thinK I sold the cook
on soybean bread."
But he was convinced that if mankind had hit upon
using soybean products instead of wheat and other cereal grain
products, the history of the world would have been very
different from what it has been. He mentioned that quite
a number of times to me.
Some other very interesting things about Mr. Eddy
were that we would go into a restaurant up here on Telegraph
Avenue and the students would be coming in. The first thing
they d do would be to bring out their cigarette cases and
cigarette lighters and light up, boys and girls together.
He remarked one day, "Sometimes I wonder if I m the same
genus with them."
57
Stone: He didn t smoke at all?
Righter: No, he drank wine at dinner sometimes.
Eddy s Ideas on Government
Stone: You said something, too, about his ideas on voting and on
forestry education that were quite forward.
Righter: His ideas on voting were what we divined rather than heard.
He probably believed more strongly in an aristocracy than
he did in anything else. But he never imposed his views
over all these years on us. Probably few of us voted the
same ticket with him, but there was never any effort on his
part to impose a political view on any of the staff members,
that I know of .
Stone: And this was during the Depression, too.
Righter: That s right. Not only during the Depression did he feel
that way, but during all the time that I knew him subsequently,
that was one of the things that he avoided in his intercourse
with us, so far as my experience is concerned.
Now, Mr. Eddy was regarded by many as rather eccentric
because of his views about the possibility of breeding
forest trees for practical purposes, and his desire to study the
genetics of such organisms. This is a mistake. He should not be
regarded as an eccentric. But I suppose that is the penalty
of most people who think ahead of the time.
Mr. Eddy s Thoughts on Forest Schools
Mr. Eddy knew, of course, that the forest schools in
the United States, and even in foreign countries, did not
include in their curricula courses in genetics, and they did not
recommend genetics to the forestry students. Therefore the
subject of breeding forest trees was in those days regarded
with considerable skepticism by people who knew anything
at all about the reproductive cycle of forest trees, and the
time required to bring forest trees to economic use, and
the principles of genetics.
He felt that the research work which was being done
in the United States on forest trees was devoted almost
exclusively to the study of the environment. That is, their
purpose was to try to ameliorate the environment so that
the product could be produced more economically. Which of
course means quicker, and you d get a better product through
these p ract i ces .
58
Righter: That was a one-sided view. A very lopsided one because
it left out the important factor of heredity entirely.
The best results would be expected from work in both the
fields, environment and heredity. So that by improving both,
or modifying a variety of trees or a species of trees, through
breeding, so that its range could be extended, or so that
it could be used in some other place, or so that it would
produce a different kind of a product, was very important.
Those things can be brought about only through genetic research
and breeding.
So in that sense he was far ahead of his time. And the
proof of that is now, in practically al ! the countries of the
world where forestry is important, the forest
schools are concerned with both the heredity and the
environment of forest trees, and much intensive experimental
work is done in both fields.
In the affairs of most organizations it is very likely
that there will be strong differences of opinion among the
colleagues who are working in an organization. And these
differences sometimes become rather pronounced. There were
such, of course, at the Institute of Forest Genetics. And
perhaps some of these will be brought out later in talks
with the various staff members and former staff members.
Mr. Eddy always kept himself from such troubles, unless
they were brought directly to his attention, so that he had to
do something or other. Except for those occasions, which were
very rare I can t think of any he kept his hands off and
allowed the staff to work these things out for themselves.
Stone: You have another story about Mr. Eddy now that you d like
to tel I us?
Mr. Eddy and the Seedling
Righter: Mr. Eddy sometimes made himself inscrutable, which is all right,
and rather instructive at times. The old saying that the face
of the king is inscrutable is very apropos to Mr. Eddy,
although he was not averse to expressing his opinions about
this and that and the next thing as he went a long, and coming
up with some very surprising statements sometimes. But I m
reminded of an incident which was reported to me by the manager
of the Calaveras Land and Timber Company. That company s
field manager, when Mr. Eddy visited his company Mr. Eddy
was one of the big stockholders of the company at that time
the company was located down near the Calaveras State Park.
And the field manager would like to take Mr. Eddy out and
show him the fine timber, these great big trees that went up
two hundred feet, without any limbs clear for a hundred
feet. Well, he was pointing this wonderful tree and that
wonderful tree out to Mr. Eddy; these trees were the perfect
concept, so far as a lumberman is concerned, of a good tree.
59
Righter: They like to see trees which are straight-stemmed, without
any branches, because branches make knots, and knots detract
from the quality of the lumber. And those trees are very
beautiful, to foresters and lumbermen anyway, though they are
not necessarily so to artists, who often seem to like
crooked-stemmed things.
But as this manager of the company was pointing out these
trees to Mr. Eddy, Mr. Eddy was not looking at the trees; he
was looking down at the ground. And after a couple of attempts
to get Mr. Eddy to look at the big trees he noticed that
Mr. Eddy was looking at the ground. Finally he became so
inquisitive about the matter that he said, "Why do you look at the
ground? Why don t you look at these big trees?"
And Mr. Eddy kept looking at the ground, and this made
the man even more exasperated. And finally he asked him again
to tell him what he saw down on the ground which interested him
so much rather than the large beautiful timber which would make
wonderful saw-timber and other products.
Finally Mr. Eddy said, "I like to look at that little
tree down there because it has a future."
Stone: Was it a little seedling?
Righter: Yes, a seedling, "that little seedling down there, because it
has a future."
And actually, I think that may be one of the secrets of
why Mr. Eddy came down to the Institute so often and spent
so much time there. He felt that the Institute had a future.
60
WILLIAM C. GUMMING
Mr. Gumming is the son of California pioneers. He is tall and
strong, with the impressive physique of his pioneer stock; and his face
shows the strength of character we associate with men of such background.
Raised in the Placerville region, his associations with, and understanding
of the local people have been a valuable asset to the Institute of Forest
Genetics. He came to the Eddy Tree Breeding Station in his youth and saw
it change from a pear orchard to a significant research center. It was
no chance matter that Mr. Gumming was, for many years, supervisor of the
Institute of Forest Genetics. His abilities in handling problems of
planning and in carrying out the varied activities of the institute were
remarkable. The smooth partnership of Gumming, as supervisor, and Righter,
as scientist in charge of forest genetics experiments, allowed the insti
tute to progress through many productive years.
During the period of his administrative responsibility Mr. Gumming
was able to turn his contacts with local people to the advantage of the
institute by arranging to acquire, for a reasonable figure, some valuable
additional land for the experimental station. And his connections with
local politicians and ranchers were constant insurance of the ready accept
ance of researchers in the area. Colleagues like to recall that "Bill"
Gumming could always work faster and longer than any other man on the
most difficult jobs. More than that he is a hero. Twice he has saved
the life of a younger worker, unskilled in tree climbing, by his dauntless
courage and quick thinking.
Now "Bill" Gumming is retired and lives with his wife, "Will,"
in their charming home overlooking their pear orchard. My favorite
memory of "Bill" Cumming is the time I stopped to see him and found him
working his tractor in the family pear orchard all abloom with pale
pink blossoms. He is endlessly kind to any neighbor in time of need
and will always be admired and respected by his associates.
Lois Stone
I nterv i ewer- Ed i tor
March 1969
Regional Oral History Office
486 The Bancroft Library
University of California at Berkeley
6!
WILLIAM C. GUMMING
(January 19, 1968, Placerville, California)
Family Background, Education and Early Work Experience
Stone: Where we
Gumming: Garbervi
-e you born, Mr. Gumming?
le, Mendocino County.
Stone: Oh! You 1 , re a Cal i fornian!
,
Gumming: Native son.
Stone: And your folks, where were they from?
Gumming: My mother was from Texas and my father was from Canada.
Stone: What was the date of your birth?
Gumming: June 24, 1904.
Stone: And you attended school in Garbervi lie and lived there?
Gumming: No. Most of my schooling was here in El Dorado County, although
I started to school in Sacramento County.
Stone: Your folks lived in Sacramento for a little while?
Gumming: For a short time, four or five years.
Stone: And then they moved up to El Dorado County?
Gumming: Right.
Stone: In the Placerville area?
Gumming: Yes.
Stone: Now, Mr. Gumming, when you came to Placerviile, you were about how
old?
Gumming: Probably six.
Stone: So you must ve started school here in the first grade, right?
Gumming: No. Probably either the second or the third.
Stone: You were precocious. CLaughterU And then you went all the way
through school here?
Camming: Yeah.
Stone: And high school too?
62
Gumming: Right.
Stone: Then, did you have any jobs along the way?
Gumming: Yes, after I finished high school I worked for a time with
my father on the ranch. And then I went in to the assessor s
office in Placerville as the deputy assessor to Elmer Scott,
who was elected that year as the assessor of El Dorado County.
Stone: How old were you then?
Gumming: About eighteen.
Stone: And what sort of work did you do there?
Gumming: That was regular county assessment, taking care of making
plots of property and running down records on property and
making maps and collecting personal property taxes and
writing assessment sheets.
Stone: How long did you work in the assessor s ofrice?
Gumming: Two years.
Employed by Eddy Station
Stone: And what did you do then, after that?
Gumming: Well, then after that my father, in addition to having this
place,had rented a ranch over just north of Placerville. So
I went over there and helped him with that. After his lease
expired there I was at loose ends for a month or so. And
then I was helping a rancher up in this part of the country.
I was coming home from work one day and I met a neighbor by the
name of Jack Young. He asked what I was doing and I told him.
And he said, "Well, you re about through there, aren t you?"
And I said, "Yes."
Well, he said, "You know, I own this old Aikins place
over. here, Bill, and I ve just sold it to some people that are
going to make an experiment station out of it. And Mr. Austin,
the man who is heading it up, asked where he could get some help
and I told him about you and he says he ll look you up."
So he looked me up and he said, I ll have about two
weeks work for you."
That was in the fall of 1925. -It was probably about
"Wei I , I guess
r
April or May of the following year that he told me,
that finishes the job, Bill."
So I went home that night. That, as far as I can
remember, is the first time I was ever fired. About a half an
63
Gumming: hour after I got home I heard a car come rattling in the
old rocky road down there. And here was John Barnes, who was
also one of our staff. And he said, "Did Austin fire you
today?"
And I said, "Yeah."
"Well," he said, "we had quite a discussion." And he
said, "You be there at eight o clock in the morning."
I said, "For what?"
Well he said, "I asked him who s going to do the work
up here. So we decided that you d better come back."
So I stayed there until I retired, about two years
ago last December.
Stone: You were one of the very first staff members, then, along with
Barnes and who else?
Gumming: Austin was here first. And as near as I can remember I was the
second one that went to work.
Stone: And then Barnes came?
Gumming: Barnes came in later.
Stone: And then the three of you were the essential staff in the
begi nni ng.
Gumming: That s right. There was a man by the name of Joe Howell came
in some time that spring. But he only stayed a few months. He
and Austin didn t seem to hit it off very well. Then he was
replaced by Mace Lumsden.
Stone: What sort of a man was Austin?
Gumming: Well, he was a scholar from Davis who apparently had impressed
Luther Burbank very highly. And when Mr. Eddy was trying to
get Burbank interested in the work he said, "You don t want
me up there. I m too old." And he recommended Lloyd Austin,
who at that time was employed at the University Farm at Davis.
Stone: Now Mr. Eddy conceived this idea almost without any help,
didn t he? Of having the Institute of Forest Genetics. I
know he consulted with various people.
And then he hired Austin to help him out.
Gumming: After Burbank had recommended him. Apparently they had a few
conferences, he and Austin. And finally they got together
on a permanent basis. Austin, I think, finmed lately, started
64
Gumming: searching throughout the United States for a suitable
location to establish the Station.
Stone: Do you know how he happened to choose this area?
Gumming: Well, there were several things that he was interested in.
One thing was the length of the growing season. And one
thing that surprised me shortly after I went to work there, he
told us that the growing season here was longer than the site
which they were considering in Georgia. That surprised me
quite a lot because I didn t believe well, I thought down
South things grew forever, they didn t have any killing frosts
and so forth. Another thing was accessibility to good roads,
schools, and towns that would be reasonably close. By that,
I mean a town large enough to have doctors and so forth.
Stone: This was for the convenience of the staff primarily.
-
Gumming: Right.
Stone: Now, Mr. Eddy had been, I know, in the lumbering business in
Washington. And this is essentially the source of his money.
He was primarily noted for his work there in raising and
harvesting Douglas firs. Is that correct?
Gumming: Well, I wouldn t say sure he was interested in lumbering in
Washington. But I think even before they came to the coast
here, he was in the same business in the east. And they moved
here. And at the time he started the station they had quite
a large operation at Port Blakely Mills.
out
Establishing the Tree Farm.
Stone: Did he immediately, when he decided to go into forest genetics,
think of using the genus Pi nus? Or was he considering many
other genera?
Gumming: At that time I wasn t too familiar with what their plans were.
I was just a man hired to do whatever had to be done. To begin
with that was a pear orchard up there. And that was my first job,
getting rid of those pear trees. My dad, having a ranch over
here and also needing a little source of income, I got him and
his team up there and we got rid of the pear trees. And then
the next job was to cut brush and burn it so that we could put
a fence around a portion of the property.
Stone: And then you had to plant the trees.
65
Gumming: That fall we started getting in shipments of trees from
forest nurseries all over the country. That is one of the
things that Austin had done: he d gone around to these
various nurseries where forest trees were grown and had made
selections of trees and tagged them. So that when the
dormant season came those trees could be dug up and shipped
to us.
Stone: Oh, they were fairly good-sized trees then?
Gumming: I would say they run from, oh, possibly one to three years
old. You asked about the species. When we started planting
trees up there we were planting pines and firs and cedars and
redwoods and anything almost that might fall into the class
of timber tree.
Stone: Then they probably hadn t really decided on the species they
would K e dealing with ultimately.
Gumming: That s right. I would say that it is probably six or eight
years after the station was started when they decided that that
was such a big field that if they were going to get any place
they would have to concentrate on one particular species.
Stone: Or one genus at least.
Gumming: Or one genus, yes. That s when we started moving a lot of
trees around and getting them out of the way, in filling up our blocks
with pine trees.
Stone: You did work with Juglans for a while, with walnut, too?
Gumming: We had a plantation at the Division of Forestry headquarters between
Sacramento and Davis. I believe there was probably about between
two and three acres. And those were walnuts that had been
selected from pretty well all over this coastal region, wherever
walnuts were growing. All the way from Washington clear down
into San Diego County.
Stone: This would have included introduced species as well as
Indigenous species.
Gumming: Right.
Mr. James G. Eddy
Stone: Now, I suppose Mr. Eddy came around pretty frequently when the
thing was getting started. Do you recall when you first met him?
rumminq: I think I probably had been working there for at least six months
before I met Mr. Eddy.
66
Stone: Was he very excited about the station and how it was
progress! ng?
Gumming: Well, I think he was, yes. Of course I didn t see too
much of him then because any time that he came he and Austin
were usually busy some place other than where I was working.
And I just knew that he d been there and occasionally saw him.
Once in a while he had to be taken some place, maybe to
Berkeley or to Sacramento to meet a train or something and I
was elected to chauffeur to see that he got there.
Stone: How did he impress you?
Gumming: Very favorably. I always enjoyed his company.
Stone: Was he a fairly different and eccentric individual?
Gumming: Well, he was different, there was no doubt about that. I would
hesitate to say he was eccentric. He was always pretty sharp,
I thought.
Stone: It has appeared to me very unusual that a man of his wealth
and station in life would decide to do a thing like this, to put
his money into something like genetics. It doesn t happen so often.
Gumming: Well, I think he saw the handwriting on the wall. In other words,
since he had been in the lumbering industry in the east and
came clear across the country and was located up here and saw
what had been vast forest areas being completely deforested, he
could see the need of something being done. And because of the
work and the success that Burbank was having with the fruits and
vegetables and so forth, that s where he went for his first what
woul d you ca I I it?
Consultation?
Yes.
And Luther Burbank gave him encouragement on that?
Stone:
Gumming:
Stone :
Gumming:
Well,
before
think Mr. Eddy had probably made several trips
Mr. Burbank actually encouraged him very much.
Stone :
there
At first,
I have the impression that he thought, "Well, here s a wealthy
man that wants a little notoriety or something." And I think probably
after about the third trip he became convinced that Mr. Eddy was
really trying to do something for the good of the country.
So then he gave him his unqualified blessings.
I understand that Mr. Eddy also had a swing at breeding horses
in line with his interest in genetics. Do you know anything
about that?
67
Gumming: Oh, I know he was quite interested in horses.
Stone: What kind did he breed? Racehorses, trotters?
Gumming: Trotters.
Stone: It s an interesting kind of horse.
Gumming : There w&s a ranch down just this side of Sacramento, I believe it
was called the Crawford Ranch, where some of his horses were
kept I know.
Stone: Did he race them, enter them in contests, or ...?
Gumming: I m sure he did.
Stone: Then he paid considerable attention to their breeding?
Gumming: I believe so, although I m not too familiar with that.
Early Staff Members
Stone: I have a list of the early staff members. Aside from yourself
there was Lloyd Austin, John Barnes, W. G. Wallenberg, Lumsden,
Mr. Righter, and C lyde Berriman. Were there some others in the
early days?
Gumming: W. Palmer Stockwe I I came I think shortly after Mirov came.
Stone: What did he do?
Gumming: He came in, he had been employed by the Carnegie Institution
prior to coming to the Eddy Station. At the time that the
Station was taken over by the government, Austin was devoting
considerable of his time to writing up experiments and so forth,
and Stockwe 1 I became the Division Chief.
Stone: Oh, I didn t know.
Gumming: In other words he replaced Austin under the government as the
chief.
Stone: When did that happen, roughly?
Gumming: I would have to go into the records.
Stone: I can check it out.
68
Gumming: Fine. W. Palmer Stockwell
Stone :
Cummi ng :
Stone:
Gumming:
Stone :
Gumming:
Stone:
Gumming;
Stone :
Gumming:
Stone :
Gumming:
Stone :
Perfecting Pollination Techniques
You were doing quite a few things along in that period. You
did some work in pollination at an early point, didn t you?
Yes.
Those were interesting experiments. I
in developing some of the techniques.
read about your early work
Very interesting.
It was very interesting. It was hard work, but it was so new and
the possibilities seemed so great that in spite of it being hard
work, everybody gave all they had to just try and keep the ball
rolling. It wasn t long before I guess maybe because I knew the
country quite well and I knew all the roads and where to find
different trees, and lots of the property owners. I was also
big enough that I could climb trees pretty easy and didn t mind
doing it that I kind of gravitated naturally towards the
tree-climbing part of it. And I never felt better in my life than
when I was climbing trees, although it was really tough going.
You had to do with developing some of the techniques where
they stuck the thing way out on poles? Did you work with some of
that technique?
Well, now, what are you speaking of on the poles?
Didn t they have a bag to collect the pollen?
Well, we collected the pollen in bags. But rather than to stick
the pole out and collect it, we climbed the trees and picked
the catkins and put them in paper bags which we carried with us.
And if there were branches out there that we wanted to use
for this work we had long wires with hooks on the end that we
could reach out and grab the end of the branch and pull it in and
wrap it around our body or a leg or anything to hold it in while
we were working on it.
That was very clever.
Wei 1 , we got results.
With a lot of hard work.
Lots of hard work.
Then you were also involved in setting up the nursery, weren t you?
And the arboretum, in the early days.
69
Gumming: Yes. That was one of the things, that after we got the fence
in then these various fields had to be surveyed out and staked
so that we could go on and plant the trees. And there were a
few jobs like that that my dad and I took contracts on. Austin
and some of the others did some work on it and they knew how
time-consuming it was. So my dad and I talked it over. And we
knew that we could save a lot of time and do just as good a
job as they were doing. So we took some contracts on some of
those jobs and did a good job and made ourselves some money and
everybody was happy.
Stone : Good i dea .
Gumming: I don t know whether Mr. Austin was too happy when he saw how
quick we did the work. But actually we did it cheaper than he
was able to do it.
Stone: Were there some staff changes during those early days?
Gumming: The first staff change was when Joe Howell left. And John Barnes
had gone to school with Mace Lumsden back in Michigan and he had
recommended Lumsden and so Lumsden replaced Howe! I. In the late
twenties Mr. Barnes took a job with one of the rubber companies
and he left to go to Sumatra.
Stone: Was that just a better job, or was there some feeling in
the staff, was he unhappy?
Gumming: Oh, no, there was no bad feelings or anything. It was a better job.
It was the same type of work to a certain extent selection and
breeding in of rubber plants. And he was a young man and it looked
I i ke a chance to make some money. And also to do some valuable work.
The Station During the Depression
Stone: Very good. And then along about the end of the twenties there
came to be a worry about money.
Gumming: Yes. It was a little worse than a worry. It was a pretty serious
situation. Apparently Mr. Eddy was finding it difficult to keep
the station going. So when Mr. Austin was discussing it with us and
wondering what we were going to do, I finally got a piece of
paper and went around to the various staff members and people
that were working there and asked them what would be the minimum
that they could get by with. Then I turned this list in to Mr.
Austin and we decided in other words that we didn t need to
draw our full salaries if this thing was a matter of keeping it
alive or it going on the rocks, why we were all for keeping it
a I ive.
Stone: That was a very noble effort.
70
Gumming: So we found out that we could keep things alive that way.
And then it got even worse after that so three of us A I
Liddicoet, Clark Gleason, and myself told Austin that
he could take the money that we were drawing and use it to keep the
station going and we would find other jobs. So Gleason went to work
with the El Dorado Forest. And A I Liddicoet and I went to work
for the State Division of Forestry. That was about June of 32.
Stone: And then the Carnegie people came in to help you a little bit,
didn t they?
Gumming: Yes. They came in before we left. They had put up some money
to help operate the station.
Stone: Was that when Stockwell came, or had he been here earlier?
Gumming: No.
Stone: You said he worked with Carnegie, so I thought perhaps he had.
Gumming: I can t recall. That ll have to come from the records.
Stone: The Carnegie Institute funds didn t hold you for very long, I gather.
It was a small amount.
Gumming: That s right.
Working with the CCC
Stone: After that you got some government help involved with the blister
rust control . The CCC crews?
Gumming: Yes. After, I think it was in early 33 or the later part of 32 -
It was early 33, I guess, that the state labor camps came into
being. While I was working for the Division of Forestry here in
El Dorado County, that fall we established up here at Mt. Danaher,
about a mile above Camino, one of the first labor camps. And
that was made up of men that they just picked up off the streets
down in the cities and brought them up here and promised them
a place to live and get food and clothing. And I believe they got
five dollars a month.
Stone: These were men of all ages.
Gumming: Of all ages. We had fellows anywhere from twenty to sixty or
seventy in the camp.
Stone: This was not the same thing as the scrub camps of CCC days then?
Gumming: No. Those were stub camps.
Stone: Stub camps! You had those, too?
Gumming: Yes.
71
Stone: And what did those boys do?
Gumming: They might have been called spike camps, too.
There were many camps located after these labor
camps, then the CCC was started. And I went from the labor
camp here at Danaher over to Indian Diggings and the CC Camp.
Then there was another CCC camp over at Calador and one
up above Riverton. And from one of these camps some of those
boys came down here to the Institute and worked on planting trees
and watering trees and cultivating and various jobs that had
to be done.
Stone: And you supervised them?
Gumming: No. At that time I was away. At that time our senator from
this state I believe was Sam Shortridge. I don t know who
approached him but it was through him that the station was
first connected with the government through the Soil Erosion
service. And a man by the name of Fred Herbert came out here
from Washington as the superintendent. I was working then with
the state and I was in a stub camp over at Mokelumne Hill. We
were on a fire there one night. I guess it was about two o clock
in the morning somebody came up to me and said, "Bill, there s
a couple of men in a car down on the road. They came over
here from Placerville and they want to see ycu."
So I went down to the road. This was about two-thirty
the morning as I recall. Pete Righter and someone else was
in the car. And they told me that the Soil Erosion service
was going to be able to support the Institute and they
wanted me to come back immediately. They were going to have
a big seed collection program that year. So I told them,
"Well, I can t pull out of here in the middle of fire season
without giving these people notice."
"Well, that s all right. You go ahead and give them
notice and you get over there as soon as you can."
n
Returning to the Institute
Gumming: So it was along in August when I left the Division of
Forestry and came back to the Eddy Station. That s when I met
Fred Herbert, who was the superintendent there for the Soil
Erosion Service.
It was in 35 I think then that the Forest Service took
over the station. And Mr. Herbert then went +o Watsonville with
the Soil Conservation Service. And Mr. Austin was our boss up there,
Stone: Mr. Austin continued for some time after the Forest Service
took over the station.
72
Gumming: And I think it was during the war, maybe around 42 or 43,
that Stockwell took his place as chief.
Gumming Becomes Superintendent
Stone: When did you start as director?
Gumming: I was the superintendent. Stockwell and the director and
I were walking in and Palmer said, "Bill, are you going to take this j<
I said, "Well, Palmer, do I have to live here?"
"No, you don t have to live here."
"It s all right for me to take the job and live over
at the ranch, or downtown?"
"Sure, sure."
I says, "All right. On that basis, I ll take it."
Up until then we d found that somebody had to be there
all the time. If Weidman was going to be away at night then it
behoved some of us and for some reason or other I seemed to
be the goat most of the time to come up and stay there. And
on weekends somebody had to be there. So as I saw it if the
superintendent had to live there he had a twenty-four-hour-a-day
job seven days a week. And I had been there long enough then that
I knew I couldn t take that. So since he said that wasn t
necessary why I agreed to take it. And, that s it.
Stone: You took it on the basis of living at the ranch and then going
up there. Did youhavea man on duty all the time? How did you
arrange that?
Gumming: We had enough living quarters up there and we had enough people
for instance we had a man by the name of Bud Seward his wife
was our secretary and Bud was our maintenance man there and
they were looking for a place to live, so we arranged for them
to live in the three-room house there. So that eliminated the
necessity of having anyone be there at night. Also on weekends.
And if they were going to be away then we arranged for somebody
to be there.
Then shortly after that we had another man who also wanted
to find a place to live. So we had him there too. And that made thin<
so that there was somebody there all the time. And that took
a lot of the pressure off of me, designating somebody or else
going up myself, every night the place was vacant, or every weekend,
and taking care of the visitors.
Stone: When did you start in as the boss of the Institute?
73
Gumming:
Stone :
Gumming:
Stone:
Gumming:
Stone :
Gumming:
Stone:
Gumming:
Stone :
Gumming:
Stone:
Cummi ng :
Stone:
Gumming;
Mmmm. Gee. I don t know... I must ve been the superintendent
there for about seventeen or eighteen years.
So you started in some time during the war period. 42,
something like that maybe?
Oh, probably maybe 45 or 46.
That s a long period to run an organization like this,
had a lot of staff changes during that period.
You must ve
Well, yes, we had some staff changes. And we had a lot of
scientists coming from different universities throughout the
country and visitors in fact coming from all over the world.
And I don t mean overnight visitors. They would come there
for maybe from anywhere from a week or two to several months.
In fact one man from Korea I think spent better than a year there.
Doing research?
Yes. And then he went back to Korea and started the Institute
of Forest Genetics in Korea.
And how about Mr. Eddy during this period,
often?
Did he come very
Oh, yes. Eddy came quite frequently. Although his home was quite
a ways off and he used to drive his own car, or he would put the
car on the boat and bring it down so that he had it here.
And then the last few years he didn t bring his car. He would come
down by train and go to Berkeley. And then, since that was our
headquarters, somebody there would bring him up. Or if it wasn t
convenient some of us would drive a car down and get him and
bring him up.
Had he become ill in his later years?
Well, when Mr. Eddy s wife died it struck him pretty hard and
he was, you might say, almost lost.
Was there some kind of a heart involvement? Something was mentioned
in some of the correspondence about digitalis and I thought
maybe he had a heart condition.
.
Not to my knowledge.
But he just wasn t well. Of course he wasn t as young as he used
to be.
That s right. He was getting along in years. And then all of a
sudden when she passed away it made a big change In his life. The
first time I saw him after that I could see a big change in
74
Gumming: him. His mind wandered a lot to other things; it was harder
for him to concentrate on the Institute. He still had his interest
here. But things he didn t used to have to think of would
confuse him.
Stone: It s pretty hard, I think, for an older man to lose his wife
anyway. It always is. And she may have been a tremendous help to
him.
Gumming: Sure, she was.
Stone: Was she as interested as he in the station, do you think?
Gumming: No, I don t believe so, to the extent ,that he was. I visited one
time. I d gone up north to visit several of the nurseries in that
part of the country. And I stayed overnight at his place in Seattle,
That s the first time, I guess, that I had met Mrs. Eddy.
She was quite interested in anything that he was connected with,
but never to the extent that he was in the Institute.
Stone: She must have had some interest in trees.
Gumming: Oh, yes, sure.
Stone: Being connected with a lumbering family. He passed away about 1962
or something of that sort? Or was it earlier?
Gumming: No, that must ve been pretty close to it.
Stone: And he kept coming pretty much until the end, do you think?
Gumming: No, no. There was quite a spell there at the last that we didn t
see him. During the exposition up there I didn t attend
that but both Pete Righter and Nick Mirov went up and while they
were there Mr. Eddy at that time was staying at a rest home or
a convalescent home.
Stone: He d grown pretty frail by that time.
Gumming: Yes. They went out and visited with him a while. And we knew from
the reports that they brought back that Mr. Eddy s days were limited.
Stone: But he must ve had a lot of satisfaction in his later days
thinking how well the station had prospered. And the Institute
under your supervision was going along so nicely. I can
imagine this was a very satisfying thing to him.
Gumming : I m sure.
Stone: Because everything did go very well, I think, toward the end,
didn t it?
Gumming: That s right.
75
Stone: You had a good staff and they worked well and there weren t overly
many changes.
Gumming: And they were getting results.
Stone: Yes. The results speak for themselves, the publications and
the many visitors you had.
Acquiring the Ca I dwell Property
Stone: Do you have any general feelings about the Institute now, about
what they are doing or what they may be doing in the future?
I would like to ask you about the acquisition of the
Ca I dwell property. I know you had a great deal to do with that.
And Dr. Mirov said this was something it would be very interesting
to hear from you.
Gumming: Well, the Gal dwells were good friends of mine for a number of
years, for many years. After Mr. Gal dwell passed away, Mrs.
Caldwell had considerable illness and Mrs. Weidman, who was
the wife of Bob Weidman, the former superintendent of the
Institute, was appointed the administrator of the estate.
After Mrs. Caldwell passed away Mrs. Weidman continued
to operate the ranch up there until such time as she could dispose
of it. And that was quite a job for a woman who had never had
any experience ranching. Frequently she would ask my help and
advice on different things that would come up. And occasionally
I would go up there and go over the property with her and make
suggestions.
And one time it occurred to me that since most of the
Institute plantations were scattered around the forest where they
were comparatively inaccessible during the wintertime, it would be
wonderful thing to have some ground that was right next to the
highway which would be accessible the year around. So I suggested
Pete Righter the possibility that if we could find some money that
might be a good piece of property to acquire. And he agreed with
me but we didn t know what to do about getting the money. One
of our plantations was established on property over in Amador
County, on the Winton lumber company holdings.
And one day when their representative was in the office
I asked him if he thought the Wintons might be interested in
helping to buy a piece of property that was available for the
Institute up above El Camino. And he thought .it would be well
worth our while if we would come over and talk to the superintendent
at Martell. He thought there was a chance that we might get
considerable cooperation.
to
76
Gumming : So I got in touch with Righter and we made an appointment and
went over and talked with him. And he was very sympathetic
with our cause and agreed to take it up with the Wintons.
The Wintons agreed to put up a quarter of the purchase price.
We discussed this with Mrs. Weidman, and being the
wife of a former superintendent and very interested in Forest
Service affairs, she agreed that she would like very much to see
the Forest Service acquire the property and that if we could
raise the money she would cooperate with us as much as she could.
Mr. Righter had a few people in mind who might help to
raise this money. I mentioned to him one time that we had a
friend over in Willows by the name of Charlie Lambert who had
one time visited us and suggested he would buy us a mechanical
ladder to use for climbing trees. And perhaps he might be
persuaded to put that money into the property instead of into the
ladder. So Pete phoned him and introduced himself and told him
what he wanted. And Mr. Lambert said sure, he would put up a
quarter of the purchase price.
And then Mr. Righter got in touch with some lumbermen in
Washington and they also agreed to help. Mr. Lambert at Willows
phoned us one night and said that after the result of an examination
with his doctor in Berkeley that apparently his health was in
pretty precarious condition and that he probably wouldn t
be able to help us out. And it was only a few months after that
that Mr. Lambert passed away with cancer.
Mr. Morton of Morton salt put up a portion of the money.
At the end when we were almost where we could see daylight
we sti I ! lacked a few hundred dollars. So I believe Mr. Righter
and I went down to the office of the Hazel Valley Lumber Company
in Placerville and talked to Seth Beach, the owner. He asked
us how much we still had to raise and we told him and he says,
"Al I right, I ll furnish it."
So that took care of the finances and the deed was
executed to the property and it was turned over to the
government.
Stone: That was a nice piece of work. You must ve felt good about that.
Gumming: I did.
77
ALFRED R. LIDDICOET
Mr. Liddicoet was interviewed in the library of the Institute
of Forest Genetics. He is a handsome man of middle years. His manner
is gentle and thoughtful. One would scarcely guess, from his friendly
and cooperative expression, that Mr. Liddicoet still suffers much pain
from the accident that caused him to terminate his employment with the
Institute.
"A I" Liddicoet s former colleagues were quick to tell me that
he was a person of extreme modesty. I learned how true this was when
I urged him to tell me something of his imaginative contributions to the
research activities at the Institute. Liddicoet is inclined to belittle
his achievements, and even to refrain from speaking of them, unless he is
begged to do so. One can only guess the role he has played in the re
search of the experimental station by scanning the literature. Had we
been able to plan more than the one brief interview with Mr. Liddicoet
he might have been persuaded to give more interesting details about some
of his ingenious ideas.
An additional point of interest in Liddicoet s connection with
the Institute is that his wife, (Doris Cribbs Liddicoet), was, for many
years, a secretary to Lloyd Austin. She was able to give him considerable
background about problems of the Institute and about the discussions
that went on between Austin and James G. Eddy.
Liddicoet was the son of pioneers, his grandfather had come to
California to mine gold and had remained to become a settler and rancher.
"A I" Liddicoet, himself, was born in the foothill town of Sutter Creek
not far from Placervi I le. The Liddicoet family was much respected in
the Mother Lode. Included among its members were several who attained
considerable distinction in academic fields. "Al" Liddicoet s choice of
a career brought an intelligent aid to the Institute.
Lois Stone
I nterv i ewei Ed i tor
March 1969
Regional Oral History Office
486 The Bancroft Library
University of California at Berkeley
78
ALFRED RAYMOND LIDDICOET
(January 20, 1968)
Family Background and Childhood
Stone: This is a history of the Institute of Forest Genetics,
formerly known as the Eddy Tree Breeding Station. We are
recording the reminiscences of an early scientist in this
station, Mr. A. R. Liddicoet. We are recording at the
Institute of Forest Genetics and the interview is being
conducted by Lois C. Stone on January 20, 1968. Mr.
Liddicoet is now ready to answer some questions.
Where were you born, Mr. Liddicoet?
Liddicoet: I was born in Sutter Creek, Amador County, California, on
January 22, 1907. I was raised in that + own and had my education
there through high school.
Marriage and Early Employment at Eddy Tree Breeding Station
Liddicoet: But in the meantime I had married in the summer of 1928.
My wife happened to be Mr. Austin s secretary at the Eddy Tree
Breeding Station. And in that way, I became acquainted with
the Eddy Tree Breeding Station and in the winter of 1928-29
I started work for the Eddy Tree Breeding Station during the
winter months, and then returned to the California Door Company
in the summertime, during their operating season. Then in 1930
it was during the start of the Depression the California
Door Company stopped operating their logging and sawmill operation,
And Mr. Austin asked if I would come and start permanently with
the Eddy Tree Breeding Station. That s how I came to the
station.
Stone: What was the first work that you did?
Liddicoet: The first work was measuring seedlings in the nursery and out-
planting in the present Eddy Arboretum. These measurements
were height and diameter and, oh, the counting of the
cotyledons, the number of needles per sheath, and other
work pertaining to forest nursery and outplanting practices.
Stone: Did you do some of the early pollination work, too?
Liddicoet: The first year or so, I was only here during the winter months.
The pollination season would be just about starting when
I would leave to return to the California Door Company. I got
familiar with collecting the catkins for pollen, but that was
about as far as I got until after 1930.
79
Eddy Station Work and Staff
Liddicoet: Then I went into a I I the phases of the work, from then on.
Stone: You lived in Placervi I le?
Liddicoet: Yes, that s right.
Stone: Did your wife continue as secretary for a while?
Liddicoet: She did for a while. And I don t remember just what year
she left the employment of the Eddy Station. But then she
went to work for the Extension Service in Placervi lie,
Mr. Lilly was the Farm Advisor. But I continued on at the
Institute. It became the Institute of Forest Genetics in
1933, I believe, 2 or 3 -- someplace along in there.
Yes, I think that s right. You and Mrs. Liddicoet must
have both been very close to Mr. Eddy because of her
association and then yours.
That s right.
What was her maiden name, incidentally?
Doris Cribbs.
Did Mr. Eddy come up quite a bit in the early days?
Oh, yes. I can remember my wife talking about meeting Mr. Eddy
and then writing lots of letters to him from Mr. Austin and
Mr. Lumsden, who was the nurseryman, and John Barnes who was
our forester. And of course Mr. Gumming, Bill Gumming,
who was John Barnes s assistant at that time. I became
acquainted with Mr. Eddy before I ever met him, though my wife.
Mr. Eddy as a Person
Stone: Mr. Eddy must have been a most unusual, fascinating man.
Liddicoet: He was, sure enough. That s right.
Stone: He had a great deal of vision.
Liddicoet: Oh, tremendous! I mean it, I would say probably very few people
have the vision that he had.
Stone :
Liddicoet:
Stone :
Liddicoet:
Stone :
Liddicoet:
Stone :
Was he an interesting man to be with?
80
Liddicoet: Very interesting. You bet he was. I can remember in later
years that Mr. Gumming and Mr. Eddy and myself, and I believe
another person I m not sure who it was now but we went
on a trip through the Sierras here in Eldorado County, in this
Eldorado Region. And he was enjoying the wonderful timber that
we have in this part of the Sierras. He was a very very interest
ing person, yes.
Stone: What was the reason for this trip?
Liddicoet: Well, he just wanted to go out and see nature, I think. He
was that sort of a person. And he wanted somebody to go along
and drive for him, and so that he could talk to the people
that had worked for him, you might say, on this research.
And I think he just wanted to get acquainted with the personnel.
That was the main thing.
Stone: Was it a fairly extensive trip?
Liddicoet: No, not really extensive. It was only a day or so. But we
covered not so much ground, in mileage, but we covered a lot
of subjects.
Stone: Did he want to stop often and look at specimen trees?
Liddicoet: Yes, he did. That was one of the things. He would stop and
look at trees.
Stone: What sort of things fascinated him?
Liddicoet: Timber and, of course, the view and the beauty of the surrounding
areas, and so forth and so on.
Stone: Was he also interested in undergrowth and the smaller plants?
Liddicoet: He seemed to be interested in the whole setup, as it was
natural ly .
Stone: He enjoyed seeing the birds and the other things.
Liddicoet: That s right. The whole picture, I mean not just one
individual thing, like timber, or flowers, but all of nature s
beauty and restful ness.
Stone: When you went on an outing like this, I suppose he was the host
and paid all the bills.
Liddicoet: Well, no doubt. CLaughter] I don t recall exactly. But I m
quite sure he did.
Stone: He was a man of considerable means.
Liddicoet: Yes.
81
Stone: And he probably enjoyed entertaining his staff a little bit.
Liddicoet: That s right.
Stone: This was when he was still financing everything?
Liddicoet: About the time it transferred to the government.
The Station Becomes a Federal Institute
Stone: I know it was a slow process. Before it was actually trans
ferred, there was the worry about where it should go and who was
going to take over.
Liddicoet: That s right. There was quite a lot of discussion about it.
And I think they were a little afraid that if it was transferred
into the government that they would lose their identity in the
maze of departments and so forth and so on.
Stone: Well, that is often a valid worry.
Liddicoet: That s right.
Stone: Nobody wants to give up the autonomy that you have in an
independent setup.
Liddicoet: And they had just got it started to the point where there
might be some results to begin to be shown, and they didn t
want it to be lost right before it got started, you might say.
Stone: You don t like to see worthwhile projects just blocked by
bureaucracy.
Liddicoet: That s right.
Stone: It might have gone to the University, had they been able to
raise the money.
Liddicoet: I would think that it probably would have. You see, they tried to
raise an endowment, before it was ever transferred, I believe.
That was during depression time, and they just couldn t,
couldn t swing it. That was all.
Stone: Mr. Righter told me that he and Mrs. Austin went around,
to various wealthy people, asking them for little ....
Liddicoet: Yes, that s right.
Stone: And then finally, it was decided that it would go to the
Forest Service.
82
Liddicoet: That s right.
Stone: And you continued on.
Liddicoet: Yes.
Stone: With the setup the way it was.
Liddicoet: That s right.
Stone: Now, after it went to the Forest Service, Mr. Austin still
remained for a while.
Liddicoet: He was still project leader, or division chief, or whatever you
might want to call I forget the CtitleU.
Stone: Under the Berkeley office.
Liddicoet: Yes. And he remained until during the Second World War
sometime. I know I happened to be in India at the time. I
was away over three years.
Stone: Oh, you went into the service.
Liddicoet: Yes. And I think Mr. Cumming wrote to me that Mr. Austin had
resigned, or something. I don t know all the particulars.
I wasn t here at the time.
Stone: He had this iris business started? CMr. and Mrs. Austin were
breeding and selling hybrid irisH.
Liddicoet: Yes.
Stone: I gather that Mr. Austin was never too happy after it went
under the government. He felt the restraint.
Liddicoet: I mean they dictated what they could do and what they
couldn t do. I think he felt as though he was being kind of
you might say hog-tied.
Stone: Well, he d been here since the very beginning.
Liddicoet: That s right, since 1925.
Stone: He was the original man.
Liddicoet: That s right.
Stone: And I suppose it was a little hard to take.
Liddicoet: That s very true.
Stone: Mrs. Austin thought it was injuring his health. And he was
becoming nervous and upset about it and felt that he couldn t do
83
Stone: the right job because of this.
Liddicoet: I kind of think that probably was the truth all right.
Because I talked to him after I came back from the service.
He didn t discuss that part at all. He just, as an old employee,
or friend, and me as a returning G.i. had quite a chat together.
But nothing personal about whether he resented it, how he
happened to leave, or what. But he had his own business
established at that time.
Stone: That was probably a very happy solution for him.
Liddicoet: Yes, I m quite sure that was so.
New Interest at the Institute
Stone: And then you came back to the Institute after you finished
your service and continued with your scientific work.
Liddicoet: That s right.
Stone: And everything was reasonably comfortable and happy.
Liddicoet: That s right. It was very, very good to be back.
Stone: You did a lot of work then. I know, because a great many
papers came out with your name on them.
Liddicoet: Yes. I had well, worked in the weather department during
the service. Before that, I had taken weather records, here at the
Institute. And so that part was put into my hands, which I learned
like during the service. Then I gradually was shifted into the
pollination part. They gave me a choice of whether I wanted to
take charge of the nursery department or the field department.
Mr. Gumming had been in charge of the field department before but
he was going to be elevated, and they gave me the choice and I
chose the field department, pollination.
Stone: Yes, many of the papers relating to pollination you re author
or co-author of.
Liddicoet: Yes.
Stone: Is there anything in particular about the developments there
that you d like to comment about, or the people you worked with?
Some people who were particularly skillful or clever, or?
84
Liddicoet: Wei!, our pollination crew as a rule wasn t very large.
We were always understaffed, it seemed, from lack of money, which
was generally the case all through our history here, it seems like,
We, after the war, mean Mr. Gumming got ahold of a young
fellow that s still here with the Institute, Jack Carpender.
He worked under me. And between Bill and myself, we trained him.
He turned into a very good field man and pollinator.
Liddicoet:
Stone:
Liddicoet
Developing a New Records System
Then later, their keeping of records of hybrids and so forth
here had become quite a problem. And I think Mr. Righter
devised the original system of keeping track of the hybrids, while
Mr. Austin had instigated the system for keeping the records
on the species and progeny tests. And as time went on, it got
to be I i ke a snowball going down the hill. And it got more
complicated and it got to the point where you couldn t identify
the trees out there without taking the number off the label and
going back into the records and pawing through a bunch of ledgers
to find out what, actually, the parentage was of the tree.
Actually we were using three different recording systems,
Hybrids, Species and Progeny.
And so I I think, I probably had the first insight into I
that it had to be changed some way or other. And so I give it
considerable thought for a couple of years, and finally come up
with an idea of changing the system so one would do for all out-
plantings. And Mr. Righter came in one day, after he d been out in
the field, and he couldn t tell what the parentage of the tree
was until he d go back through all the records to find out.
And he said something had to be done about it, that was all
there was to it! So I told him what I had in mind.
And he said, "Just write a little note about it,
and let me look it over." And he says, "If it s suitable
why, we 1 I adopt it."
So I did. I wrote, what I had in mind for keeping track
of them so that you could tell as soon as you looked at the
label in the planting, what the parentage was, and how
many of that hybrid or species had been outplanted. More
detailed information is kept in ledgers and on individual
tree cards.
That s very good.
And they accepted it.
They gave me, I believe a $150 reward, which was quite a
surprise to me for developing and putting the system in operation.
I didn t have that in mind at all. I just knew that we had to
make a change, and thought of this.
85
Stone:
Liddicoet:
Stone:
Liddicoet:
Stone:
Liddicoet:
Stone:
Liddicoet:
Well, you made a great contribution.
Well, I don t know whether it was so great, but it just
was one of those things, I guess you might say American
ingenuity. If you work with something and you find that it
isn t working, you try to devise some way of making it work.
Yes.
Or changing it so it will work.
Well I admire your having devised this.
just let things go, you know.
Oftentimes people
you
Well, I suppose but if you re working and are conscientious
will try to do something about it.
Were there some other little incidents about devising of new
ideas or about problems that you figured out solutions for?
I think you have a great deal of ingenuity here.
Well, I wouldn t say that. But whenever you re working with
problems of this sort there s always little things that come up
maybe you can change or add to to improve the work or the
conditions. I don t know, I suppose I have contributed a little
bit to the advancement of the work.
that
Stone :
Liddicoet:
Stone:
Liddicoet:
Devising Pollination Techniques
You did a lot of work in pollination. Did you devise some of that
technique?
I guess maybe I had a hand in some of the early development
of the techniques of extraction, and things like that, of
the separation of pollen from the catkins.
start with.
onto my shoulders
How did you do that? In a bag, didn t you?
Yes. Mr. Righter worked with it quite a lot to
And then it gradually, I guess, kind of shifted
and we gradually changed things so that we got better
production of pollen from the amount of catkins that we would
gather. We would get more pollen, and probably a little cleaner
pollen. So we wouldn t have the trouble of plugging the
needles when we d go to pollinate the female flowers.
I can remember working on some of the early extractors,
the pollen extractors, things like that. I don t know.
I don t think they were all my ideas. I think they were every
body s ideas. Maybe I executed some of them.
86
Stone: Well, the pollen extractors, so-called, is that a kind
of a bag device?
Liddicoet: A funnel with screens in, and then a canvas bag on the
top of that so that the air and the moisture could be
dissipated out through the bag, but still foreign pollen
in the air couldn t contaminate the pollen that you wanted.
Stone: What sort of a canvas did you use?
Liddicoet: We used just ordinary white duck canvas, I think it was ten
weight or maybe it was twelve weight rt>, ten weight.
Because the twelve weight proved too heavy, and it was hard
to put the bag over the funnel part of the extractor, so
we finally settled on a ten weight bag.
Stone: Suppose you had a rain or something.
Liddicoet: After we d picked the catkins we d bring them in and wash the
catkins and then put them in these extractors and then hang them
in rooms where there was heat and air circulation.
Stone: But when you were actually collecting the catkins from the
trees, how did you do that?
Liddicoet: You just picked the catkins and placed them in paper bags and
brought them into the extraction rooms for processing.
Stone: Just ordinary paper bags?
Liddicoet: Yes. But then you washed the catkins before you put them in
the extractors, if they happened to have any foreign pollen
on the catkin you d wash it off with water. As a rule the
catkins hadn t started to open yet. Just before they were open
in the proper stage.
Stone: This meant an awful lot of work, watching the trees day by day?
Liddicoet: Well, yes, you had to watch your trees so you could get the
catkins at the right maturity. Otherwise, if you picked them too
green they d shrivel and wouldn t shed their pollen at all.
Stone: Somebody would have to go out almost daily?
Liddicoet: Just about daily. That s why most of our collecting of pollen
was done in the arboretum, here on the grounds so that you could
keep watch of the catkins as they matured.
Stone: Otherwise if you sent into the field and collected, you just
h it or miss?
87
LIddicoet: Yes. In a way hit or miss. Of course, a particular tree
might have some catkins that were quite green and others
that were open, so s you could hit some on the tree that
were right for picking, if you were anywheres close to the
maturity time, or you might say you learn, well by experience,
if they are such and such a stage now, if the weather stays so
and so, why in five days, or ten days, they ll be just right.
Stone: I can see how your skill in weather forecasting and knowledge
was very important.
Liddicoet: It came in handy. We also kept a record of pollen collection
dates so over a period of years you would know pretty closely
the time when pollen would be ready for collection.
Co-Workers at the Institute
Stone: Then during this period, after you came back from the war,
you were responsible for this program.
Liddicoet: Yes. That s right. They gave me that choice. When I came back
from the service, Dr. Stockwell and Mr. Gumming came into my
home and wanted me to come back to work and they presented the
choice then: whether I wanted to be in charge of the nursery or
in charge of the field work. And I d worked with Mr. Gumming
before the service time, in the field, and I liked that, and
so on.
Stone: I should think he d be a very good man to work with.
Liddicoet: Wonderful. There s no better.
Stone: He gets along with everybody very well.
Liddicoet: Oh, yes, he does. That s for sure.
Stone: And he has a good sense of humor.
Liddicoet: Very good and he s one of those men that you never can quite
equal as far as amount or quality of work he accomplishes.
I mean, when you re out on a job, why if you climb three trees
during the day he ll climb four, and so forth and so on.
And if you pollinate, or bag, a hundred bags on a certain tree,
why he just does that much more cause he s that much bigger
and stronger and he s just well, he s growed up with this work,
you might say. Bill doesn t excel in this work, just to show
how good he is but rather as an inspiration to his fellow workers.
Stone:
Liddicoet ;
Stone :
Liddicoet:
Stone :
Liddicoet:
Lidd rcoet: There s no one like him, I don t believe. You see, he started
in 1925. That s the year that the place was started, although
Mr. Austin had been working with Mr. Eddy on selection of sites
before that. But Mr. Gumming came in 1925.
You weren t too much behind him.
Not too much.
But considering your wife s association you really had, the two
of you, a real pioneer place in the Institute.
That s right.
Well, did you continue mainly with the pollination work?
Pollination and records. And records had become a big job.
And the more years that went on, why the Job got that much larger.
And now I believe they have separated the jobs, so that the
field man doesn t have the records to take care of. I think
the records is just about a one-man job now.
Stone: I can imagine there were some solutions that had to be worked
out for keeping the records in the early days, too.
Liddicoet: Oh! Well, that was quite true, I guess it would be in any
organization, especially in research, records would become
one of the biggest problems.
Stone: Precise, scientific work, demands care.
Liddicoet: Yes. I think that Mr. Righter was at some meeting one time
where geneticists were gathered. And I believe there was a Dr.
Fischer who was talking to Mr. Righter. And he asked Mr. Righter
where he was working, and he told him. He was working in
genetics, Forest Service. I believe it was Dr. Fischer told
him his biggest worry would be his records,
One of his biggest jobs. And apparently it s getting to
that point,
to take care
mean, it takes one man practically all
of Just the records.
his time
Stone:
Accident at the Station
You were here until four years ago or so, until you had the
accident?
Liddicoet: Yes. My accident was in May of 63 and I was off six months. Then
I came back and tried to work, and I just couldn t. I could ve
stayed on and maybe taken care of records for a while, but it
was standing in the way of some of the other personnel, so
I didn t think it was right. So they decided to put me out to
pasture.
89
Stone: It probably wouldn t have been good for you to undertake
that responsibility.
Liddicoet: I don t think it would have been. And I don t think I d
have been entirely satisfied. And I probably ... Well,
I just can t sit by and see work that should be done and not be
able to pitch in and try to help do it. I just never have been
of that nature and I guess never wi I I be.
Stone: You had lots of years of service.
Liddicoet: Well, yes, you see of course, I only had a little over
thirty years of government work, although I had about five other
years, so I had about thirty-five or thirty-six years, or a little
more of actual work here, but it wasn t all government.
Stone: Oh, that s the first part when you were just under Mr. Eddy
didn t count.
Liddicoet: It didn t count.
Stone: All of you were handicapped in that respect.
Liddicoet: Yes. That s right.
Stone: Mr. Gumming and everybody who was.
Liddicoet: Yes, Mr. Gumming, Mr. Austin, all those fellows in the
p re-government or early days of the Institute.
Stone: You had no coverage as far as retirement in those days.
Liddicoet: No, of course in those days there was no coverage for anyone
to speak of.
Stone: But in any case, with your accident having occurred while you
were on the job, you must have come out fairly well.
Liddicoet: Well, you see, they still carry me on compensation, although
they have retired me. Now, that s one thing I shouldn t have
let them do, I shouldn t have let them retire me.
Stone: Oh, the compensation is a better deal?
Liddicoet: Well, yes. Because they are carrying me on compensation. But
if I ever become well enough to be taken off of compensation,
why then they would put me on regular retirement and all these
years from the time they let me off to now, or whenever that day
comes, wouldn t count as far as retirement.
Stone :
But, still, you must have had enough years of service, so that
90
Liddicoet:
Stone:
Liddicoet:
Stone :
Liddicoet:
Stone :
No, I m not hurting or anything like that,
me off of compensation.
It could have been better.
Even i f they took
Well, in this respect. Maybe not any for me, because they may
continue to carry me on compensation, retirement, I don t know.
Because I m still under a doctor s care, and they still pay
the doctor and so forth.
Well that s important, now!
Yes, because, you see it was pretty near two years after the
accident they found some other things besides the compression
fracture of the back. It turned up that there were some internal
injuries too. But they recognize it, sc . . .
What was the circumstance when the accident occurred? Mr.
Gumming said you were up on this ladder doing some work all by
yoursel f .
Liddicoet: Yes, I was collecting catkins. And we were quite rushed. Our
Division Chief at that time was Callaham. He s in Washington, D.C. t
now. He was striving to get to Washington, D.C., at that time, I
guess. He had made up the program because Dr. Critchfield had been si
And he had made up such a tremendous program that our personnel
just couldn t take care of it. 1 was working by myself while two
of the other fellows were working Gin another area]. We were using
this oh, antiquated truck ladder on an old truck,
and the ladder, I guess the Institute d bought it in 1934.
Oh, it was a monstrosity. And we had had money to buy a new one,
a hydraulic or an electrically operated one. They converted
the money to some other pet project, so we just got along with
our old equipment. And apparently I backed this truck in close
to a tree and the ladder leaned up against this dead branch.
After lunch I went back and climbed this ladder, and apparently
just as I was getting ready to hook on my safety belt because
when they found me the safety belt had been unhooked but it hadn t
been looped into the loop on the ladder and apparently the
limb broke and flipped me clear off the ladder.
Apparently the pressure of my weight with the ladder on
the limb was too much so the limb broke, sort of whipped me off.
I suppose I had one hand on the belt, getting ready to loop it
onto the ladder.
I apparently caught something on the way down because my
right shoulder was partially dislocated, or something.
I took therapy treatments six months or so afterward to
try to get in shape so as I could get it above my head. And
it s pretty much normal now. It s not as good as it was,
but I m not complaining. They said I shouldn t live, anyway:
the doctor told my wife that there wasn t, no chance for me to
I i ve, but . . .
91
Stone :
LIddicoet:
Stone :
Liddicoet:
Stone :
Lidd icoet:
Stone :
Liddicoet:
Stone :
Liddicoet:
Stone:
Liddicoet:
Stone:
Liddicoet:
You fooled them.
[Laughter] Well, I did I guess.
Wei! you really look pretty well now. I know you re still having
trouble.
Oh, yes, I feel very well. I still have lots of pain. But I can live
with it. If I don t get overambitious, I get along real well.
But it is too bad that this accident had to occur. And
apparently might not have occurred had the equipment been good
and the program not so rushed.
Well, on that program business, Dr. Critchfield came back in
my office after he got well and got back on the job and that
was before I was hurt and he told me in my office, quote
"Al, I just don t know what Callaham was thinking about by
putting on such a program." But Callaham had told him, he says,
"The more you give those guys to do, the more we ll get
accomp 1 i shed . "
And Critchfield says, "Well, I don t agree with that."
He told me that right in my office.
And this was before the accident?
Yes.
At least made himself clear to you.
Yes! And it wasn t his doing. And I don t think I m sure
Callaham wasn t malicious in making the program that large
Just ambitious.
just ambitious. And I don t hold any resentment at all.
But it s just one of those things. But it did some good.
Because right afterward they got a new piece of equipment for the
boys to use.
We don t like to have to get equipment on that basis.
I hope they cut down on the overly ambitious program, too.
Well, they .... Yes! I m sure they did because I ve heard it
said since that Dr. Critchfield says that we don t
realize how much pressure you put on people in the field when
you build up the program so large. Because apparently he had
made a program a year or two or three later and it wasn t
nearly the size of that one. But he said it s just a little too
heavy because the fellows just if you have a conscientious
crew, even though they know they are not forced to accomplish
all of it it s humanly impossible, maybe but they just
strive to get as much as they can done, and do it as well
as possible under the conditions.
92
Liddicoet:
Stone :
Liddicoet:
Stone:
Liddicoet;
Stone:
Liddicoet:
Stone :
Liddicoet:
Stone:
Li ddicoet :
I ll say that, that this crew that we ve had around here, they
were all pretty conscientious. You give them a job to do and
they went out and they would try to do it to the best of their
ability and as soon as they could.
I wonder if some of these people who are mainly in the office,
might fail to realize what the demands are in field work. They
didn t ever actually get out in the field and do anything
themselves, did they?
Oh, I guess a little bit .... Callaham did a little bit, but
not very much. In fact I understand he was climbing a tree down
here before he became Division Chief or anything like that.
And he apparently fizzled out climbing the tree and started to
fall and he clung on to a dead branch, and after he rested a bit he
finally got down. His strength just gave out on him. I suppose,
he hadn t hardened up to it and he was trying to do more than
he should have for his physical condition.
Well, some of those city boys get to a point where they are just
sitting around meetings.
Soft.
They have the illusion that somebody who s hardened to it can just
whiz through.
Just go, go, go.
But you can t do that in the field. You have to look for the
things and you have to size things up. You learn that even just as
a botany student, collecting plants.
I ll bet you do. Because you can trample over these hills looking
for certain plants. And maybe this day you ll have gathered
a lot of them. And maybe the next day you travel all day
and put in a much harder day, and you haven t got much to show for i
I think it s good if the office man can get out and get
a taste of what the field man has to encounter. And not the
hardships, that isn t the right word, but the problems that
he has.
That s one thing that s particularly significant about Dr.
Mirov, I think. He always wants to get into everything.
Yes, and he was a good man to work for. I mean, I ve done not
a lot of work for Dr. Mirov, but some. And of course, Mr.
Righter, he would rather do the work in the field than do the office
work.
Stone :
He said he just loved to climb trees.
93
LIddicoet:
Stone :
Liddlcoet:
Oh, yes! That was just his first joy, I would say.
Well, these people are probably a little bit rare in the
higher echelons. Career types prefer to sit in the office
chair rather than getting into the field; it leads to
misunderstandings and to wrong interpretations of what the
field crew can and should do.
Should do, that s right. I don t think we ve ever had a man
like Mr. Righter, that liked the field work as well as he did.
That is, I mean of the professional man. You take most of your
college men that come here to be trained and things like that,
or get on the staff. They work one or two seasons in the field,
just so they get to know just about what it s all about.
And then you never see them in the field any more. There he is
setting at his desk doing book work or paperwork. Maybe it
takes all the time, I don t know -- and it probably does.
Retired Life
Stone: Do you have any hobbies?
Liddicoet: Oh, yes, I have some.
Stone: So many people who are interested in forestry are really basically
naturalists. Do you find an interest in birds or anything of
that sort?
Liddicoet: I have a little plot of property down below Placerville, out
on Forni Road, between Placerville and the Fair grounds.
I have a bunch of little trees and I put out a few each year.
Mostly firs and a few pines for Christmas trees. I also
like to fish, even though I can t get around in rough terrain
any more.
And then I m interested in weather and I m taking weather
records for my own pleasure, and listen to the weather reports
each morning. I keep busy.
Stone: Were your parents pioneers?
Liddicoet: Well, I think my father was born in Amador City. And I am sure
his father came from England.
Stone: Then your grandfather must have been here in Gold Rush days.
Liddicoet: Yes, I imagine so.
94
Stone: What did your grandfather do? Was he involved in mining
or did he have a business?
Liddicoet: He had a homestead up in the mountains over here around
Omo Ranch. But he was involved in mining, gold mining,
yes. Because I know him and his brothers worked in the
gold mines in the Mother Lode area. My mother s parents
who were from the eastern part of the United States, came
to California probably in the I860 s or 70 s. And my
mother s stepfather I don t know when he came here, but
he had a homestead up in the mountains some place and he was
here during the Gold Rush time. His name was Wilson. And
I can remember my mother talking about him. He could have
homesteaded land in what is now just this edge of Sutter
Hospital, when he first came here. But he wanted to be up
in the mountains.
Than in 1925 I moved to Placerville and became
employed with the California Door Company. I worked with
the California Door Company up until 1930 during their
operating season.
95
JACK CARPENDER
Jack Carpender is another native son. His family ranch is
located at Smith Flat, a former gold camp not far from Placervi I le.
Carpender is still employed by the Institute of Forest Genetics and
is really not old enough to be considered an "old-timer," but he
joined the staff when he was very young. The principle staff members of
the Institute, then, were the old group who are now in retirement.
Thus, Jack Carpender is able to consider the changes that have occurred,
since his earliest days there, with considerable perspective. He is also
able to compare the Institute of the former days with the current research
activities, and this provides a valuable point of view.
Our interview was conducted in the library of the Institute of
Forest Genetics and had to be brief as it was fitted into the time left,
after Mr. Carpender had finished his necessary pollination work and before
he had to leave. He is a dedicated worker in the field of forest genetics
and considers his attention to the trees of first importance. His skill
and experience make him a real asset to the Institute. He is sturdy and
possessed of great endurance.
It was interesting to learn his feelings of the present
and future prospects for the Institute in comparison to earlier experience.
Clearly, he misses the "old gang" and thinks with nostalgia of the events
that took place when they were all together. But he has a healthy point of
view about the Institute s future. His wit and friendliness as well as
devotion to the Institute have won Jack Carpender the right to be counted
as one of the pioneers who have made a valuable contribution to the
experimental station.
Lois Stone
I nterv i ewer-Ed i tor
March 1969
Regional Oral History Office
486 The Bancroft Library
University of California at Berkeley
96
JACK CARPENDER
(March 22, 1968)
Background and Joining the Staff
Stone: Mr. Carpender, when did you join the staff?
Carpender: July I, 1946.
Stone: Had you been in the service?
Carpender: Prior to that, yes, for three years in the air corps.
Stone: Had you had any previous experience as a tree breeder or
geneticist?
Carpender: No, not necessari ly. I had a father that worked for the
Forest Service for years and I used to travel around somewhat in
the summer with him and became acquainted with some of the
Forest Service activities, you might say. I did work one summer,
in 1941, digging gooseberries. This would be Ribes.
Stone: Oh, yes, in the blister rust control. Had you any special
interest in biology or science when you were in school?
Carpender: No, the fact is in the high school I went to here in
Placerville they did not offer any subjects in this.
There were relatively no subjects in forestry or science
at a!!.
Stone: Your home was in Placerville, then?
Carpender: Yes, I was born in Placerville and lived in Smith Flat, which is
about one-half mile southwest of the Eddy Arboretum.
Stone: You re really a local boy. Like Bill Gumming.
Carpender: Bill was born just out of Sacramento, by Mather Field. He
moved up here as a young fellow and I guess he would be the
next closest that we have.
Stone: Now, when you first came here, the boss was Palmer Stockwell.
Mr. Austin had already left to go into
his iris-breeding business.
Carpender: That s right, yes.
Stone: And he had his home outside the gate here, where it is now?
97
Carpender: Yes, just adjacent to our property.
Stockwell s Leadership
Stone: And how did you find Palmer Stockwell as a man to work for?
Carpender: Actually, I never knew him too well. But I would say he was one
of the very best bosses I ever had.
Stone: Who else was here at the station at that time?
Carpender: Dr. Mirov, Francis Righter, Jack Duffield Dr. Jack
Duffield, Bob Weidman, Bill Cumming, Al Liddicoet;
Emily Kimborough, and Mary Jane Elliott was the secretary.
Stone: What did Klmbrough do?
Carpender: Actually Emery was in charge of the nursery, that was his
main phase. He was nurseryman.
Stone: And you worked on what phase of the operation here?
Carpender: Actually, I guess I was hired to be a tree breeder.
A younger fellow, at that time I was twenty-one and they were
looking for some young blood to train as a tree breeder.
That was probably my number-one reason for being hired. Of
course naturally I worked with him (Kimbrough) in the nursery
and in several other phases of work. But during the tree breeding
season, this is where I was normally allotted.
Stone: You helped with collecting the pollen, pollinating, climbing
the trees, and al! that?
Carpender: Yes, the whole phase.
Stone: They need young blood for that, I know. [Laughter] And how
did you find these other people to work with?
Carpender: I guess that s the reason I m still here. I have very few
kickbacks on any of them. Actually they were a wonderful group.
The fact is, I miss them now.
They re all gone, I m the only one left.
Stone: Yes, you re the only one from that group. That s why, I think,
Dr. Mirov said that I should interview you. He said you really
belong in the older group, although you were very, very young
when you started in.
98
Carpender: Yes, there was quite an age difference. I guess Jack
Duffield would have been the next youngest, and he would be
at least probably ten years older.
Stone: Yes, and the other men were about in their forties, at least.
Carpender: Yes, probably were.
Stone: And, did you continue pretty much with that sort of work as
long as the older echelon were here?
Carpender: Yes, you might say that. The fact is, as time went on
I became one of the we ll say crew leaders in breeding work.
We would split up into maybe two or three crews and eventually
I acquired a crew. In other words, A I Liddicoet would have his
crew and I had mine, but at that time, until Al retired, he was
in charge of the tree breeding.
Stone: And then what happened as far as the people in charge, in Berkeley
planning the thing? I know part of the time Righter was in
charge there, essentially. But who were some of the others?
Carpender: You mean as project leaders?
Stone : Yes .
Carpender: Well, I think "Pete" [Righter] followed Dr. Stockwell when
Palmer passed away. And then after Pete we had Bob CalJaham, Dr.
Cal laham.
Dr. Callaham; Project Leader
Stone: How did he work out as a project leader?
Carpender: Hmm. Very ambitious.
Stone: And did he come up often to the Institute and work with
the fellows in the field, or was he mostly down in Berkeley?
I know Righter came up a great deal.
Carpender: I think you might say Bob LCal laham] came up quite a bit.
The fact is, once in a while he would make a field trip
with us.
Stone: Did he like to climb trees the way Righter did?
Carpender: No, he didn t, although he did climb.
Stone: And he did phases of the work, all sorts of things.
Carpender: Well, yes.
Stone: Entered into everything. He didn t last for very long, did he?
He went on to something else.
99
Carpender: Yes - he passed on up the ladder. Climbing on up the ladder,
He was only our project leader probably two or three years.
Stone: And then who did you get as project leader after that?
Echols: Project Leader
Carpender: Dr. Echols.
Stone: Oh, he was the next in line. How did he work out?
Carpender: He was also very ambitious.
Stone: About what year did he come?
Carpender: Let s see, I would take a guess at about four years ago,
64 or 65, probably.
Stone: And the projects and so on that he set up, did you consider
them overly ambitious? I know that Mr. Liddicoet indicated
that there was a possibility that some responsibility for his
accident was due to the fact that Callaham had set up a
rather overly ambitious program.
Carpender: Yes, but, actually Callaham was project leader when Al had his
accident. Bob Echols was never heard of here at that time.
Stone: Yes, that s right. No, it was Callaham he was speaking of.
And Liddicoet really felt that that had something to do with
the fact that he had the accident.
Carpender: Well, that s true.
Stone: Because he was working alone and the equipment was old and
the pressure was on. Did Echols turn out to be equally as
ambitious? Or high-pressured in his work, do you think?
Carpender: Actually, Bob started several new projects, but I don t think
he put any more pressure on than any other project leader.
They were both ambitious young men. They had, naturally, their
goals to achieve. The fact is, going back to Callaham, in
later years it came out from another professional man that Bob
always tried to keep more than we could possibly do lined up
ahead of us so that we would always have plenty to do. And
naturally the men tried to fulfill all of his requirements.
I feel that this is perhaps where A I ran into trouble. He was just
overloaded CpauseH.
Stone: It wasn t intended.
Carpender: It wasn t intended, and yet it threw the responsibility in
our laps because at that date we did no1 realize what his
thinking was.
100
Carpender :
Stone :
Carpender:
Stone:
Carpender:
Stone:
Carpender:
Stone:
Carpender:
Stone :
Carpender:
On the other hand, I have made several field trips
with Callaham, some of them as long as two weeks at one
time, and I know when we put in a day s work Bob was as willing
to quit as I was. In other words, he didn t actually drive
himself too far, and those were days when he was young
and full of vim and vinegar. So, I think probably the mistake
was made, if any, that it wasn t clarified to the men. In
other words, we have always been led to believe that when we get a
work order we try to accomplish it.
Righter probably didn t ask you to do more than was
reasonab le.
That s true, although naturally the more we d do the better
he liked it.
Well, Echols, then turned out to be just as good in the field
and working with the men, as Callaham, or do you feel there
was much choice?
Yes, I would say they were very similar type men. In other
words, they would both be willing to get right out in the field
and work with you.
What kind of a staff did you have during these later years?
Did you have a lot of interesting new people coming in and
interesting scientists coming in to work with you at times?
Well, you get this every year, but I think there has been
a bigger turnover with sub-professional men and possibly
professional men. Well, let s look at it this way, years ago,
when you hired on you stayed for forty years, in Bill Cumming s
case, and let s see, Bill came in 1925 and Al in 1929, so
naturally Al CLiddicoetU would have been here thirty-five years.
Emory Kimb rough came here in 1937 and put in thirty years before he
passed away. He was still on the job when he passed away.
And "Pete" CRighterU came here in the very early thirties,
and Nick CMirovH. Let s face it, they all stayed a long time, so
nowadays when a person stays, I d say five years, he s an old-timer
CLaughterD
Everybody operates that way.
comes and goes rather rapidly.
that way. It s the way it s done, everybody
Yes.
But on the whole, do you feel that there are big strides
being made in the Institute these days and it s going ahead
and doing exciting things in the same way that it used to?
It s probably spread out more so. Actually, we have
many more things going than we used to.
Stone:
More d i vers i ty?
101
Carpender: Yes. That s true. Perhaps it arises from younger
professional men with newer ideas, and possioly broader
backgrounds. But
more than we used
I feel that we re spread out
to, if that answers your question.
Possible Discontinuance of Institute
Stone: Did you at any time oh, along about 1950 ever hear of any
possibility that the Forest Service wou d discontinue all support
of forest genetics?
Carpender: Well, possibly there was rumors of it, but I really can t say for
sure. Being in my category, perhaps, I never had much
opportunity to hear these things.
Stone: It seems to have been something that was rumored, but very
little known except the very higher echelons. And I just
wondered if there were any subsequent occurrences of
that sort when people were worried that the whole thing
might be dropped?
Carpender: I could put it this way: for years, if we wanted our mail we
would go get the mail in our own private car, we were so broke.
We didn t go to town and buy a screwdriver, that s for sure.
Stone: Your budget was so low.
Carpender: Our budget was so low that we just operated on a bare minimum.
This existed several years.
Stone: This might indicate that they were trying to close it out.
Carpender: In other words, we were lucky if we could scrape up enough
money to hire a seasonal man to help us in the summer, which would
be our bumper load of work. We just wouldn t have enough
money to hire a fellow.
Older Out Plantings
Stone: Now, with all the time that you ve been here, you must be
finding some very Interesting results with the breeding.
I mean in the sense that you now have trees that have been
developed from seeds that were planted in the early days,
and they re now producing seed. So you have a chance to
breed, crossbreed back, and that sort of thing and get some
astonishing data that wouldn t have been possible in the
earl ier days.
Carpender:
Stone:
Carpender:
Stone:
102
Actually I get a kick out of going to some of the out-
plantings that perhaps were put out twenty years ago, or so.
Actually, I don t think we were in much of a mass-production
time until just after the war, when Pete and Jack Duffield
and Al Liddicoet and myself and Bill Gumming, did an awful
lot of mass producing of hybrids to establish plantations
throughout this forest and other forests. And it s nice to go
back to those plantings now. You can see what you have
accomplished and compare them with native trees. I would
say this, to me, probably is one of the more interesting
results. On the grounds you see changes, but you live with
them every day and you don t realize what has changed.
That s right. It s like seeing friends that you haven t seen
for a long, long time.
Yes, go back to a planting that you put in twenty years ago
and see the size of the seedlings that were seedlings and now
are trees why it is interesting. You feel you ve accomplished
someth ing.
And then this in turn gives you ideas of things you d
do, experiments you d like to see carried on for the
future, too, in the way of tree breeding.
like to
Carpender: In some cases.
Stone:
Carpender:
Stone:
Carpender:
Stone:
Present Staff Problems
Do you find it difficult to get good men to help you now,
or is it relatively easy to get good people to come in with
tree breeding work?
the
No, I believe you still get good men. Naturally they re
a younger type and they have a different outlook, perhaps on their
whole life and the future of the genetics. But I do feel that in a
matter of time (which consists of more than one year) they, more
or less, become shall we say a company man and actually donate
more of their time and their thoughts to genetics.
Are these young men people who have some college training usually?
Or are they usually high school boys who have an interest
in thi s.
Both, really.
They want to make a career in Forest Service. Now, of course
one can select forest genetics if you want to. In the old days
there was no such thing and you just kind of worked into it.
103
Carpender: The trouble is with a subprofessiona! man to come here and
start at a low salary, which we are practically forced to start
quite low. By changing jobs, possibly, we ll say, they can t
make a comfortable living for a few years. You might say
five or ten years before you get up far enough where you can make
good living. So therefore you are kind of limited to the
fellows you can hire. Your selection isn t as great.
Stone: So you re restricted more or less to the very young men and
probably the men of lower educational level.
Carpender: That is true, yes.
Stone: Maybe mostly just high school graduates these days.
Carpender: That is true.
Stone: Or boys who ve had a few years of college.
Carpender: That would be the case of probably four or five of us on
the staff now.
Stone: Well, yes, but in those days it was different because people
didn t tend to get so much education.
Carpender: That s true, too.
Stone: Do you have any feelings about what you d like to see the
Institute do in the future in ways of experimentation or expanding
Or any particular thoughts of a direction you d like to see it tal
Carpender: Well, there s one thing I ve always favored would be selection
in tree breeding. In other words, choosing better- formed trees
in trying to develop nicer shaped trees.
Stone: You re thinking of this to help develop something that would
be better for use as a forest timber tree?
Carpender: Well, they would naturally make better logs. The way it has been
in the past, in many cases we aren t necessarily using a great
deal of selection. More or less, just to acquire a source
of the species. Therefore we make the cross. But in later years
it shows up with poor formed type trees. If you could combine
the two, when possible, even less breeding, but more selection
I think we would be gaining some.
Stone: Well, I don t want to take any more of your time. It s really
about quitting time. Do you have any particular words you d
like to say about anything or anybody connected with the
Institute?
h i story .
Especially in the past, because we re interested in
104
Carpender:
Stone :
Stone :
Carpender:
No, not necessarily. I would say that I do notice a great
change since all of the fellows left. You might say you
just have to change and go with the trend if you want to get alone
When you say all of the fellows, you mean Mirov, Righter,
Gumming.
Carpender: All of the fellows I mentioned.
And the change is something that you feel unhappy about?
They were your friends, of course.
Well, at times, yes. It doesn t necessarily mean that they
were my friends, but it s a different regime all together.
In other words, I would say that if the older fellows
were to come back they would also find the same.
105
NICHOLAS T. MIROV
Dr. Mirov was awarded his Ph.D. in Plant Physiology at the
University of California and was a research scientist at the Institute of
Forest Genetics for twenty-four years. He had generously agreed to act
as our advisor and guide in developing the history of the Institute and
recording the reminiscences of its pioneers. Dr. Mirov s present appoint
ment of Research Associate in Geography is for life. Our first meeting
was in his office in the Earth Sciences building, overlooking San Francisco
Bay. In addition to shelves of books and manuscripts there were several
paintings and other art creations. It soon appeared that these were
Nick s work.
Dr. Mirov looks much like Maurice Chevalier and has a comparable
charm. One quickly learns that he is a man of great wit and intelligence.
His amazing bibliography indicates the varied and imaginative range of his
research interests. In addition to his artistic gifts admirable in
several modes of expression Nick has exercised his talents as a popular
writer. You might expect a gentleman of such taste and distinction to behave
in a somewhat distant manner with his associates at the Institute: this is
far from true. Mirov s warmth and human understanding are his key to
achieving immediate rapport with all. Everyone at the Institute holds
the warmest feelings for him and he is always called "Nick." He has probably
learned more of the background, worries, and personality problems of the
Institute than any other individual. His astute understanding of people
allows him to evaluate these difficulties with meaningful perspective.
When we visited the arboretum with Nick it was clear that his sensitivity
to trees was equally extraordinary.
We deeply regret that limitations of this project prevented us
from completing a thorough report on the life of this remarkable man, who
left his native Russia to carve for himself an enviable niche in the
United States of America.
Lois Stone
I nterv i ewer-Ed i tor
March 1969
Regional Oral History Office
486 The Bancroft Library
University of California at Berkeley
Group In front of Institute of Forest Genetics Administration
Building, September 20, 1946. Rear: Nicholas T. Mirov,
Palmer Stockwell, J.M. Miller. Front: Phillip Wagner, Aldo
Pavgri, R.H. Weidman, John W. Duffield.
Dr. Nicholas T. Mirov
June 1931
106
NICHOLAS T. MIROV
(March 12, 1968)
Mirov: Always a Middleman
Stone:
Stone:
Mirov:
Stone:
Mirov:
Stone:
Mirov:
Stone:
Mirov:
We are preparing a history of the Institute of Forest Genetics,
formerly known as the Eddy Tree Breeding Station, of Placerville,
California. We are today, March 12, 1968, recording an interview
with Dr. Nicholas T. Mirov, a geneticist who has done much
important research at the Institute and who is famous for his
work with the genus Pinus. The interview is being recorded by
Lois C. Stone. We are doing the recording in Dr. Mirov s office
on the Berkeley campus of the University of California.
Dr. Mirov has been acting as our advisor for this
project and has kindly consented to give a brief introduction
to the series of recorded reminiscences of senior staff members
and associate s with whom we have been talking in recent weeks.
r
Advisory Role
was younger
editor of the
Now, Dr. Mirov, we are recording.
To begin with, I wanted to tell you that when I
I did some consulting work for the Sunset. An
Sunset, Mr. Doty was his name, always told me that I m a valuabl
man for him because I always act as a middleman, always tell him
whom to see, to whom to talk. I did exactly the same thing with
you. When you phoned me the first time ! just suggested to you
to see CW.C.D Gumming and CF.I.D "Pete" Righter, and now this
lady CMiss Anne AvakianH as 1 mentioned today.
That was very helpful.
CLaughterU That s why I m middleman.
Well, you understand people.
I don t know. CLaughH I don t know. No, I think I know who
knows about certain subjects I mentioned to you that Righter
would give you the basis of the genetics project. Not exactly
genetics tree breeding. He is a tree breeder, not a
geneticist, of a laboratory type. But Bill Gumming would give
you the whole local atmosphere, which Pete really couldn t give yo
And Jack Carpender will give you even more.
I m glad you mentioned him . [Carpender]
It s very recent. He s been connected probably for the last
fifteen years, since the Station became the
Forest Service.
Institute, part of the
107
Program of the Institute of Forest Genetics
Stone: Now perhaps you d like to tell us something about your thoughts
on the Institute and your work there, or maybe your feelings
about the scientific significance of the work they have done.
Mirov: I joined the Institute after about ten years of work in the
Forest Experiment Station, mostly with erosion control and forest
influences. In 1937 I was transferred, as a plant physiologist,
to the Institute of Forest Genetics. A year before I had received
my Ph.D. in plant physiology. At that time I was only one of the
two plant physiologists in the whole U.S. Forest Service and
they didn t know what to do with me. Ci-aughterU
At the Institute the program, from the beginning, was based on
selection. This was Mr. [Lloyd] Austin s point of view, to select
better trees and propagate them somehow for the benefit of
mankind. When Lloyd Austin left, Righter [following Palmer Stockwel
was in charge and Righter emphasized the breeding rather than
selection.
So the whole program was revamped to cater to the breeding
of forest trees. The balance swung too much to one side. In
my opinion it should be selection and then breeding. But I
always felt that the geneticist s job was only a matchmaker -
to help male and female trees to meet and to produce the progeny.
From then on the geneticist s work like that of a gynecologist
is completed. From then plant physiologists take over, or soil
men, or taxonomists.
So that was my .job there, to be plant physiologist at the
Institute of Forest Genetics. By that time the whole program
was not developed long enough, it was not ready for the physiologi
cal work at the Institute. It was mostly accumulating the
material, breeding more and more species. Nevertheless, there were
some useful physiological projects. For instance making
the seeds to germinate in a certain period, they call it a
"after ripening," or "stratification," o>- "chilling," all those
are misnomers. But I solved this problem quite well and now
they use it at the Institute.
Then came the problem of vegetative propagation of plants.
It is a very tempting method because if you see the superior
tree you propagate it as you would propagate your rose or
chrysanthemums, vegetati vely , and then you have superior trees.
But with pines it is difficult to propagate vegetati vely.
They are extremely reluctant to strike roots.
Stone: I didn t know you could do it at all.
Mirov: Nobody knew much about it but practical gardeners, but practical
gardeners don t publish.
Stone: Did they use a hormone?
108
Mirov: No, it isn t so much hormone. It isn t exactly science,
but an art to take into consideration the maturity of your
material and the physiological fitness, and so on. I rooted
many of them and grafted many of them. But I don t think that
the results of my work at that time have been applied much; because,
as I said, the Institute has not been ready. Now, more and more,
vegetative propagation is practiced in forestry. Well, those
were two practical tree breeding projects.
Mirov s Study of Chemical Composition of p ines
So I had much free time Cand] I decided to invest it in
studies of the chemical composition of pines: for genetic purposes,
for taxonomic purposes, and so on. I had been interested, for
many years, in the chemistry of turpentine, a product which
you use in painting kitchens. | n fact, I accumulated so many
samples of turpentine that sometimes I would paint the kitchen
with a Pinus montezumae turpentine or mv living room with
Pinus teotecote from Mexico. In different species, turpentines
are different. They are very easy to work with.
I gradually accumulated a great deal of data, first on a
very modest scale without much laboratory. Then I continued my
work mostly on outside money from Rockefeller Foundation grants
and completed it. Now this chemistry of turpenes is used to great
advantage by many scientists in different fields: in entomology,
in forestry, in taxonomy. Still a great deal has to be done in
this field, but we were trail blazers at that time. Daughter]
Which means, you know, it was rough going and the results
sometimes were not statistically good. But for a beginning it
was good. At least it stimulated a good deal of interest.
Influence of Eucalyptus Work
I was influenced very much by work down in Australia
with Eucalyptus. They have continued this work since the end of the
nineteenth century, applying the chemistry of the turpenes
(turpenes are ingredients of turpentine) to the taxonomy of
Eucalyptus, (genus Eucalyptus. ) What they have done with the genus
Eucalyptus I did with the genus Pinus.
Stone: Did they do studies of the genetics, or species relationships,
based on the turpenes?
Mirov: Well, at the start genetics had not been known at all.
Stone: No, not in 1900.
Mirov: But now, yes. This is one of the reasons I want to go to Sydney.
CDr. Mirov was about to leave for Australia.] There s going to be
a reunion with the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences in Sydney,
just like our Smithsonian Institution.
. IQ9
Stone :
M i rov :
They re doing this sort of work that you did with the pines there?
Yes. But they have about seventy-five years of experience
now. I think that was very stimulating. But if you don t
mind me telling you, it s very interesting perhaps not
for this record, but generally speaking how I was
interested in turpentines.
Stone: Oh, I think it interesting.
Mlr6v!s Early Interest in Turpentines
Mi rov: When I was a student in St. Petersburg it was about 1914;
in our wood technology lab the assistant gave to each student
there were about thirty of them a little quantity of the
oleoresin or gum, or pine pitch, and explained the theory of
distillation. Each one of us had to distill his own turpentine.
I m sure out of those thirty men I was one who was extremely
fascinated by this procedure. When you take honey- 1 ike pitch,
distill it with water* you have crystal white turpentine
which I used in my sketching and painting.* And the solid part
which was left in the flask was rosin, it was solid and used to
lubricate the violin bows. I gave it to a friend of mine,
who played violin, and he said it was gocd. To me it was
a marvel to create something which didn t exist in nature.
Stone: This was when you were an undergraduate?
Mirov: Yes. And it s interesting. [Laugh] Then, there came interference:
war and revolution. But after that, no matter where I would go
I would tap pine trees and then get a little bit of this pitch
and then distill it. It almost was an obsession with me.
When I came to this country in 1923 somebody once told me
that we have here an unusual pine, Jeffrey Pine. It has no
turpentine. It has a gasoline-like substance instead. I thought
it was impossible. So we went to the mountains. (I barely spoke
English at that time, I was ignorant, I didn t know what board
foot was, even. I thought it was some kind of wooden leg.)
C Laughter] At night time I nicked a big Jeffrey Pine tree with
an ax and obtained about a pint of oleoresin. It was a big gash,
and when my boss saw it the next morning he wanted to fire me
because it turned out to be a tree growing on private property;
its wood amounted to so many hundreds of board feet, so many
dollars a board foot.
Stone: What was your job then?
Dr. Mirov paints with remarkable competence.
10
Mirov: I was supposed to measure the trees there, in the forest.
I was beginning my forestry career. I was very much disturbed,
so again, the next night after dark I went to the
forest with nails and nailed the bark back to the tree, but
pieces of moss and dirt around so the tree looked like new.
ClaughterD I hoped they didn t send the tree to the sawmill
because the saw would be cut to pieces by the nails.
Stone: But you were satisfied then.
Mirov: I was satisfied. And that opened the whole career at that
time. Ethyl Gasoline Corporation wanted to get this chemical
desperately, for standardization of the fuel, and they couldn t
make it synthetically. Somebody told them that one pine in
California produced this substance, but nobody knew how to get
it then. It used to be done a long time ago. This substance,
at the end of the 19th century, was Csold] under the name of Abie-
tene* used as a cough syrup and so on, although it Is just as
good as kerosene for this purpose. When I came back to
Berkeley I distilled this pitch and kept a little bottle of this
extremely fragrant substance, which I mentioned in that article**.
My boss L~in the Forest service] said, "Let me have it," because
he wanted to send a sample to Washington of what we can do here in
Cal i fornia.
I said, "No. I won t give it to you."
He was an extremely wonderful man, extremely honest.
He whispered to me, "If you give me the sample, I ll give
you the job" a research job to do some work in turpentine.
I gave him the bottle, and I had the job, and then I made good.
Because otherwise they would probably ChaveH let me go because
I hated this measuring trees and how much grief you can get with
nine figures and a zero.
Graduate Studies and Research
Stone: And this was all before you got your Ph.D.
Mirov: Before, yes. A little later I got my Master s degree, based
mostly on the chemistry. After I was appointed to the Forest
Service It s quite complicated. You see, I was not a citizen,
so I could not get a permanent job with the Forest Service.
We [were] called then "Ninety-day martyrs" because we were
supposed to work ninety days and then be fired and rehired again.
* "Abietene" was manufactured by D. F. Fryer, a Santa Rosa
apothecary.
** Nicholas T. Mirov, "The Fragrance of Pines," Atlantic
Monthly, September 1959.
Mirov: It was really very painful. Then, when I had my permanent
appointment I resigned from the Forest Service because one
big paint company, Fuller Paint Company, wanted me to build
a distillery in the mountains. It s a long story better
not to Cgo into] this business.
It has been written once, in one magazine, by somebody
a certain Mr. Carruthers* of the Standard Oil Company, I think.
Then I had my Master s degree based on my technical
experience with this production of the substance, called
heptane, which is not turpene.
Then 1 started to take university work, class work. It
was depression time.
Stone: This was Cat the University of California!] here?
Mirov: Yes. There was a depression, which Bill tells about when
they laid off people there. I lost my job with this Fuller Paint
Company, for whom I built the distillery in the mountains.
But fortunately I had one of the fellowships for graduate work.
Very few of them were given, about five.
Stone: Research?
Mirov: It is post-graduate school work. So-called Charles Lathrop
Pack Fellowship. That saved me. I went to school and eventually
had a Ph.D. in plant .
Stone: Who did you study with here?
Mirov: Dr. Bennett. These were very exciting years because at that
time the University was different. When I finished my
prerequisites for the final examinations in those days,
you had to go see the dean, personally present yourself.
The dean was Dean Lipman. He was a portly American Jew; and
in my time there was quite a big group of Jewish students
from Palestine with terrible English, mostly Eastern Jews,
not Western. And Lipman hated them. So when I presented
my credentials he said, "Are you a Jew?"
I said, "No, I m sorry, I m not, Dr. Lipman."
He said, "Sit down. Smoke?" [Laughter]
I didn t know what to think about it. I said, "Dr.
Lipman, I had C in Physical Chemistry."
* Guy Carruthers, "Our Strange Debt to the Gasoline
Tree, Westways, 48:1 Pages 14-15, (January, 1956).
112
Mirov: "Oh," he said, that s nothing." [Laughter] And he signed
his name that I am admitted to the examinations and I passed
them with some kind of colors not flying, but I think I
did well in the finals. And the thesis [was] mostly on the
germinating of pine seeds and growth hormones. In those days
studies of growth hormones were very fashionable, like nowadays
is nucleic acid. My work at the Institute of Forest Genetics
was mostly on the chemistry of turpenes. I felt myself that
it isn t exactly work useful for genetics at that time. But,
somehow they let me do it. The director probably thought,
"Well, it won t do any harm to anybody, let him do it." And
he was right.
113
Mirov s Early Days in the United States
Stone: We ve skipped over all of your studies in Russia and your
immigration to the United States. That was long before you
joined the Institute of Forest Genetics, but I wondered how
you first got started in the United States. You said you
came in 1923.
Mirov: I missed a lot of points, of course, of my personal life.
When I came to the United States as an immigrant, without
much money, with a lovely young wife, my first job was to
sweep the railroad cars for Southern Pacific. In a very
interesting company of men: some German, some Mexican,
some were some kind of native narcotics addicts. I wanted
a better job, to load the cars. But it celled for a knowledge
of figures. So the "shed boss" said, "Do you know American
figures?"
And I wanted to tell him, "Sir, they are not exactly
American figures, they are Arabic." But I didn t dare because
I wouldn t get the job.
But he said, "Yes, you can do it/ when I read the
calendar, "One, two, three, four, five." So I got ten cents
wages more per hour.
The only strange thing was that this loading shed was
located across the street from the lumber yard. And the lum
ber yard worked a horse, a big horse moving the lumber up and
down. And we worked loading the cars. We did the same work
as the horse. The same expenditure of mental energy. The
difference was that the horse worked eight hours a day and I
worked ten hours a day. So I envied the horse. [Laughter]
This was really sad. But it s a good thing to start this way,
I guess,and to appreciate what s going on at that level.
Stone: You learn a lot about people in those menial jobs.
Mirov: Yes. My boss, a Mr. Smith, said to me that we don t need men
like you in this country of ours, and you better go back where
you came from, you re no good. Two years later I designed
the turpentine distillery for Fuller Paint Company. All the
machinery was built in San Francisco and I had to supervise
its loading because there were some delicate instruments.
The same Mr. Smith was there, and he didn t recognize me.
And I said, "Here s a cigar for you, Mr. Smith."
He said, "Thank you, sir, very much, sir. Don t worry,
sir, about your freight." I had no nerve to tell him that I
had worked for him.
Stone :
He didn t remember you?
I 14
Mirov: He didn t show any signs of remembering.
Stone: It s very interesting.
Mirov: Yes, it s very interesting. Once I wrote all my hjstory in
the form of a diary, and then I threw it in the garbage can.
Stone: Oh, no.
Mirov: Because so many books have been written about these immigrants
cheerful, breezy, or stupid, or whatever you wish you
know these books. So I thought there s really no need.
Stone: But that s what America is.
Mirov: Yes.
Stone: All kinds of people who came here from everywhere, except for
the poor Indians. Well, they came here too, earlier.
Mirov: Those times were different, of course, from now. Labor they
had no unions; they were just exploited very much.
Retires to Write Book, 1964
Stone: Before we get back to our discussion of the Institute of
Forest Genetics, I know you have recently completed a book
on pines.
Mirov: Yes, I retired from the Institute of Forest Genetics, after
over twenty years of service. I joined it in 1937 and retired
D9643 prematurely, three years before the deadline, which
was seventy years. So I retired three years earlier because
I accepted the appointment in Harvard University to write a book
on pines, which I did. It was really hard labor for three
years. I finished it.* I tried to approach the whole subject
from quite an unusual point of view of attacking the growth
of plants from different points of view. Probably influence of
geographers, they take some city Richmond, say and
try to Jearn how the city is clicking, what was the transportation,
supply of fuel, labor, local politics, education and so on,
schools. I did exactly the same thing with a group of plants.
And I can assure you it had never been done. In Genus Pinus
is approached from different anatomical, physiological,
chemical, taxonomic, historical points of view.
Stone: It s a super-monograph.
Nicholas T. Mirov, The Genus Pinus, New York, 1967,
I 15
Mirov: It is reminds me of the one-man band you see in some
county fairs, you know one man does everything, shaking his
head with some kind of bells, and playing harmonica at the
same time. I think it would probably be useful as a manual.
But you know, you see after all these rambling remarks I
want to impress on you, Mrs. Stone, that my chief interest was
scientific, that I always thought that the more fundamental
studies would do the Institute the better.
Scientific Work of the Institute
Righter did excellent work on tree breeding. What is
going on now is really using Righter s material for all kinds
of studies. We have very capable men there. We may say that
Dr. Critchfield continues Pete Righter s work.
But the scientific achievements of the Institute never
have been reported. I m sure that in all the interviews and
what you read about the work of the Institute of Forest
Genetics, you never heard about the scientific achievements
of the Institute.
The first one who really did scientific work was
Duf field, in taxonomy, a purely taxonomic research work. He
was a scholar, at the Institute of Forest Genetics. Later
on he became a professor in North Carolina, you know.
That s what I want to emphasize again, that the
scientific achievements of the Institute are enormous. And
"Pete" CRighter] with his modesty, I guess he doesn t
even realize how many important discoveries he made. For
instance, he crossed our Sugar Pine with Asiatic pines, with
pines of China and Japan. Sugar Pine cannot be crossed with
white pines in America. It is queen of the trees, and
accordingly it doesn t mix with any other Dines at all. But
even queens sometimes make mistakes, I guess. CLaughterU
Pete found that it could be easily crossed with Pinus armandi ,
Armand Pine of China. This is of tremendous scientific
importance. It shows that California pines are very closely
related to Asiatic pines they are. All this breeding
program probably will produce more and more scientific results.
Critchfield is working on the taxonomy of the genus Cpi nusH
based on the tree breeding work.
You should differentiate between tree breeding with the
practical because the Forest Service is, after all, a
practical institution, for the benefit of the people.
Scientific research is mostly left to the universities.
But even the universities depend now for their material, and
previous information, upon the Institute of Forest Genetics.
I think sometimes it should be written the scientific
achievements of the Institute of Forest Genetics.
16
Significance to Genetics
Stone: What about the pure genetics work? What do you think the signi
ficance of the work there was in relation to genetics progress
and concepts?
How important was that?
Mirov: | don t understand exactly. Of course tree breeding is based
on genetics. But the whole program is practical. They cross
two pines, see how the seedlings develop, and then how they will
behave in the field, in the forest, and how fast do they grow.
For instance, as a by-product, it has been found that all pines
have the same chromosome number twelve chromosomes
twelve and [diploid] twenty-four. You know, two times,
twenty-four.
Stone: Yes.
Mirov: There s no exception, all of them, hundreds of species have
the same chromosome number. And they have the same morphology.
We haven t done much of work In this.
Stone: You mean morphology in the cell?
Mirov: Of chromosomes, chromosome morphology. It is just the same.
Sometimes it is even considered a nuisance that geneticists
have nothing to lean against because they are so simple, so very
simple, and so indistinct. But the geneticists, digging into
this matter, they consider this as really the most fascinating
problem, to learn about the heredity in pines. Because it is based
mostly on the mutancy I think they don t know much about it.
But, for instance, this is a scientific fact which
they sort of achieved at the Institute. Many of the California
pines can be crossed with the Asiatic pines, the pines which
haven t seen each other, so to speak, for at least 100 million
years. But when they are brought together, lo and behold! they
cross just as if they haven t seen each other for one week only.
This is of tremendous scientific Importance, to learn that
species isolated, one from another, for millions of years neverthe
less preserve the same physiology of chromosomes. It is really
not yet well explored. I mentioned it in my book, this business.
But at the same time we have some CproblemU species like,
in California, the Bishop pine. (You know it s called Bishop
Pine because it s found near San Luis Obispo.) Bishop Pine
is one species, very rare in fact. Nevertheless each population
[botanists recognizeH several populations of this limited
distribution pine behaves like a different species, like a
different genus, they don t cross with each other. This is a
really big genetic problem which has not been solved yet.
But at least it has been discovered, that sometimes genetic
di f ferencesd i sregard the boundary of the species Linnean
species. At the same time, within a species there might be
tremendous genetic differences. But in other cases, species
I 17
Mirov: separated from each other by oceans and by millions of years
haven t changed much, have the same genetic setup. I guess
that s about all. I guess I m as bad as Pete. [Laughter!)
Stone: I don t want to tire you out.
Mirov: I m really, probably Pete is my very good friend and I know
how he felt when you interviewed him. Because he just sort of
thought aloud about the whole of his life.
That s what I m doing.
Stone: That s all right, that s good.
How do you feel about the Institute of Forest Genetics now?
Do you think it s going to go on to some great things.
Mirov: Oh, yes! Because, you see, one Scotchman said, "The beauty
of forestry work is that you plant your tree, Jock, and then
you forget about it. The tree will grow." And that s true. What
Righter did, what Lloyd Austin did Llovd Austin deserves a great
deal of credit for selecting the right place for the first work
but probably he outlived his usefulness. But he was very
important for the first stage of work. Then Righter was very
important, only he should have summarized his findings.
But he is an extremely modest man . What he did, what Righter
did there, he just made a very solid foundation. Don t forget
that this is the first tree breeding institution in the
world. And then in Sweden, and even in Denmark, they started
later. If not for Mr. Eddy, no matter what kind of a man
he was he told me once that this country made a big
mistake seceding from England in 1776. ^Laughter] He said it
was a big mistake.
Stone: But Mr. Eddy had a great vision.
I 18
M i rov
Stone;
M i rov
Mr. Eddy s Personality
Oh yes, we have to talk something about Mr.
that Mr. Eddy had one very interest! no side
Eddy.
of his
Do you know
character.
He would like to gamble on projects. For instance, that s why
he decided that he should try this tree breeding. Because
he was influenced by Burbank. And he did. And everybody in
the family, the lumbermen, considered him out of his mind.
Yet when I worked for the Forest Genetics Institute, I became
interested in one plant, a desert bush. It has a very interest
ing chemical composition. It s Simmondsia like "Simonize,"
Simmondsia. I have couple of reprints, if you want. I ll
all my reprints. CLaughH And
of mine and I decided to make
in Riverside. Mr. Eddy had
interested in my
send you
A friend
Simmondsia
And he was extremely
local men to water it and take care of it and
expenses." So I located one of our foresters
a week there to take care of the plantation.
very interesting about Mr. Eddy that he would
it doesn t grow that far nortl
a plantation of this
an orange grove there.
project. He said, You
hire
I ll Day the
and he would go once
But it s really
take a chance on
any scientific project which he considered worthwhile.
Why do you think he had this scientific interest?
I don t know, I really don t know. Scientific interest, you
know, Mrs. Stone, is nothing but curiosity. Do you know that
when the young scientist, graduate student writes a big thesis on
some very scientific subject, he does it for only
satisfy his curiosity what s on the other side
mountain. And then when the work is finished he,
would say on the first page "My thanks are due to
who typed the manuscript." Sometimes graduate students
wives do much more than their husband.
one reason: to
of the
in small type,
my wife
Stone :
M i rov :
Stone:
M i rov :
Oh, I know.
CLaughterU Yes, that would be another beautiful story.
I wish I could write short stories. Oh, incidentally, I like
write popular articles. I wrote several of them, one like
this in Atlantic, which was the beginning and ending of my
career in Atlantic, I guess. It is really a very high-grade
magazi ne.
to
It s a nice article.
I i ked it so much, .
I m so glad that you read it. But those articles are difficult
to write.
Stone:
Oh, I m sure they are.
I 19
M i rov :
Stone :
M i rov :
Stone :
M i rov :
Stone:
M i rov :
I wrote another one in the Journal of American Forests.
It s called "Face of the Country." Once 1 took a plane
from Boston to San Francisco and I described what a forester
could see below. I think it is a nice article.
With your permission, I will send you all those things.
Thank you, I should like that very much.
I guess I mentioned to you that I turned my diary over to the
Bancroft Library.
Yes.
But this is really my personal life, life of an ordinary
man during a very interesting period of history. CPauseU
Is there anything else you wanted to say about Mr. Eddy?
I don t want to take your time.
No, no. One day
about the will of
will find for you
his father, who wi 1
he told me I
led the harness
boy and the horses to
I have some more. If
Because it s very interesting.
guess
to one
think
Eddy was
states.
another boy in the family.
1 have it I ll send it to you.
Bill Gumming knows this story,
a New Englander. They moved here, I guess via lake
Bu i I d i ng Note 1 C I a remon t
Oh, yes, a very interesting thing. Mr. Eddy when he
would come here always would stay in the Hotel Claremont.
Because, every tire he would tell me, "This hotel has been
built of our lumber, from the Port Blakesley Lumber Company.
Eddy was a resident manager here in Berkeley at that time.
other kinds of lumber were
he sold it for the building of the hotel.
this to anybody, I guess. Has anybody told
And all those 2 x 4 s and
shipped here, and
He didn t mention
you about it?
Stone: No.
Mirov: It was an interesting thing.
Stone: This was all Douglas fir then, the hotel was Douglas fir?
Mirov: Yes. You raised this question, why he was not interested in
Douglas fir. I guess it s Austin probably influenced him
that genus Pinus is more important, more diversified.
Stone: There are only two species of Pseudotsuga.
Mirov: More, maybe three or four.
Stone: But two in this country.
120
M i rov :
Stone:
M i rov :
Yes. And one doesn t amount to much, in southern California.
So you need to have more species to do anything with genetics
divergence in Mexican Pines.
Yes. I want to tell you about one thing. In the course of
work in the Institute of Forest Genetics we found that
here in the United States it is usually easy to tell one
pine from another; you know when you have a Ponderosa Pine, a
Jeffrey Pine, or a jack pine. But in Mexico you cannot.
I think I first proposed in my book the fact that a secondary
center of evolution developed in Mexico. Pines reached
Mexico very late, probably after glaciation very recent.
They re still advancing south. But man, of course, stopped
it. That s where a new genetic pool has been formed, where
the geneticists of the future will find a lot of material.
You ll be surprised how many foresters go now to Mexico to
study Mexican pines. You can t tell tnem [apart], one species
crosses with another, and those varieties intercross, and then
there s really a holy mess as far as the pines are concerned.
All genetic characters can be found. But [although] this
is of interest, this is not about Mr. Eddy, but about
scientific achievement.
Stone :
M i rov :
It s important because it may be that
work with Mexican pines more. Do you
the Institute here will
think?
No doubt about it. The Institute probably will eventually
build a plantation at low elevations. They tried to. I don t
know if it exists now or not. But later on the University
probably will pick it up. Because the future of the forest
is very important in the southern hemisphere. That s why
I m going to Australia, to see how far towards the equator
you can push pine trees. Because it [Pinus] is a northern
genus and genetically it needs winter and fall and spring.
But environment in the tropics is uniform, it is a clash
of environment and heredity dialectical. [Laughter]
Oh, in Russia they would make a big issue out of it. Unity
of contradiction.
Stone: Now, the recording of the history of the Institute has been,
as you suggest, a little bit loaded in the direction of all the
good things that happened. I don t know if you would care
to go into any of the problems of personnel. Some of these
have been hinted at by some of the others the problems
of Mr. Eddy s break with Mr. Austin.
121
Mirov: But Mr. Eddy was a very realistic man in all. Lloyd Austin
simply couldn t write up his results. They moved him to
Berkeley here. He stayed here and did nothing, worried
about Placerville. Mr. Eddy, mind you, was a very sort of
rigid businessman. He knows that he turned this station
to the director of the Forest Service and he is responsible.
He told me a very interesting thing. You heard about
Mr. Elmore? He was the manager of a big lumber company in
Arizona. And he was very efficient manager and very good.
And then the company was sold to some Chicago interests, the
whole holdings. And they laid him off. I told Mr. Eddy I visited
Mr. Elmore and I like him very much, he was a very efficient
manager and he loved his mill and his forest CnearH McNary,
Arizona. I said, "What an injustice is done to your son-in-law,
that they let him go after the mill and company changed hands."
And to my surprise he said, "Perfectly all right."
"It s new owners, new points of view, and they wanted a new
manager. "
And he had not a word of some kind of sympathy with
E I more, because from the business point of view it was perfectly
all right. And I m afraid they did the same thing with Lloyd
Austin when the director of the Experiment Station decided
that he outlived his usefulness. Eddy endorsed it completely,
no matter what Austin would write to him.
Stone: Apparently Austin was very disturbed because Mr. Eddy later
on wouldn t pay him some back money from depression days.
Mirov: Yes, yes.
Stone: There was some great bitterness then.
Mirov: Yes, I know. You probably know that correspondence between
... [Austin and EddyH.
Stone: Yes.
Mirov: ... Yes .... I know. But, you see, those are minor things.
Of course, we all are humans.
But, Mr. Eddy was a shrewd businessman. He wouldn t
mind, for instance, to give, say, several thousand dollars
for a certain experiment. But. at the same time he wouldn t
let the red cap carry both suitcases; one he would carry himself.
I remember, he said, "How much?" The porter said, "Twenty-five
cents." And he said, "It always has been ten cents."
22
Mirov:
Stone:
Mirov:
Stone:
Mirov:
Stone:
Mirov:
He was so upset. He said, "Those people don t realize,
they just don t know their place. A girl in the office, with
this coffee breaks, always asks for the increase of salary.
She has to be thankful for the privilege to work for me."
This is really that s how the company has been built.
Was he a likeable man, though?
Yes.
Was he charming?
I think I ll tell a story:* [Mr. Eddy was entertaining a group
of the staff at the Bluebelle Cafe, in Placervi I le. As usual
he was the host, and he liked to exchange ideas with the
staff. But he did not like to have anyone disagree with him.
Dr. Mirov was new to the Institute, so he disagreed with
Mr. Eddy on some point, and Mr. Eddy said, "The trouble with
you scientists is that you do not understand business."
Mirov replied, "The trouble witn you businessmen is
that you do not understand science." It was rude of me.
Mr. Eddy, apparently, did not like that, for he put
on his hat and overcoat and walked out, without saying a word.
They saw him pacing back and forth outside for about ten minutes,
then he came back in and shook hands with Mirov. After that
they were always good friends.]
You know, I didn t know him [Eddvl! as much as "Pete" Righter.
But if you asked him for something, that is just a minor
expenditure on his part, to pay for the men to grow the
Simmondsia, to let me use about half an acre of valuable land
for this purpose, but when he subdivided, and settled his
estate, he just told me that he is going to pull out those
bushes, twelve years old, they just reached maturity for the
harvest. Well, he did. Because that was the business part
of it.
So you didn t have the chance to make the final evaluation
of your experiment.
No, no.
from the
It is very interesting.
business point of view.
But probably he was right
Give a start, support it for
twelve years, and that s enough, then you have to be on your own,
finally. It s our fault that we were not good businessmen.
Neither was Pete I think that when Pete and Austin describe
this campaign to raise the money it might be that the
chief trouble is that they were not good businessmen.
This story in brackets was not ta^ed.
notes ed.
It is inserted from
123
Mirov: You know you have to approach those rich people to
get money gently, as my Mexican friends say, you have to open
the pores without damaging the skin. This is a delicate art,
my
know. learned something about it
on Rockefeller and Ford money, over
it was not easy to get; you have to
show the results, and you have to be
you
I did most of my work
$100,000, I guess. But
be honest; you have to
sincere.
APPENDIX I 124
Statement on Robert Harrison Weidman by Mrs. R.H. Weidman
ROBERT HARRISON WEIDMAN (1886-1964)
Robert H. "Bob" Weidman, for eleven years Superintendent
of the Institute of Forest Genetics at Placerville, California,
died in Placerville on October 29, 1964. He headed the Institute
from the fall of 1937 until his retirement in 1948. Prior to his
years at the Institute he had been Director of the Northern Rocky
Mountain Forest Experiment Station at Missoula, Montana, for some
ten years. He had, in fact, participated in the beginnings of
that station from 1921, when he was transferred from Portland,
Oregon to take charge of the Priest River Experiment Station,
Idaho, later absorbed as a branch of the Missoula Station. For
six months, in 1937, he taught the course in silviculture at the
University of Montana.
During his years in the Pacific northwest, 1914-1921,
except for two years in military service, Bob worked out of the
Portland District Office on silvical investigations in the
ponderosa pine forests in Oregon and Washington. (As a Captain,
Field Artillery, he served with the AEF in France through four
major offensives, with the Army of Occupation in Germany, and
on the appraisal of war damages after the armistice.)
In those early years, before the Forest Service branch
of research was born, the need for silvical data, as a basis for
management of the vast forest domain, was urgent. Much was
expected of the relatively few men who were drawn to research,
and who met the challenge with solid accomplishment. With his
enthusiasm and keen observational and analytical abilities,
Weidman personified the type of dedicated foresters who contrib
uted to the reputation of the Forest Service for its high esprit
de corps.
Characteristically, Bob s field notes, records, and reports
were always well organized, neat, precise, and thorough--qualities
which not only facilitated all future work with them but lent a
touch of pleasure to the task. The publication of his research
results, not voluminous but always sound, in the Journal of
Forestry and in U.S.D.A. Bulletins, established him as a leading
authority on the silviculture of ponderosa pine. In his letters,
and often in his more formal writings, a certain felicity of
phrase stems from his deep interest in the essays and letters
of Robert Louis Stevenson.
Born in San Francisco in 1886, Bob was orphaned at the
age of twelve, in Buffalo, New York, by the death of his widowed
mother. Having no living relatives, he was placed with a guardian,
and attended grammar school for a year or two. Then, while working
in a bookstore, he completed a correspondence course in mechanical
25
drawing and found employment in that field for three years. A
highlight of his brief school days in Buffalo was the beginning
of a life- long friendship with Charles Kraebel who shared the
interests that ultimately led them both into careers in forestry.
Weidman 1 s progress in forestry reflects the growth of the
U.S. Forest Service itself through more than half a century. His
first appointment was as Forest Student in 1905 at "$300 P. A. and
expenses in the field." Working on sample plot studies in Massa
chusetts under a graduate forester, Bob was apparently marked by
that experience for a career in forest research. The appointment
was an outgrowth of his attendance for three months at the Yale
Summer School of Forestry at Milford, Pennsylvania, and his sub
sequent employment by the Dean, Henry S. Graves, to draw illus
trations for Graves textbook Forest Mensuration. After preparatory
study in a New England academy, Bob entered professional training
at Yale, completed it at the University of Michigan, A.B. 1914,
and won election to the scientific honor Society of Sigma Xi.
In retirement Bob continued official contacts as
Collaborator with the Institute, and did some consulting. But
chiefly he devoted himself to his pear orchard near the Institute,
to active service with Friends of El Dorado County Library, of
which he was a founding and life member, and to the culture of
choice trees and shrubs of horticultural value. He was a long
time member of the Society of American Foresters, Geological
Society of America, and American Association for the Advancement
of Science.
Survivors include Mrs. Ruth M. Weidman, his wife, of
Placerville; two sons: Dr. Robert W. Weidman, Professor of
Geology at the University of Montana; and John C. Weidman,
a lawyer practicing in Placerville; and six grandchildren.
126
APPENDIX I I
Material re Special Award of American Forestry Association to
James G. Eddy
tOO AHCADK UAH
VATTLB I
AMES G. EDDY
1 >3 BHCNANDOAH DMIVK
:MTT-r 2. WASHINGTON
January 21, 1953
American Forestry Association,
919 Seventeenth Street, H.W. ,
Washington 6, D.C.
Attn; Mr. Fred E. Hornadav
Gentlemen: -
This letter is written to advise you that the writer,
some eight or ten days ago, received the Special Award by
the Board of Directors of the American Forestry Association.
It is now being put in a small gold frame and will
be placed on the walls of my office, but subsequently it
will be sent to the Institute of Forest Genetics, where I
trust it will bring great satisfaction to all the men who
brought about the many successful scientific steps so that
the officers, the directors and the lumbermen of the
American Forestry Association have approved the results so
far obtained, that better and more valuable trees now and
in the years ahead will be available to future generations.
I wish to express my humble appreciation for this
great honor, as every word in the Award means a great deal
to me personally, and to the men in the past, present and
future, who gave, and will give, of their time, knowledge
and their heart to such genetic efforts, and thus offer to
the people of the world better commercial types of trees
by the use of such genetic laws as already demonstrated by
the Institute of Forest Genetics.
Yours very truly,
JGE:fd,
V
Certificate Mailed 1/5/53
Done - 11/12/52 - LH
127
November 7, 1952
McNary, Arizona
Mr. Fred E. Hornaday, Secretary
The American Forestry Association
919 Seventeenth St. N. W.
Washington 6, D. C.
Dear Mr. Hornaday:
Indeed I am very much touched by the information which you have
outlined as to the action of the Board of Directors of the American
Forestry Association at their October 12th meeting, recognizing
my efforts to American Forestry of more than a quarter of a century
through the accomplishments of the Eddy Tree Breeding Station and
at the present time the Institute of Forest Genetics.
To have the action unanimous and enthusiastic naturally makes the
resolution, whicn you quoted, really deeply appreciated.
I can truthfully say that all such efforts in Forest Genetics have
been labors of love, as such efforts brings one closer to the great
Creator*
I am also equally grateful for your personal congratulations on
the occasion of the award being given to me and I assure you that
I will certainly come to Washington on my next visit to the East,
which I hope will be in the spring of 1953, and look forward to
getting acquainted with you and other members of the Association s
personnel. A more formal acceptance will be made after receipt of
the citation, which you mention will be forwarded as soon as possible,
Yours very truiv.
JGE:ps
128
DATA CONCERNING JAMES G. EDDY, PORT BLAKELY MILL COMPANY, SEATTLE, WASHINGTON
I wish heartily to second the nomination of James G. Eddy for one of the awards
of the American Forestry Association for distinguished services to the conserva
tion of American forests. The reasons for my nomination are given in the
following summary of Mr. Eddy s career and activities in forestry.
James G. Eddy of Seattle comes from one of the old timber families of the United
States. His ancestors founded the town of Eddlngton, near Bangor, on the
Penobscot river of Maine, and operated sawmills there for many years. Mr. Eddy s
father moved to Bay City, Michigan, in i860 and established a large sawmllling
business. James Eddy was born in l88l; grew up in the forest and sawmilling
atmosphere of Michigan! graduated from Princeton University; and in 1903 with
his brother, John Eddy, and other associates acquired the Port Blakely Mill
Company on Bainbridge Island in Puget Sound.
Mr. Eddy operated the Port Blakely mills for approximately thirty years; and
built up large timber holdings and logging operations in the western forest areas
of Washington. The Company has ceased its manufacturing enterprises; but still
has extensive holdings of timber and extensive areas of second-growth lands.
They maintain the Blakely and Kitsap Tree Farms in Kitsap and Mason counties,
Washington, and the Olney Creek Tree Farm in Snohomish County, Washington; and
are today very active in developing forest management methods and types of
logging operations adapted to the second-growth stands of timber in this region.
Mr. Eddy had always been keenly interested in geology, botany and other natural
sciences. His timber -cruising and logging operations aroused his interest in
the differences in growth rates and other characteristics of young forest trees;
and from this interest he became an earnest student of plant and forest genetics.
He followed the work of Luther Burbank in plant -breed ing experiments in
California closely; read everything that Burbank published; met Burbank about
1918 or 1919; and sought his opinion on the possibilities of carrying the prin
ciples and methods which he had developed in plant genetics into the field of
forestry genetics. During one of his many visits to the Burbank gardens at
Santa Rosa, California, Dr. Burbank showed Mr. Eddy his "Paradox Walnut," which
was a hybrid and at eighteen years of age had a breest-high diameter of 30 inches
Dr. Burbank, however, was doubtful as to whether veiymuch headway could be made
in genetics with conifers because of the long time required in producing and
maturing seed and many unknown factors in the techniques of experimentation.
Dr. Burbank and Mr. Eddy .explored this field together for several years, during
which time Dr. Burbank became convinced that experimental research would be
profitable with coniferous trees and gave his full backing to the project that
was maturing in Mr. Eddy s mind.
When the Clarke-McNary Committee of the United States Congress held hearings in
Seattle in 1923, on its investigation of forest conditions throughout the countrj
Mr. Eddy submitted the most unique and surprising statement of the entire sessior
I heard it personally and was tremendously impressed by it. The Committee had
been hearing for two days about the necessity of stopping forest fires and modifj
ing prevailing methods of forest taxation. Mr. Eddy told them they must get intc
the roots of their problem which was the study and development of the best strair
and new species of forest trees which would Justify the time and cost of
129
Data oaacerning James G. Eddy
reforestation by their growth rates and conBcrcial qualities. This rough-
appearing lumberman from the Northwest gare the Senators and Representatives a
rousing lecture on forest genetics, vhich astonished them and at the same time
created great interest.
Pursuing what had now become his fixed dream, Mr. Eddy tried out his ideas on
many other men. He got strong backing from Dr. Babcock, Professor of Genetics
at the University of California; from Dean Walter Mulford of the California
School of Forestry; and from Thomas H. Morgan, geneticist at the California
School of Technology. In 192^, Mr. Eddy established the Institute of Forest
Genetics, near Placerville, California, at a site selected or approved by
Dr. Burbank and with a staff of four technicians, headed by Lloyd Austin, who
had been selected by Dr. Burbank. From 192^ to 1935, the Institute was main
tained entirely by Mr. Eddy as a personal enterprise; and during this period he r
expended something in excess of $250,000 of his personal funds to maintain the
Institute. He was in frequent consultation with members of the United States
Forest Service; and constant help and advice were furnished by Dr. Edward Kotok
and others as well as by the University men mentioned above. John C. Merriam,
President of the Carnegie Institute, was also greatly interested in the
Institute; and Carnegie supported its work to the extent of approximately $10,000.
Meantime, the Institute had started a thorough- go ing atudy of the various strains
or regional types of Ponderosa pine and many experiments in hybridization. Dur
ing Mr. Eddy s sponsorship, the Institute established a successful cross between
Monterey pine and Knobcone pine, carrying the rapid growth of Monterey and also
the resistance of Knobcone. Some thirty or more other crosses were started
experimentally, several of which have subsequently proven of great value. Mr.
Eddy thinks that the Monterey- Knobcone cross was the convincing demonstration of
the intrinsic merit of the experimental work at Placerville and of its possibili
ties for benefiting American forestry. He had been trying for some time to
interest the United States Forest Service in taking over the Station, because he
felt that the long-range planning and stability necessary in such an experimental
undertaking made federal ownership and responsibility necessary. This was
accomplished in 1935, since when the Institute has been operated as a project of
the California Forest and Range Experiment Station, of the United States Forest
Service.
Mr. Eddy s interest in this Institute and in forest genetics has remained unabated,
He has been greatly disturbed by the inadequate appropriations made available to
carry on the work of the Institute; and one of his chief interests presently is
to build up a Foundation on Forest Genetics, that will bring together the continu
ing interest of a substantial group of people and necessary financial help, when
needed, to prevent the promising work in forest genetics from suffering from
inadequate support.
W. B. Greeley
Director
American Forestry Association
Seattle, Washington
August 15, 1951
130
THE AMERICAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION
1952
Domination Blank
FOR
CONSERVATION AWARDS IN FORESTRY
AND RELATED FIELDS
Among your acquaintances there are certain individuals who render outstand
ing service toward the conservation of our renewable resources forests, soil, water
and wildlilc. They may be newspaper men fighting tirelessly with their pens to fos
ter a better understanding of the wise use of these resources; or, they may be indus
trialists who direct their companies land management program and show that wise
management pays dividends annually. They are individuals who are conservation
ists at heart and go beyond self to enrich our way of life.
Kach year The American Forestry Association, through its maga/inc, AMERI
CAN FORKS IS, searches to find individuals who have enlightened public knowl
edge in handling renewable resources. The purpose of this program is to present
to the vvoild those who have made significant contributions to the protection of our
heritage.
A panel of conservation leaders, representing all fields of endeavor, will re
view and nominate candidates for consideration and approval by the Board of Direc
tors of the Association. Their final selection will be based on the answers to the
principal question of this nomination blank.
Individuals, organizations, educational institutions, industries, professions, civic
organizations and others are invited to nominate candidates for these Awards. Five
fields have been chosen in which awards MAY be given. They are: press, radio,
industry, public service, education. Nominations must be received no later than
August I. 19!>U.
These conservationists approved by the Board of Directors will be honoied at
the traditional annual banquet of The American Forestry Association held this year
at Asheville, N. C.. October 1 :5. Awards to be given include a plaque ami Life Mem
bership in The American Forestry Association, designating them as outstanding lead
ers in their particular fields of endeavor.
131
List chronologically contributions and achievements of the nominee in the fields ol forestry,
soils, wildlife and water conservation that have contributed to the general welfare:
James G. Eddy Is of the third generation of a family of American lumbermen whose
active business began on the Penobscot river of Maine; then moved to Bay City,
Michigan; ultimately to Puget Sound. Els active business career has been devoted
primarily to timber ownership, logging, and lumber manufacture In Western Washlngto
He has been a naturalist and woodsman all his life and developed very keen Interest
in forest species, strains of the sae species, effects of altitudes, etc. on
tree form and growth characteristics.
In the course of his life mainly in the forests of the Pacific northwest, Mr. Eddy
developed a great Interest In genetics; became acquainted with Luther Burbank and
his experiments In plant genetics at Santa Bosa, California; read a great deal on
the subject and made the acquaintance of a number of leading geneticists and
dendrologlsts in the United States. He became convinced that there are possibili
ties, in forest genetics, of developing the best strains of existing species and of
obtaining new species by hybridization that would be of great value to the future
progress In the development of American forestry.
In 1923, Mr. Eddy expounded his convictions to the McKary Select Committee, United
States Senate, at its hearings In Seattle. He told the Committee, in effect, that
more Important even than prevention of forest fires in the long-range view is
the study of the possibilities of better tree species to replace the virgin forests
of the United States along the lines exemplified in many other fields of plant
genetics.
Seeing little prospect of adequate interest on this phase from governmental sources
as he believed, in 192V Mr. Eddy established his own Institute of Forest Genetics
at Placerville, alifornia. In his plans, appointment of personnel, selection of
the site, etc., he was guided largely by the advice of Dr. Luther Burbank.
The Institute of forest Genetics was maintained for eleven years at Mr. Eddy s
personal cost; and in 193? w 8 conveyed by him to the United States Forest Service
to become a branch station of the California Forest and Range Experiment Station.
The Institute is now being continued in that status.
During the eleven years that Mr. Eddy maintained the station as a personal enter
prise, he expended approximately $3*50,000 of hia own funds in developing the
project, all of which was turned over to the national government as a gift, without
compensation. What is still more Indicative of Mr. Eddy s sincerity, In my Judgmen
is the fact that during this period he gave a great deal of his personal time and
thought to the work of the Institute; participated actively In Its planning; and
interested many other men all over the United States In developing its program.
All this was carried on during his active career as a lumberman, and executive of
the Port Blakely Mill Company on Puget Sound, which was one of the large and active
timber operators of the region.
It Is also my personal observance that Mr. Eddy s interest in the Institute and its
program has not flagged whatsoever since the project was taken over by the Forest
Service. He still visits the Institute several tlmas during the year; is keenly
interested in its plans and In checking its results. He still reads largely in the
field of plant genetics; and is one of the best Informed men on this subject of my
acquaintance.
DEADLINE 1 OR NOMINATIONS IS AUGUST I, 1952
32
The work of the Placerrill* Institute of Forest G*netics is nov fully covered In
reports of the U.S. Forest Service; and the progress in specific species
development as veil as in developing the science of experimental genetics speaks
for Itself. It is my understanding that sereral nev species of pine have nov
been stabilized by hybridization and something like forty additional experiments
in hybridization are of promise.
My recommendation for an A.F.A. avard to Janes 0. Wdy is based upon this very
unique and individualistic contribution to American forestry. It Impresses me
as particularly noteworthy, since It comes from a background of family tradition
and personal experience of forest exploitation. At the time when Mr.. Eddy made
his stirring appeal to the NcNary Committee (which I personally listened to with
amazement) there was very little experimental vork in forest genetics in the
United States and very little interest in the subject. Foresters were concentrat
ing on protection from fire and the rudiments of silviculture. This man out of
the logging camps and sawmills told us we should study the possibilities of
growing better trees; and backed up his preaching with his own money and personal
interest .
DEADLINE FOR NOMINATIONS IS AUGUST I, 1952
133
*
April 7, 1U81
Bay Clty,Uichif;ej
NAME: James G.Sddy ............................ ....... DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH
iioMH AIM.HK&S: 16 3 Shen ^dph Drivej^attle.^jfaBh. P IIONK: Minor 2224
HI SINK-* ADDRESS: 6l <> Aroadf Squ are a.Sftl tU l>WMh i>M<>NK:SKneca 5810
Oi:< i HATION OR PROFESSION:
Lumber and timber.
POSITION OR THIF: Vice President., Port Blakely MiH Company, and of Eddy Investment
Company, both of Seattle.
Sc HOOI.S Artt.NHHi: Lavrenccrille. Princeton
IH..RKKS: Bachelor of Science.
CIVK., I RAIIK.NAI. A.M. KM.K.IUI s ORGANI/.ATIONAI. AtruvniES AND AFHLIAUONS: Born a Universallst ;
educated a Presbyterian; and by marriage an Episcopalian.
6 1 HER Exi-ERiF.M.fN AND ACTIVITIES: Scientific experimentation in Forestry, as Founder
of Institute of Forest Genetics, and also in agriculture and fruit growing; for
pleasure, gardening, golfing, and harness horse racing and breeding, and as an
amateur ornithologist; also baring a deep Interest in Eugenics as a member of
the American Eugenic Society.
Win u in PosMui.t FOR YOUR NOMINEE TO A FIEND THE BANQUET TO BE HELD IN ASIII-VII.I>, N. C., ON
OCTOBER i:<, 195^? Cannot definitely say "yes" or "no," as such a decision
depends somewhat on health of members of nominee s family.
I lrutr tin nut ullmh unf r\ti a iloiumenls to pat^c* 2 unJ ) <tf this nontittution blank. Aililitmn.il durutnentaty fvi-
ilrnif lo aci iinfuiny (/in blunk a\ /""vf "/ tlalfineiilt made on pii^s 2 and ) art f>errni\sihlr. l>i(in>iiiiiiiiii rotiiuintA
in thrie itnturnrnt*. h>>wrvfr. should bf aintiunfd in the statements made on pages 2 and ). I ll i.s<r intlinlr V x 7"
K/KVIV print.
Sl/B.MIITM) BV:
Af<7 to:
THE AMERICAN KOKI-SIKY ASSOCIATION
MM SkVKNTEFNlIf SlKKM. N. VV.
\\ \killiS(;loN 6,1) ( ..
DEADLINE- FOR DOMINATIONS IS AUGUST 1, 1952
Materials on Western Institute of Forest Genetics Year - 12
APPENDIX IN
terials on
Submitted in 1962
1. NOMINATION FOR DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD
2. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service
Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station
3. NAME OF UNIT - Western Institute of Forest Genetics
i .
4. Number of Employees: 21
5. OFFICIAL HEADQUARTERS: P. 0. Box 245, Berkeley,
California, and Box 552, Placerville, California.
6. SUGGESTED CITATION:
"For pioneering the science of forest genetics and
the production of pine hybrids leading to interna
tional recognition as a center for genetic improve
ment of the pines of the world."
7. STATEMENT OF ACHIEVEMENT
A. Background
The Institute of Forest Genetics at Placerville,
California, had its origin as the Eddy Tree Breeding
Station in 1925. The station came into being as the
result of the interest of a far-seeing Pacific North
west lumberman, James G. Eddy. He visualized the use
of genetic knowledge to improve forest trees, as was
being done with other crops. Luther Bur bank s
horticultural wizardry inspired Eddy. They first met
in 1918, and after much consultation Eddy hired
Mr. Lloyd Austin. Together, they selected the site
at .Placerville as uniquely adapted to the purpose of
growing pines. The Eddy Tree Breeding Station was
privately incorporated as the Institute of Forest
Genetics in 1932 with a national board of trustees.
The staff started several projects. One was to
assemble in an arboretum living specimens of all of
the pines of. the world. Another was to define
geographic variation in several species; primary
emphasis was placed on ponderosa pine. Hybridization
between species was attempted and though generally
not successful, some hybrids were produced as early
as 1929.
In 1935 the Institute was deeded to the people of
the United States by its Board of Trustees. Since
that time the Institute has been a part of the
(Over)
135
Forest Service s Pacific Southwes 4 - (formerly
California^ Forest and Range Experiment Station.
It is the principal field headquarters for re
search of the Division of Forest Genetics Research
of this station. The unit "s research has gained
international recognition.
i
. The Forest Service continued and expanded the
research program of the Institute of Forest
Genetics. The Institute has made a concerted
effort to assemble in one place living trees and
herbarium samples of all of the pines of the
world. The collection now comprises the greatest
such assemblage ever brought together at one loca
tion. This collection provides a unique opportu
nity for the world s scientists to study all
manner of characteristics of pines.
Increased attention has been given to geogra
phic variation of forest trees , including varia
tion throughout the range of species and within
small segments of their distribution. Particular
emphasis has been given to the variation associa
ted with elevation change on the west slope of the
Sierra Nevada.
The most significant development during the
last 30 years has been the expansion of inter
specific hybridization of pines made possible by
perfection of new breeding techniques. Methods
for artificial crossing were developed and
steadily improved. They have been copied widely.
The first hybridization efforts were aimed at
determining crossability between species of pines.
As a general pattern of relationship between
species emerged, efforts were directed to defin
ing the taxonomic relationships subsisting among
the species and two taxonomic revisions of most
of the species have been published.
Several outstanding hybrids were produced
during this reconnaissance of relationships
within the genus, and some are now being produced
for commercial exploitation-. They are valuable
because of faster growth, insect or disease re
sistance, ability to tolerate cold and drought.
In recent years the emphasis on hybridization
research has shifted to increase adaptation to
environmental factors, to improve growth and
form, and to enhance wood quality. Besides pro
ducing useful hybrids, this program has expanded
knowledge of inheritance of characteristics of
pines. Characteristics of morphology, physiology,
biochemistry, insect and disease resistance, and
others have been analyzed for their inheritance .
-2-
Research, into the physiology of pines, has been an | -
integral pert of the research program. Some of the
first work on methods of propagating pines vegetatively
by cuttiags or graftings was done here. Trees over
1*0 feet tall have grdwn from these cuttings. Early
studies of flower induction showed how pines could be
induced to flower at a tender age and in abundance.
Satisfactory storage conditions for seed and pollen
have been determined. Physiology of pollen currently
is under intensive study. Dr. N. T. Mirov s studies
of comparative biochemistry of pine turpentine, con
ducted as a part of this program, were recognized by
the Department s Distringuished Service Award in 1958.
B. Achievements
The accomplishments of the Institute of Forest
Genetics are told in more than 190 technical and
popular published reports (Appendix F). A dozen
more manuscripts are in press at the moment . The
research facilities and arboreta at Placerville and
Berkeley probably are the best of their kind in the
worTd. Scanning the titles in Appendix F will show
the breadth and detail of investigations. Some
achievements for which the Institute is renowned are
listed below:
1. Interspecific hybrid pines.
The Institute is best known for its pine
hybrids, produced primarily during the last 20
years. More than 80 different hybrid combinations
have been produced from controlled breeding.
These hybrids are a diverse lot . Some are made
between species as close as Monterey and Bishop
pine which grow in the pine forests along the
Pacific Coast of California. One of the newest
and most extreme hybrids is the cross between red
pine of the Lake States and black pine of central
Europe, This is the first cross ever achieved
between an American and a European hard pine.
Thirty years of this research cannot be
summarized adequately in a few words, but in
general the hybridization program has shown that
closely related pine species from the same region
of the Northern Hemisphere can be crossed; however,
crosses between what were thought to be closely
related species of eastern arid western U. S.
pines can not be achieved. The Institute s
reconnaissance of the 90-species genus has led to
a grouping of related species which guides hybridi
zation programs at the Institute and elsewhere. A
concentrated effort is now being made to pinpoint
compatabilities within relationship groups.
-3-
Interspecific Jiybrids axe bear ing_f lowers;
these hybrids are being used in "breeding with
other hybrids and with other species. Hybrids in-
1 volving three and four parental species are a
reality. The ultimate number of possible combina-
tions of this type seems almost infinite; and the
concomitant- opportunity for improving pines through
hybridization for wood production around the world
is beyond our present appreciation.
i
Beyond its scientific inquiry with hybrids,
the Institute has demonstrated that mass production
is commercially feasible. Seven hybrids suitable
for commercial exploitation in the United States,
South Korea and other countries have been produced
(Appendix l). Each .of these hybrids has a unique
superiority over its parents which promise finan
cial gain. It is very likely that when tested
further some of the many other hybrids produced
at the. Institute will prove suitable for commer
cial production in various parts of the world.
2. Evolution of pines
Data from the interspecific hybridization
reconnaissance has proved to have evolutionary
significance. Pines that cross easily are closely
related in an evolutionary sense. Pines which
cannot be crossed show a genetic barrier and more
distant relationship. The Institute s studies of
the biochemistry and distributions of pines of the
world also have been used as evidence on the rela
tionships and evolution of species. These find
ings rank as an outstanding contribution to know
ledge of genetics and evolution, for this research
is one of a few cases in the plant world where
relationships within a large genus of economic
import have been studied so intensely.
3. Taxonomy of pines
One of the prerequisites to studying relation
ships within the genus Pinus has been to define
more clearly the taxonomy of the pines . Institute
research has had a significant role in discrimina
ting between species. As a result of the breeding
and biochemistry research confusion in taxonomy of
several species has been clarified. Included are
Pinus halepensis, P. brut i a, P. rudis, P. hart-
wegii, P. Jeffrey!, P. contort a, P. arizanica, and
others. Detailed studies of variation within pine
species has brought to light the broad spectrum of
variation within taxons . Institute investigations
into ponderosa pine variations have served as a
model for studies of other pines .
*
4 . Geographic variation within pines 1 38
Members of the Institute s staff have studied
or have assisted others in studying patterns of
variation within pine species . The different
patterns of variation found have confirmed for
some western U. S. species what has "been, demonstrated
elsewhere from other species of trees . Primarily
these studies show that pines change with elevation
of topography , with latitude from north to south, and ,
with general climatic characteristics as from a mari
time to a continental climate. Because of the geo
graphic location of the Institute, its studies have
been concerned primarily with variation in pines of
western North America. The species studies include
ponderosa, Jeffrey, Digger, Coulter, lodgepole, shore,
Bishop, Monterey, and knobcone pines. The Institute s
investigations with ponderosa pine were the first to
show genetic gradients in forest trees correlated with
change in elevation.
5. Character heritability and patterns of
inheritance in pines
Controlled breeding between species and between
individuals within species has demonstrated the
genetic control of many characters . Data have been
assembled on inheritance of morphological characteris
tics of needles, bud, bark, cones, stem, and root.
Inheritance of some chemical characteristics has been
analyzed as well. Institute studies show the inheri
tance of resistance to many insects including the
pine reproduction weevil, bark beetles, and the pine
resin midge. Institute hybrids show inheritance of
resistance to white pine blister rust and fusiform
rust infecting pines in Southeastern States.
6. Insect resistance
The Institute has provided plant materials and
research facilities for cooperative studies by ento
mologists of the Department since 19^5. First efforts
were directed toward finding resistance to the pine
resin midge. Later research was concerned primarily
with resistance to the pine reproduction weevil, a
serious pest of California pine plantations . Since
1950 efforts have been directed as well to tree-
killing bark beetles, which plague pines around the
world. Resistance to the weevil has been demonstrated
at the Institute and in field outplantings . The role
of pine oleoresin in controlling resistance of pines
to bark beetles has just been uncovered. Geneticists
will be able to capitalize on this latter finding to
produce pines resistant to these tree killers. This
research on insect resistance is the first of its kind
-5-
in the w^rld. It has been cited frequently as an
example of research which should be included in
any tree improvement project.
7. Pine physiology
Early studies at the Institute illustrated the
use of vegetative propagation in tree improvement
research. Methods of rooting cuttings were employed
more than 20 years ago, and many clones were pro
duced demonstrating the genetic control of characters.
Rooting of sugar pine, one extremely difficult species
to root, was accomplished both by rooting of cuttings
and by air-layering. This latter technique may give
a means of vegetatively propagating many other. species
which are difficult to root . Techniques for grafting
pines have been developed at the Institute over many
years. Grafting now is a research tool useful for
several kinds of studies .
The Institute has shown the feasibility of indu
cing early production of pine flowers by grafting
and other treatments. More recently a concerted
effort is expanding our understanding of the basic
biochemical processes taking place in pine flowering.
Controlling pollination of pines to produce
hybrids requires a knowledge of optimum conditions
for storing pollen. The Institute has led in deter
mining optimum humidity and temperature conditions
requisite for long life of pollen. Institute
studies indicate that, through freezing, pollen may
retain its viability for many years. Deep freezing
pine pollen now is standard procedure at some tree
breeding stations.
Studies at the Institute were among the first
to demonstrate the importance of environmental
characteristics on the growth of seedlings . Pio
neer studies showed the role of photo and thermo-
period in controlling pine growth and flowering.
Further, studies of ponderosa pine using the
Phytotron at California Institute of Technology
proved that responses to duration of light and
temperature were genetically controlled and that
the response varied according to geographic source
of seed. The effects of seed size and germination
time on subsequent growth were defined more than
20 years ago.
The feasibility of inducing polyploidy in
pine by the application of colchicine was first
shown by Mirov and Stockwell as early as 1939-
Later, at the Institute, Hyun developed an im
proved technique to produce polyploidy in several
pine species and a hybrid.
-6-
* 140
8. Techniques for. tree breeding
The Institute s role in developing techniques
and procedures now used by forest tree improvers
around the world must be emphasized. The basic
techniques for controlling pollination in pines
are used with a variety of adaptations in many
tree improvement programs in the United. States
and abroad. The Institute s refined procedure for
handling the nursery production of pine seedlings
has brought forth many laudatory comments by fores
ters . It is copied in many places to minimize en
vironmental variation which can confound genetic
tests . The system of record keeping, developed
over years of experience, also has been copied
extensively. By this system tens of thousands of
progeny pedigrees can be traced back through each
year of work. The Institute s proven methods of
extracting, testing, and storing pollen and seed
of pines are used by many others .
9- Pine phenology
One essential tool of tree breeders is know
ledge of when flowering takes place. The Insti
tute s staff has published much information on
timing of pine flowering with respect to species,
to geographic source of seed and to elevation.
10. Selfing in pines
Much data have been accumulated at the Insti
tute from controlled self pollination of pines.
These data currently are being compiled to tell the
story of this project . Since 1927, 31 species and
11 hybrids have been selfed (Appendix j). The re
sults will give information vitally needed in plan
ning for tree seed orchards.
11. The Institute as a place to study and learn
Foresters, geneticists, and other scientists
have come from 27 foreign countries and the United
States to study at the Institute. More than 75 men
and women have stayed more than one or two days
(Appendix E). Altogether they spent more than U.3
man years at the Institute. The many who visited
the Institute for shorter periods of instruction
and inspiration remain uncounted. The Institute
staff has provided instruction, guidance, stimula
tion, and counsel to all.
12. Pines around the world
As the Institute s fame has spread, the number
-7-
41
of requests for seed of species and hybrids has
grown. Seeds cannot be spared from research for
the thousands who have requested them. But Insti
tute scientists have honored many requests from
agencies and individuals here and abroad who are
willing to cooperate in, establishing cooperative
tests (Appendix H) . The Institute has supplied
seed, pollen, or scions of 113 species and 68 pine
hybrids, over 1,000 lots going to 46 cities in 27
countries on 7 continents . In the United States
extensive distribution has been made to federal
agencies, states, counties, and cities, and 39
private individuals and companies . Reports fil
tering back from many of these cooperative teats
reveal adaptation of these new forms to varied
environments .
.
13. Providing r research climate
A subtle contribution of the Institute has
been the stimulation provided by staff and facili
ties for cooperative research. Many mature
scientists have utilized the Institute in the
course of their research. Drs . Buchholz studied
embryology of hybrid pines; Dr. Hutchinson studied
meiosis in hybrids; Dr. Hyun studied polyploidy in
pines; Drs. Keng and Little studied needle anatomy
variations in pines; Drs. Glfford and Park studied
ontogeny of pine shoots; Dr. Colwell studied the
pattern of distribution of radioactive pine pollen.
Many graduate students have used the Institute s
facilities or plant materials in the course of
their work. They include Critchfield, Duf field,
Newcomb, Griffin, and Zobel who studied geographic
variation in pines; Libby, van Buijtenin, Baron,
Haddock, and Krugman, who investigated physiolo
gical variation or processes in pines; and Winton
and Saylor studying cytogenetics of pines.
C. Recognition
Acknowledgment comes to the Institute in many
forms. Scientists cite the Institute s research
methods and accomplishments, and they come from
on far to visit this tree breeder s "mecca.". In
dustrial foresters stress the utilitarian value of
fast -growing hybrids and seek ways to improve
their own forest tree stock. Educators return
with their classes year after year to illustrate
basic research that can increase returns from wild
lands. The public press recognizes the Institute s
appeal to conservationists and to those intrigued
by the aim and methods of research, and the roll
of visitors increases year by year (Appendix A).
-8-
1. Scientific 142
Men and women come from all parts of the globe
to train and study at the Institute of Forest
Genetics. Group tours in recent years have inclu
ded the Biosystematists, two tours of forest
scientists "before the World Forestry Congress in
1960, a tour of biologists after the American
Institute of Biological Sciences meeting at
Stanford in 1957, the 1959 combined gathering of
the Western Forest Genetics Association and the
Tree Improvement Committee of the Society of
American Foresters. Many American scientists have
returned several times to follow the progress of
research since the date of their first visit
(Appendix C) .
Foreigners look to the Institute as one of
the world s foremost centers for forest genetics
research. The Institute s register of 391
foreign visitors reads like a "Who s Who" in
forest genetics around the world. They have
journeyed from more than 59 countries and have
stayed for variable lengths of time (Appendix B) .
Some stay one day; others stay several weeks or
a year as their schedules and interest permit .
In I960, 54 of the l,06l visitors through
November, or 5 percent, were from abroad.
Several have been favorably impressed with the
Institute and have described it to their col
leagues at home; Fielding to Australians in
1950; Frontera to Spaniards in 1950; Bouvarel
to Frenchmen in 1952; and Pavari to Spaniards
and Italians in 19^7- Several nations have sent
their scientists to the Institute for training
to enable them to conduct similar research at
home.
Recognition also has come to the individuals
of the Institute s staff as a result of their
own research and the Institute s prominent place
in the scientific world. Such recognition en
hances and attests to the stature of the Insti
tute . Staff members frequently participate in
international symposia; for example, the Tree
Physiology Symposium at Harvard University, 1958
(Mirov); the Tree Growth Symposium at University
of Arizona, 1959 (Righter and Callaham); the
Pacific Science Congress held in Hawaii, 1961
(Mirov and Callaham); the International Biochemi
cal Congress in Vienna, 1958 (Stanley); The IX
International Botanical Congress in Montreal,
1959 (Mirov and Callaham); and the V World
Forestry Congress in Seattle, 1960 (Mirov,
Righter, and Callaham). Righter s eminence in
-9-
tr.& field of forest geneticists has been recognized
>,y his appointment as an editor of Silvae Genetica;
Miro-/, Stanley, Righter, and Duffield have contri
buted to the Annual Review of Biochemistry, the
Annual Review of Plant Physiology, and the Year
book of the Department of Agriculture. A further
evidence of recognition is continual inclusion of
an Institute staff member on the Tree Improvement
CocrdLttee of the Society of American Foresters
(Righter, Critchf ield, and Callaham) .
2. Utilitarian
Leading land managers have visited the Insti
tute to see at first hand the products of its
research and the possibilities of utilizing these
findings to increase the productivity of their
forest lands. These have included representatives
of federal, state, and local governments and of
private industry. A list of visitors connected
with forest industries over the last ten years
includes the names of most of the large companies
using wood as their raw material (Appendix D).
Land managers, impressed with what they have
seen, have sent their technicians to learn the
forest tree improvement methods used at the
Institute. In recent years the Winton Lumber
Company, the Industrial Forestry Association,
the University of Idaho, the U. S. Forest Service,
the California Division of Forestry and many
others have benefited from this training
opportunity.
Land managers and scientists also have
repeatedly expressed the desire to test new
improved hybrids on their land. The list of
cooperators to whom seeds, pollen, or plants
have been sent includes more than 150 entries .
Institute pines are being tested on every conti
nent of the world.
Where such tests have shown the superiority
of hybrids over locally grown conifers, an
action program has ensued to produce hybrids.
Currently the lodgepole X jackpine hybrid is
being produced in northern Idaho, Oregon and"
Wisconsin by industry; knobcone X Monterey
hybrid is being produced in California and
Oregon by the Forest Service and in southern
Oregon by the Crown Zellerbach Corporation;
the shortleaf X loblolly hybrid is being pro
duced in the South by industry and government;
the hybrid pitch X loblolly is being produced
on a grand scale in South Korea for fuel wood;
-10-
144
in California, the Jeffrey X Coulter hybrid, prized
for its weevil resistance and fast growth, is "being
produced by the Forest Service; in eastern Oregon,
industry and the U. S. Forest Service are both work
ing to produce the ponderosa X Apache hybrid.
.
3- Educational
Annual pilgrimages of science and biology classes
from schools and universities attest to the signifi
cance educators ascribe to the Institute in demonstra
ting science in action, seeking knowledge and new
practical products. In 1959 alone more than Ik
classes with 298 students toured the Institute and
learned. Numerous land management or conservation
orientated groups also visit the Institute regularly:
14 in 1960. These include UH, Future Farmers of
America, Boy and Girl Scout groups, garden clubs,
farm bureaus, and others.
^. Popular accounts
, The Institute has been featured in two television
productions. "Science in Action" featured the Insti
tute and its research on a half hour educational pro
gram in 1952. In 1956 "Careers in Science" showed
the opportunity for tree breeders to an afternoon
audience .
Several magazines have featured the Institute
(Appendix G). A few of these include recognition in
National Geographic magazine for September 1956;
Reader s Digest produced a feature article "New gold
from Placerville" in 1951 which attracted much lay
interest to the Institute. Popular Mechanics, in
September 1951, devoted several pages to the Insti
tute and its techniques. Magazines with a forestry
or conservation orientation repeatedly tell the
Institute story in pictures and prose: The, Southern
Lumberman, December 19^8; American Forests, September
1952; Southern Lumberman again in May 1955-
Newspapers repeatedly tell the Institute s story
in news releases and feature articles. Of course,
papers close to Placerville show the greatest interest,
but papers as widespread as the Wall Street Journal,
the New York Times, the Baltimore Sun, the (Portland)
Oregonian, and the Birmingham (England) Post to name
a few have written up the Institute.
5. Contributions
Recognition of the scientific potential of the
Institute has been given by financial grants from a
variety of donors. The Forest Genetics Research
-31-
145
Foundation vas the agency by which Mr. Fred Searles
of New York City gave $30,000 to the Institute to
further its research. The Rockefeller Foundation
granted $31,700 to support Dr. Mirov s research on
the biochemistry of pine turpentine. Resources-
For-The -Future, Inc., financed a $^6,200 investi
gation of flowering in pines. Several good friends
of the Institute recently financed the purchase of
additional acreage for outplanting tests at a
total cost of $23,500. The founding father of the
Institute, James G. Eddy, has financially contri
buted regularly to further the work of the Insti
tute he conceived.
-12-
146
INDEX - Eddy Tree Breeding Station
Arnold, , 41 , 43
Austin, Lloyd, 1-19, 24-25, 46-47, 50-51, 62-64, 82-83
Barnes, John, 2-3, 4, 7, 27, 32, 63, 69
Beach, Seth, 45-46, 76
Berriman, Clyde, 8
Bloedel, Prentice, 43-45
Burbank, Luther, 2, 5, 10, 18, 24, 63, 66
Callaham, Robert Z. , 53, 90-92, 98-100
Carpender, Jack, 84, 95-104
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), 70-71
Clapp, Earle, 49
Critchf ield, , 90-91, 115
Gumming, William C. , 37, 41, 45-46, 48, 52-53, 60-76, 87-88
Duff ield, Jack, 51-52, I 15
Echols, Robert, 99-100
Eddy, James G. ,
and Station under USFS, 15, 40, 45
depression years, 3-4, 14, 69
origin of Station, 2, 5, 6, 12, 23-25
personal comments, 56-59, 64-67, 73-74, 79-81, 117-118, 120-121
with Burbank, 2, 18, 24
Eddy, John, 3
Education,
professional schools, 57-58
school ing of ,
Mirov, 110-112
Righter, 21-22
Forest practices,
genetics, 6, 9-12, 22, 116-117, 120
techniques, 29-32, 68-69, 78, 85-87
tree selection, 26-29, 103, 107-108
147
Gleason, C.H. , Jr. , 9, 70
Herbert, Fred, 37, 71
Hutchison, Claude B. , 50
Johnson, LeRoy, 52, 54
Kimbrough, Emory, 97, 100
Kotok, Edward, 50
Liddicoet, Alfred R. , 38, 70, 77-94
Liddicoet, Doris Cribbs, 78-79
Lipman, _, I I l-l 12
Lumsden, Mason, 3, 7, 27, 69
McMinn, Howard, 54-55
Merriam, John, 36, 37
Merri I I , , 44-45
Mirov, Nicholas T. , 39, 55, 92, 106-123
Morton, , 44, 76
Mulford, Walter, 36, 37
Reforestation, 2-123
Righter, Francis I., 3, 13, 20-59, 71, 76, 84, 92-93, 113, II
Ryerson, Knowles, 36-37
Searles, Fred, 39
Soil Conservation Service, 36-37
Stebbins, G. Ledyard, 52, 54
Stockwell, Palmer, 42, 47-48, 53, 67, 72, 96-97
Turpentine, 108-1 10
United States Forest Service (USFS), 14-16, 37-40, 49, 82, 101
Wahlenburg, William, 3, 4, 8
Weidman, R.H., 48, 124-125
Weidman, (Mrs.) R.H., 75-76, 124-125
APPENDIX A.
Number of registered visitors to the
Institute of Forest Genetics since 192?
Year
1927
1928
1929
1930
1931
1932
1933
1935
1936
1937
1938
1939
191*0
191*1
191*2
19^3
Number of
Visitors
88
110
109
120
95
155
82
107
119
120
111
186
213
175
78
76
Year
Number of
Visitors
83
153
2i*7
1*55
377
268
1946
191*7
191*8
191*9
1950
1951
1952
1953
1951*
1955
1956
1957
1958
1959
1960
TOTAL 11,21*1
5ll*
51*1*
1*10
1*69
642
552
879
969
Month
Through 1960 by month
Number of
Visitors
January
February
March
April
May
June
3^3
333
752
1,017
2,0l*3
1,331
Number of
Month Visitors
July
1,001
August
September
October
November
879
895
91*2
December
559
TOTAL 11,21*1
APPENDIX B. Some of the foreign visitors to the
Institute of Forest Genetics since 1927
(*before a name shows a visit of more
than 1 or 2 days for detailed study) .
AFGHANISTAN
8/13/57 *Baz Mohammad, Dept . of Agr., Kandhor, (4 days)
ARGENTINA
5/3/60 *Abelardo Ernesto Alonzo, Inst . Nat l. de Tecol.
Agr., Buenos Aires, (37 days)
4/27/57 Osvaldo Boeldu, Buenos Aires
9/23/60 Maria Buchinger, Buenos Aires
11/8/54 *0svaldo Buresch, Forest Service, Buenos Aires,
(3 veeks)
5/6/47 Oscar E. Colombo, Celulosa Argentina, Buenos
Aires
4/27/57 Conea, Buenos Aires
4/24/48 J. Covas, Ministry of Agriculture
7/26/48 Antonio Digilio, Tucuman University, Tucuman
5/21/55 Pedro Dygadziniky, Tucuman
4/24/48 Ewald A. Favret, Ministry of Agriculture
8/16/45 Carlos Fleirta, Buenos Aires
7/26/48 Hernando Hunziker, Cordoba Univ., Cordoba
11/16/57 Juan H. Hunziker, Institute of Botany, Buenos
Aires
4/26/61 E. Lartori, Univ. of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires
9/28/46 Abel Saint, Buenos Aires
8/14/51 Albert Sonano, Dept. of Agriculture, Buenos
Aires
6/14/48 *Rudolfo Yussum, Argentine Forest Service,
San Luis, (10 days)
AUSTRALIA
9/23/59 D. H. Ashton, Univ. of Melbourne, Melbourne
1/20/38 L. M. Bailey, Forestry Commission, Sydney, New
South Wales
4/24/48 Elared P. Baker, Univ. of Sydney, Sydney
9/12/60 *John M. Fielding, Commonwealth Forestry and
Timber Bureau, Canberra, (2 weeks)
11/6/61 R. G. Florence, Queensland Forest Survey,
Australia
Sir Herbert Gepp, Melbourne
J. Hedley, A. P.M. Ltd., Melbourne
R. Jacobs, Commonwealth Forestry Bureau,
Canberra
Jelbart, Melbourne
Jessup, CSIRO, Canberra
Lindsay, Forestry Bureau, Canberra
Marshall, Thepparton, East Victoria
McSweeney, Nannap, West Australia
3/4/48
8/5/49
8/24/40
4/3/48
5/12/55
11/15/30
8/13/59
11/2/59
Sir i
A. J
M. R
I
N. T
R. W
A. D
I. G
F. J
APPENDIX B. (Cont d)
8/15/53
6/18/47
5/5AO
11/19/56
8/13/59
4/28/47
3/21/47
2/11A6
10/13/52
5/20 AO
11/2/59
3/2/48
1/25/55
9/25AT
4/3/48
7/25/55
1/5AO
4/26/61
6/25/59
10/21/52
8/9/60
8/16/53
10/16/51 Raymond Antoine, Laboratoire Forester, Univ.
de Louvain
8/12/51 *Philippe Bourdeau, Dious, (4 days)
10/3/58 *Baron Alain de Jamblinne de Meux, Cent ride
Biologie Forestier de Bokryk, Genk,
(7 weeks)
10/16/51 Joseph Fouarge, Institute Agronomique,
Gembloux
10/27/54 *Firmin Roper, Brussels, (7 days)
8/12/51 Jean Souweine, Brussels
BOLIVIA
1/26/48 *Edmundo Ressini, Suene, (10 days)
*James McWilliaras, Commonwealth Forestry &
Timber Bureau, Canberra, (9 days)
Frank R. Moulds, Victoria Forestry Commis
sion, Melbourne
William Douglas Muir, Forest Comm. of New
South Wales, Sydney
R. H. Needham, Associated Pulp & Paper Mills,
Ltd., Burnie, Tasmania
J. Pether, Thepparton, East Victoria
R. D. Pregor, Dept . Interior, Canberra
L. D. Pryor, Supt . Parks and Gardens,
Canberra
H. R. Richardson, Dept. Agr., New South Wales
G. J. Rodger, Forestry & Timber Bureau,
Canberra
M. Rothberg, Victoria Dept. of Agr., Melbourne
P. F. Shea, Melbourne
C. L. Y. Stephens, Waite Institute, Adelaide
T. N. Stoate, Conservator of Forests, Perth,
Western Australia
Swain, New South Wales Forestry
Comm . , Sydney
J. W. Thorpe, Melbourne
O.K. Truance, CSIRO, Canberra
H. C. Trumble, Waite Agr. Res. Inst . ,
Adelaide, South Australia
H. W. Tullach, Australia
J. H. Willis, National Herbarium Royal Bot .
Gard., Melbourne
J. W. Youl, Victoria Sawmiller s Assn.
, Forest Service, New South
Wales
Queensland For. Dept., Bierwah
BELGIUM
-2-
APPENDIX B. (Cont-d)
BRAZIL
10/16/57 Antonio Bartolon, Cacador S. Catarina
7/30/53 Yone P. de Castro, Forest Genetics Research
Federal Service
10/21/52 Ignacio Verez de Mallis, Forest Service, Rio
de Janeiro
12/8/40 C. A. Krug, Genetics Division, Institute
Agronomics, Sao Paulo
8/24/55 Jaym Vieria Purheio, Sao Paulo
10/21/52 _ , Sao Paulo
BURMA
5/21/52 Bok Thein Ewe, Bogyoke Library Rangoon
11/6/61 V Htwe, Gov t. Official, Rangoon
12/22/49 Maung Kyi, Burma Forest Service, Shan State
11/6/61 V Khin Mauna, Government Official, Rangoon
CANADA
1/12/38 G. S. Allen, British Columbia Forest Service,
Vancouver
7/29/^7 M. W. Bannan, Univ. of Toronto, Toronto
9/16/60 Arthur Bickerstaff, Forestry Dept., Ottawa
8/3/39 Roland D. Craig, Dominion Forest Service, Ottawa
3/28/47 Isabel Cummings, Department of Agr., Ottawa
11/2/59 L. F. Ebell, Forest Branch, Dept. Northern
Affairs, Victoria
5/6/52 *Alan Orr Ewing, British Columbia Forest
Service, Victoria, (17 days)
4/10/28 David Fairchild, Baddick, Nova Scotia
8/19/55 L. Farstad, Department of Agr., Vancouver
5/31/38 I. W. Finlayson, Univ. of British Columbia,
Vancouver
8/29/57 Donald A. Fraser, Petawawa Forest Exp. Sta.,
Chalk River
J. R. Garrou, Montreal
C. C. Heimburger, Dominion Forest Service,
Ottawa
*Mark J. Hoist, Petawawa Forest Exp. Sta.,
Forestry Dept., Chalk River (4 days)
*A. H. Hutchinson, Univ. of British Columbia,
Vancouver, (5 weeks)
Alex Karoleff, Pulp and Paper Res. Inst . of
Canada, Montreal, Quebec
W. Bryce Kendrick, Canada Dept. of Agr., Res.
Branch, Ottawa
G. Krotkou, Queen s University, Kingston
J- Kuijt, Univ. British Columbia, Vancouver
D. S. Lacate, Dept. of Forestry, Victoria, B.C.
3/22/40
7/28/60
5/5/54
5/24/60
8/31/61
2/26/47
5/21/55
3/2/61
APPENDIX B. (Cont:d)
6/18/54
9/l6/6o
8/31/57
6/18/54
J.
J.
R.
H.
7/31/56
P.
6/25/53
H.
10/3/61
*K
9/16/60
9/16/60
8/31/57
3/2/61
J.
H.
R.
L.
12/5/58 H.
8/31/57
7/28/60
3/9/59
4/23/57
6/28/49
1/14/59
6/14/41
2/6/46
2/6/46
4/22/52
7/7/58
7/7/58
7/7/58
4/22/52
2/9/46
6/5/56
12/8/48
6/26/59
3/13/47
5/3/50
10/17/51
8/6/45
2/6/46
w.
*c
R. Long, British Columbia For. Ser., Duncan
C. MacLeod, Forestry Dept., Ottawa
G. McMinn, Forest Biology Div., Ottawa
G. McWilliams, British Columbia Forest
Service, Victoria
L. Northcott, Forest Products Lab.,
Vancouver
A. Richmond, Forest Biology Div.,
Victoria
, J. Roller, University of British
Columbia, Vancouver, (5 weeks)
S. Rowe, Forestry Department, Ottawa
E. Seeley, Forestry Department, Ottawa
F. Shepherd, Forest Biology Div., Ottawa
A. Smithers, Department of Forestry,
Victoria
S. D. Swan, Woodlands Research Department
Pulp and Paper Res . Inst . , Montreal,
Quebeck
J. Turnock, Forest Biology Division
, W. Yeatman, Petawawa Forest Exp. Sta.,
Forestry Department, Chalk River,
Ontario
CHILE
Roberto Bosse, Chilian
Sicrate A. Cassoao, Agriculture Ministry,
Chilian
Tomas Clark
Carlos, Crovetto, Concepcion
Jorge de Cantos, Univ. of Chile, Santiago
Raul Ducci, Corporacion de Foment de la
Produce ion, Santiago
Antonio Fernandez, Corporacion de Foment de
la Produccion, Santiago
Carlos Freoisio, Chihuahua
Guillermo Gray, Lota-Alto
Paul V. Grew, Cemaycum
Oscar Hoecker, Chilian
Francisco Irizoryen, Chihuahua
Enrique Langdon, Corporacion de Foment de
la Produccion, Santiago
Jorge Lopez H., Forest Service, Chilian
Ruben Lopez, Ministry Agr., Santiago
Wayne Miles, Chilian
Mario A. Rogers, Ministry of Agr., Osorus
Gregorio Rosenberg, Santiago
Jaun Stemparte, Department of Forestry
Eduardo Torricelli, Chilean Forest Service,
Sant iago
Enrique Valenzuela, Corporacion de Foment
de la Produccion, Santiago
-4-
APPENDIX B. (Cont. .d)
CHINA
5/12/46 Wanchuru Cheng, Univ. of Nanking, Nanking
2/11/46 H. K. Fu, Ministry Agr. and Forestry, Nanking
3/13/48 Ren Hwa Shan, Institute of Botany, Shanghai
12/12/33 Williard J. Simpson, Changli Agr. Sta.,
Changli, Hopei
5/22/46 Kai Wang, Forest Products Laboratory, Nanking
COLUMBIA
8/25/59 A. M. Ferguson, Bogota
5/18/43 Emilio Lalure, Agronomy, Monizales .
5/1/46 E. Ruiz, Medellin
6/27/49 Gilberto Vavela L., Bogota
CONGO
9/23/46 F. H. Jurion, Agron. Institute, Nangamib
9/23/46 G. P. Tondeur, Agron. Institute, Leopoldville
COSTA RICA
5/15/60 Y. Syleenga, Interamerican Inst . of Agr.
Sci . , Turrialba
DENMARK
2/14/50 Allan Heilmann, Danish Forestry Seed Committee,
Copenhagen
4/25/46 C. Syrach Larsen, Royal Vet. Col., Horsholm
8/9/49 F - Nykoleu, Faarvang
10/15/54 Bent F. Soegaard, Arboretum Horsholm
12/9/32 0. Winge, Agric . College, Copenhagen
8/24/51 , Copenhagen
EQUADOR
5/18/43 Gonzalo Moreno, Agronomy, Quito
FINLAND
9/18/51
Veijo Heiskanen, Forest Research Institute of
Finland, Helsinki
*Lauri Karki, Helsinki, (6 days)
N. A. Osara, Central Forestry Assn., Helsinki
Eino Saari, Honorary President 5th World For.
Congr., IUFRO, Helsinki
10/24/50 *Risto Sarvas, Forest Research Institute,
Helsinki, (11 days)
12/18/50
6/22/48
8/22/60
-5-
APPENDIX B. (Conf d)
FORMOSA (FREE CHINA)
2/23/60 Lien-fang Chao., Taipei, Taiwan
T/30/53 Yuan Hsing Chi, Taipei, Taiwan
T/13/53 Hsiao-Tso Du, Taipei, Taiwan
6/2/53 *Hsuan Keng, Taiwan Univ., Taipei, (3 months)
6/6/55 S. H. Lui, Taiwan Forest Res. Institute,
Taipei, Taiwan
11/9/56 Dean P. C. Ma, College of Agriculture,
National Taiwan Univ., Taipei, Taiwan
3/14/55 Lin-Feng Peng, Taiwan Forest Admin., Taiwan
3/14/55 Chia-Mui Shen, Tai-Pingshan Forest Station,
Taiwan
6/16/58 *Bin Yen Yang, Taiwan Forest Exp. Sta.,
Taipei, Taiwan, (7 days)
4/16/56 *H. N. Yao, Taipei, Taiwan, (36 days)
FRANCE
7/3/51 *Pierre F. Bouvarel, Forest Research Station,
Nancy, ( 11 days )
5/25/48 Ph. Cochin, French Forest Service, Paris
9/19/60 Paul de Brantes
7/2/37 Xavier de Chatelier, French Forest Service,
Paris
5/25/50 Xavier de Megille, French Forest Service,
Paris
7/10/40 G. Dufrenoy, Univ. of Bordeaux, Bordeaux
5/25/48 P. Dutilloy, Paris
11/10/45 A. Gelouk, Director General of French Forest
Service, Paris
7/5/46 Georges Maury, Paris
9/24/48 F. R. Pourtet, French Forest Service, Nancy
8/8/61 Henri Sanssen, Univ. of Toulouse, Toulouse
GERMANY
8/22/60 K. Abetz, Freiburg, IUFRO
3/25/51 F. W. Bartz, Univ. of Bonn, Bonn
4/1/58 Eberhard Boehm, Lower Saxony State Forest
Service, Hannover
11/10/57 Helga Friedrich, Dorhmeister
6/3/54 Josef Koering, Westfalen
8/22/60 *W. Langner, Schmaleribeck uber Ahrensburg,
Holstein, (3 days)
6/13/58 Walter E. L. Mann, Chief Forester of
Germany, Bonn
6/26/56 Dietrich Mulder, Gottingen Univ., Hannover
4/27/60 R. Plochmann, Univ. of Munich, Muenchen
12/2/51 Fritz Querenzalsser, Bonn
2/19/60 Schaefer, Faculty of Forestry
Univ. of Gottingen
-6-
APPENDIX B. (Cont. d)
8/22/60 J. Speer, Munich
9/5/61 Klaus Stern, Institut of Forgenetlk,
Schmalenbeck
9/U/27 H. F. Freihen von Maltzahm, Friehrichsman
12/2/51 Memford von Ruven, Braunschweig
GHANA
6/23/58 J. C. Ahenkorah, Nkawkaw
6/8/33
8/26/38
V6/31
7/29A7
6/20/56
6/9/51
6/10/60
5/17/50
10/5/35
8/22/60
6/22/53
H/9/59
10/29/56
3/15/35
H/8/57
12/23/37
GREAT BRITAIN
C. P. Ackers, Forest Products Ltd., Gloucester,
England
Tom Bailey, Cambridge, England
R. StBarbs Baker, London, England
David G. Catcheside, Univ. of Cambridge,
Cambridge, England
Sir Harry G. Champion, Imperial Forestry Inst.,
Oxford, England
A. A. Gumming, Plymouth, England
The Earl of Dalkeith, Scotland
Wm. G. Dallas, N. Ireland Forest Service,
Armagh, N. Ireland
*R. Faulkner, Forestry Commission, Aberdeen,
Scotland (^ days)
R. A. Fisher, Rothamsted Exp . Sta., Harpenden,
Herts, England
Wilfred E. Hiley, Dartington Hall Trustees,
Devon, England
J. A. MacDonald, IUFRO, London, England
Jules Menken, London, England
J. D. Ovington, Nature Conservancy, London,
England
Major C. Seymour, Cricket, England
T. W. Summers, Soc . of For. of Great Britain,
Edinburgh, Scotland
P. F. Wareing, Univ. of Manchester, Manchester,
England
F. Yates, Rothamsted Exp . Sta., England
GREECE
11/1/58 A. Fasoulas, Univ. of Salonika, Salonika
11/30/50 E. B. Georgoulis, Forest Research Institute,
Athens
7/11/U6 Christos Moulopoulos, Salonika Univ., Salonika
11/7/56 *John C. Papajoannou, Univ. of Salonika,
Salonika, (17 days)
-7-
APPENDIX B. (Conf d)
HAITI
11/3/61
4/26/50
9/23/^8
Micole Jardene, Petion-Ville
J. P, Johnston, Port-au-Prince
Schillar Nicolas, Dept. Agr., Port-au-Prince
HONDURAS
8/28/51 *Fabio Gomez R., (l month)
11/3/61
6/23/58)
9/2/58 )
11/27/46
4/26/61
12/8/47
7/29/^7
10/29/35
V27/57
11/6/3^
5/21/48
7/16/52
12/8/47
11/27/46
11/1/58
2/1 V 57
7/16/52
6/10/55
8/31/57
6/5/56
10/1/47
2/16/60
4/7/59
2/16/60
HUNGARY
Lapes Baens, Budapest
ICELAND
Agirsh Arnason
INDIA
M. Ahmad, Forestry Dept., Hyderabad, Deccan
R. Bammi, New Delhi
S. G. Bhogle, Hyderabad Forest Service,
Hyderabad, Deccan
Kaith Bzl, Indian Feres t Service, New Delhi
Sir H. G. Champion, Forest Res. Institute,
Dehra Dun
OM Prakash Gaubam, B. R. College, Agra
R. Maclagin Gorrie, Indian Forest Service,
Dehra Dun
P. C. Goswami, Indian Forest Service,
Shillong, Assam
Charles C. Hollervey, Forest Res. Institute,
Dehra Dun
M. C. Jacob, Indian Forest Service,
Shillong Assam
A. A. Khan, Forestry Dept., Lahore, Punjab
Gurden S. Khush
P. N. Mehra, Punjab Univ., Auritsae
R. Nair, Forest Research Institute,
Dehra Dun
K. Nanda, Univ. of Delhi, Delhi
L, Paliwal, B. R. College, Agra
N. Pandey, Deputy Conservator of
Forestry, Hazanbergh
S. Sekhat, Madras
INDONESIA
A. Hafiz, Forest Service, Djakarta
A. J. G. H. Kostermans, Inspector of
Forests, Bogor
Roekanda, Forest Service, Bogor
K
K.
R.
J.
-8-
APPENDIX B. (Cont d)
IRAN
5/12/514- Nr. Bizhan-Jassamy, Iranian Forest Service,
Tehran
3/11/57 Hassein Khasrovi, Forestry Dept., Tehran
3/25/53 Gobsorskhi Nasser, Point IV, Tehran
U/6/5U Iraj M. Nuban, Tehran
7/15/52 Mahmoud Zahir, Forestry Org.
IRAQ
W 6/5*4- Hammid Aussi,
3/28/53 Abdul Hadi I. Ghani, Zaofaranga Exp. Station,
Baghdad
6/29/53 Taha, Naji, Baghdad
IRELAND
8/8/61 *Lawrence Roche, Trinity College, Dublin (6 weeks)
ISRAEL
U/10/28 Rachel Benzelhie, Forester, Jerusalem
9/11/61 M. Bolotin, Jerusalem
6/27/14.9 Nathan Bur as, Tel Aviv
9/27/56 Gary Dover, Forest Department
10/31/52 A. Y. Goor, Nathanya, (also in 1937 as Grossesky)
6/29/53 Elkana Halevy, Tel Aviv
6/29/53 Yakor Seleg, Arcalon
12/21/29 Shahar, Acre
8/V53 Moshe Shifrine, Tel Aviv
U/6/5U Simon Stiassney, Gedera
3/28/53 Rafael Trankel
6/17/U6 B. Volcani, Sieff Institute, Lehoroth
U/27/UO Liesel Wallach, Tel Aviv
5/29/50 S. Weitz, Forester, Haifa
5/15/50 D. M. Zohary and Son, Hebrew Univ., Jerusalem
ITALY
8/22/60 Alessandro de Philippis
8/21/50 Guido Ferrara, Chief Forester of Italy, Rome
9/26/60 Ervedo Giordano, Rome
U/ 6/5*4- Romano Gropani
9/1/50 Carlo Gucci, Univ. Pavia, Pavia
5/15/5U Giuseppe Martinole, Univ. Bot.. Garden, Cagliari
8/22/60 A. Metro, Rome, IUFRO .
9/27/U6 *Aldo Pavari, Forest Exp. Sta., Florence (4 days)
3/31/56 Ilena Morgagi Ravenna
-9-
APPENDIX B. (Cont d)
JAPAN
11/6/57 Sumihiko Asakawa, Ministry of Agr..and For.,
Tokyo
5/15/57 Shigeru Chiba, Oji Inst. for Forest Tree
Improvement, Kuriyama, Hokkaido
3/20/^1 G. Fukuyama, Hokkaido Univ., Sapporo
7/9/57 Anthony Inaber, Fukuno Toiyama
5/15/57 Mitsuo Iwakawa, Govt . For. Exp. Sta.,
Tokyo
10/12/51 Masayoshi Kitajima, Japan Monopoly Corp.,
Tokyo
6/12/50 Toshibumi Kojima, Tokyo Univ., Tokyo
12/18/51 Nobuhiko Migita, Tokyo Univ., Tokyo
5/1/53 Akito Mori, Otaru, Hokkaido
11/1^/56 J. J. Murayaina, Yamaguti Univ., Yamaguti
8/2H/60 *Kazuyoshi Muto, Sapporo (3 days)
7/8/59 Sekikazu Nishinmra, Tokyo
12/18/51 Sadao Ogihara, Tokyo Univ., Tokyo
11/6/57 Dean Masayuki Ohsawa, Hokkaido Univ.,
Sapporo
12/18/51 Ayakina Okazaki, Kyoto Univ., Kyoto
10/30/59 Taisitiroo Satoo, Dept. of Forestry,
Univ. of Tokyo, Tokyo
12/18/51 Tsutomu Shioya, Kyushu Univ., Kyushu
1/31/55 *Wobukiyo Takahashi, Tokyo Univ. . Forest,
Sorachi, Hokkaido (3 days)
5/15/57 Midori Yokoyama, Shizuoka Pref . Forest
Exp. Sta., Hamana Gun, Shikuoka
JORDAN
11/3/61 Usama A, H. Sayeh, Jerusalem
10/26/55
6/15/51
6/4/58
V5/51 )
8/16/56)
9/22/60)
5/21/58
8/26/58
KENYA
Michael F. Abraham, Nairobi
W, E. M. Logan, Forestry Dept., Nairobi
K, L. Sargent, Nairobi
KOREA
*S. K. Hyun, Institute of Forest Genetics,
Suwon (6 months)
*Kwon, Nei-Tack, Central Forest Exp. Sta.,
Seoul, (l8 days)
Kyong Bin Yim, Seoul National Univ.,
Suwon Agr. College, Suwon
-10-
APPENDIX B. (Cont d)
LEBANON
9/19/60 Malek A. Basbous, Director Forest Service, Bierut
4/26/61 Raja Nassar
MALAYA
5/31/51 Charles Marshall, British Colonial Forest Service,
Malaya and Fiji
MEXICO
V 10/50 *Gumersindo Borgo, Forest Service, Hermosillo,
Sonora, (5 days)
11/17/52 Pavio Byry, FAO, Mexico City
2/15/54 *Jose M. de la Puente, Mexican Forest Service,
Mexico City, (5 months)
5/28/57 Six students, Dept. of Forestry, National School
of Agriculture, Chapingo
9/29/59 Four students, Dept. of Forestry, National School
of Agriculture, Chapingo
8/24/60 Fourteen students, Dept. of Forestry, National
School of Agriculture, Chapingo
11/17/52 Luis Huguet, FAO, Mexico City
4/27/57 Agustin Rumayor, Saltello
4/27/57 Agustin Velazquez, Mexico City
5/18/51* Five Students, National School of Agriculture,
Chapingo
7/31/46 Thirteen Mexican Government Officials.
MOROCCO
12/31/51 Jean Francois Lacaze, Moroccan Forest Service,
Rob at
NEPAL
10/13/52 *Balarama P. Baidya, Nepal Forest Service,
Katmandu, (10 days)
6/9/52 B. Rayomajki, Ministry of Agriculture, Katmandu
10/13/52 *Rama Bahadur Thapa, Nepal Forest Service,
Katmandu, (10 days)
NETHERLANDS
1/18/61 Nelleke Burggraf, Scheveningen
5/28/57 Peter de Fr emery, Telham
8/25/54 Jaap Sybenga, Wageningen
4/25/53 *Hans van Buijtenen, (11 days)
9/21/5U Baroness H. van der Borch, Verwolde G.
8/22/60 Heinrich van Vloten, Wageningen
8/19/55 Martin Witkamp, Institute Biological Field Res.,
Arnhem
-11-
APPENDIX B. (Cont d)
NEW ZEALAND
11/5/51 W- S. Anderson, Whakataru Board Mills, Te Teko
6/13/45 G. K. Crayfield, New Zealand Forest Service,
Wellington
2/10/53 Alex Entrican, New Zealand Forest Service,
Wellington
11/1/58 J. Fathill, Christchurch
7/17/59 Margot Forde, Lower Hult
11/1/58 J. B. Hair, Dept. of Scientific and
Industrial Research, Christchurch
4/17/57 J- E. Henry, New Zealand Forest Products Ltd.,
Tokoroa
2/18/60 H. Hinds, New Zealand Forest Service, Wellington
6/6/51 Cyril D. Knight, University College, Auckland
7/23/56) Egon Larsen, Forest Research Institute, Rotarua
2/18/60) * (10 days)
7/12/50 A. W. Mackney, New Zealand Forest Products Ltd.,
Auckland
11/5/51 R. B. Moorhouse, New Zealand Forest Products Ltd.,
Takoroa
9/30/60 J. F. Mragho, New Zealand Forest Service,
Wellington
5/27/60 G. A. Nicholls, New Zealand Forest Products Ltd.,
Auckland
11/27/46 A. L. Poole, Dept. Scientific and Indes. Res.,
Wellington
6/13/45 G. B. Rawlings, New Zealand Forest Service,
Wellington
4/17/57 R. B. Schulze, New Zealand Forest Products Ltd.,
Auckland
6/13/45 A. N. Sexton, New Zealand Forest Service,
Wellington
10/13/52 G. H. Stocking, New Zealand Forest Service,
Wellington
12/4/39 A. P. Thomson, New Zealand Forest Service,
Wellington, (also in 1960)
NORWAY
5/28/52 Hubmut Dejeleuirud, Norwegian Woodworking
Institute, Blindern
6/4/58 Ingrid Gaustad, Trondheim
6/6/49 Liv Germeten, Steinlger
2/11/60 Gunnar Haken, Brevik
10/1/47 Gunnar Haug, Oslo
10/14/58 K. Kamstad, Oslo
5/28/52 Ole Karlsen, Norwegian Institute of
Woodworking, Blindern
6/6/49 Elias Mork, Norwegian Forest Exp. Sta., As
7/16/57 Inger Prydz, Oslo
11/26/51 *Tollef Ruden, Vollebekk, (34 days)
-12-
APPENDIX B. (Cont d)
PAKISTAN
8/19/55 R. M. Abbasi, 1C A, Dokri, West
6/21/59 M. B. Chaudhri, Lahore, West
7/20/5*1- M. A. Hannan, Bureau of Reclamation
1/3/58 *Abdul Wahed Khan, Pakistan Forest Service, Dacca,
(3 weeks), East
1/19/1+8 M. H. Khan, Soil Cons. Serv., Karachi
12/1 5/U9 Mohammed I. Khan, Pakistan Forest Service, Lahore
6/23/53 M. I. R. Khan, Pakistan Forest Service, Lahore
9/22/55 M. Saeedsman Khan, Lahore, West
4/26/61 Faroe Lodhi, Peshawar Univ., Peshawar
4/17/52 J. R. Shairani, Quella
5/21/53 Rudval Shani, Forest Director, East Bengal
PERU
12/23/4-3 Mario A. Baracco, Agronomy, Lima
9/14/60 *Flavio Bazan, Forest Service, Lima, (3 days)
10/21/52 William C. Cannady, Talara
3/23/45 Ramon Ferreyra, San Marcos Univ., Lima
5/18/43 C. A. Maccedal, Forester, Lima
10/19/59 Earl E. Smith, ICA, Lima
PHILIPPINES
3/6/58 Agrado, Forest Products Res. Inst.
2/27/56 Teodoro C . Delizo, Forestry College, Laguna
6/21/59 Bonificio C. Feligardo, Forestry College, Laguna
2/27/57 Faustino C. Francia, Forest Products Laboratory,
Laguna
8/18/58 Eulogio T. Taguadar, Bureau of Forestry
8/29/57 Jose B. Viado, Bureau of Forestry, Manila
POLAND
11/1/58 W. Gajewski, Warsaw University, Warsaw
8/22/60 M. Kreutzinger, Warsaw
1/23/61 Bogustov Molski, Central Agricultural College,
Warsaw
PORTUGAL
9/21/54 Domingo Pereira Machado., Lisbon
8/29/57 Tristan M. Sampayo, National Agr. School, Lisbon
8/29/57 Spellota, National Agr. School, Lisbon
PUERTO RICO
9/29/42 E. Iverson, San Juan
-13-
APPENDIX B. (Cont d)
SPAIN
8/20/58 J. M. Fernandez Almagro, Madrid
9/1^/60 ^Angel-Maria Rodriquez Arregui, Huesia,
(3 days)
6/26/61 Joaquin Bovifi, Talavera de la Revuj
9/14/60 *Angel Carrasco, Sevilla, (3 days)
6/12/61 *GabrieI Catalan, Lierising (ICA Trainee),
(16 days)
9/1 k/60 *Juan Lopez Collardo, Guadecycra, (3 days)
6/20/56 Carlos Dafance, Forest Disease Service,
Madrid
5/15/59 *Marquis de Socorro, Palais de Zubicta Legueitio,
(k days)
7/2/58 Antonio Alousa Fernandez, Zamora
8/14/U6 Fran-Riva, Marquis de Villa Alcazar, Rep. Agr.,
Madrid
6/1/1+8 ) *Bartolome Frontera, Spanish Forest Service,
6/26/6l) Mallorca, (several months)
8/20/58 Pedro Martinez Garrido, Cuenca
5/12/5U) *Fernando Gil, Forest Watershed Service,
V 30/57) Malaga, (k days)
8/31/61 Antonio Gonzales, Lerida Forestry District,
Lerida
7/25/56 Camilio Gonsalez, Forest Service, Madrid
8/20/58 Salvador Ruiz Llanos, Madrid
9/lV^O *Ricardo de Rada Martinez, (3 days)
9/1U/60 *Rafael de la Vega Menendez, Pardo (3 days)
8/31/61 Mariano Melendo, Forest Service, Cazorla
9/lU/6o Jose Morlero, Guernica
7/2/58 Joaquin Munos Munos, Zaraposa
5/12/51* Jose J. Nicalas, Distrito Forestal,
Salamanca
8/31/61 Fernando Nicholas, Cuenca Forest District,
Cuenca
8/31/61 Jesus M. Pena, Forest Service, Huesca
8/31/61 Jose Joaquin Pena, Forest Service, Bilbao
8/31/61 Jose Ferrando Pla, Cuenca Forest District,
Teruel
V 30/57 ^Fernando Plaza, District Forester, Orense,
(h days)
6/26/61 Francisco Ramirez
6/23/61 Fernand Robredo, Madrid
6/23/61 Paulo Cuevas Ruiz, Madrid
Q/lh/^6 Pancho Soprani s, Madrid
6/20/56 Jose Torrent, Forest Disease Service, Madrid
3/23/59 *Eduardo Rojas Valero, Granada, (k weeks)
U/28/59 *Manuel Vega, Madrid, (h weeks)
U/28/59 Luis Vilachara ; Barcelona
APPENDIX B. (Cont d)
SUDAN
5/20/60 Hamid Hassan A. Hafiz, Khartoum
6/21/59 A. A. Magid, Khartoum
6/21/59 Hassan Mohammedi, Haifa
5/20/60 Tag Eldin Abdel Rahman, Khartoum
SUMATRA
2/27/35 E. W. Bean, U. S. Rubber Co., Kisaran
SWEDEN
8/9/56 Rolf Alund, Iggesund Brot, Iggesund
8/9/56 *Tore Arnborg, Managing Director, The Swedish
Tree Breeding Association, Uppsala, (12 days)
9/21/48 Gunheld Aulin-Erdtman, Swedish Wood Res. Inst.,
Stockholm
10 \8/50 Erik Bjorkman, Royal School of Forestry, Stockholm
4/19/58 Lars 0. Bjorn, Malmo
8/22/60 Charles Carbonnier, Stockholm, IUFRO
8/26/60 Ake Gustafssen, Stockholm
8/7/51 Sven 0. Heilman, Umea
7/3/58 Farbro Heinsch, Stockholm
1/19/51 *Sten Korlberg, (5 weeks)
9/2/59 Bertil Lindquist, Royal Bot. Garden, Goteborg
8/4/54 J. E. Marian, Swedish Forest Products Research
Institute, Stockholm
1/13/38 Nilsson, Svalov Plant Breeding Station,
Svalov
3/7/55 Helge Svensson, Baras
11/20/47 Bertil Thunell, Swedish Forest Products Research
Laboratory, Stockholm
7/2/34 *Gote Tuiesson, University of Lund, (5 days)
10/22/58 Dr. von Wettstlin, Genetics Dept., Forest
Research Institute, Stockholm
9/21/48 , Royal Inst. of Technology, Stockholm
SWITZERLAND
6/25/57 G. Bazzigher, Zurich
4/19/58 Hans R. Deuller, Brugg
5/2/51 *Fritz Fischer, Swiss Forest Experiment Station,
Zurich, (5 days)
11/24/61 Peter Frankhauser, Bern
11/24/61 Ulrich Gmach, Bern
5/17/51 Ernest Huber, Geneva
8/15/57 Theodor Keller, Swiss Forest Research Institute,
Zurich
8/22/60 Hans Leibundgut, Zurich
5/13/59 *Enrique Marcet, Inst. of Silviculture, Swiss
Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich (5 days)
8/20/48 Frank Perret, Geneva
7/19/35 G-. Catherine Reinfer, Univ. of Bern, Bern
-15-
APPENDIX B. (Cont d)
ti
SYRIA
4/6/54 Farouk Kotob, Damascus
THAILAND
8/29/57 Arth Nakornthap, Bangkok
6/21/59 Pongpit Piyapongse, Kasetsart Univ., Bangkok
TURKEY
8/27/52 Osman Aipay, Forester
8/27/52 M. Zekai Bayer, Forester
8/27/52 Kecegut Berwick, Forester
10/26/50 *Talat Eren, Forest Research, Ankara,, (5 days)
8/27/52 Kemal Erguly, Forester
12/13/51 Serri Erinc, Istanbul
8/25/59 Selaholten Inal, Univ. of Istanbul, Istanbul
6/7/50 Rahmi Jadir, Agriculture
7/5/49 Baki Kasapligil, Ankara Univ., Ankara
8/27/52 Servet Kayacas, Forester
8/31/61 M. H. Kayacik, Orman Faculty, Istanbul
8/27/52 Cevdet Ozbelge, Forester
4/26/61 Hayati Ozez
8/27/52 Burhanetlin Sarioglu, Forester
5/31/50 *Kudduri Savran, Forester, (21 days)
8/27/52 Sedat Scier, Forester
8/27/52 Lomet Tezcan, Forester
8/25/59 Tanja Turner, Univ. of Istanbul, Istanbul
7/1 V6l J-
SOUTHERN RHODESIA
e Villieos, The British South Africa Co.,
Umtali
UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA
8/25/38 W. S. Cleehorne, Durban
9/19/60 Daniel Rudolph DeWet, Dept. of Forestry, Pretoria
6/27/50 James A. Dollan, Johannisburg
11/18/57 Dr. H. A. Luckhoff, Pretoria
9/4/27 R. S. Schonland, Grahamstown
9/19/60 Adalbert Ernst Sonntag, Dept. of Forestry, Pretoria
6/27/50 Stephens F. Williams, Capetown
USSR
5/3/4-5 L. M. Novychenko, Writer
5/3/45 P. S. Pogrebniak, Acad. of Sciences, USSR, Kiev,
Ukraine
VENEZUELA
6/21/59 Arnaldo Gorrus, Caracas
-16-
APPENDIX B. (Cont d)
YUGOSLAVIA
ll/T/56 *Milan Dudic, Forest Institute, Beograd, (l6 days)
9/21/60 Djordje Jovic, Beograd
9/21/60 Dusan Klepac, Sumarski Fakultet, Fagreb
11/1/58 Itenko Knezeuie, Ptuj
10/21/59 *M. Vidakovic, Agric . and Forestry Faculty,
Zagreb, (3 days)
-IT-
APPENDIX C. A few of the distinguished U. S. scientist visitors.
7/1/30 )
5/13/53)
many
7/27/32
7/27/32 )
10/19/37)
8/12/40 )
12/9/32
12/9/32
7/2/34
1/3/35
4/16/35
12/11/35
5/8/36
10/5/36 )
12/13/40)
1937
V5/38
3/22/39
3/22/39
7/7/39 )
8/13/43)
6/20/42
5/12/46
5/12/^6
5/12/46
5/12/46)
9/18/53)
6/18/47)
6/29/53)
8/14/48
6/9/49
8/31/49
8/31/49
6/18/52
5/13/53
3/30/57
8/8/61
Tom Gill, Charles Lathrop Pack Foundation
E. B. Babcock, University of California, Geneticist
G. L. Stebbins,
Walter Mulford, Forestry
Herman 0. Spoehr, Rockefeller Foundation and
Carnegie Institution of Washington
I. W. Bailey, Harvard University
Jens Clausen, Geneticist (also other dates)
Dean Knovles Ryerson, Bureau Plant Industry,
Soil Conservation Service, University of California
A. Blakeslee, California Institute of Technology,
Geneticist
Col. Wm. B. Greeley, West Coast Lumber Assn.,
Ex-Chief Forester, U. S. Forest Service
R. A. Emerson, Cornell University, Geneticist
Donald F. Jones, University of Connecticut, Geneticist
Fredrich Clement, Carnegie Institute of Technology,
Ecologist
Everett Dempster, University of California, Geneticist
H. J. Lutz, Yale University, Forest Ecologist
W. L. Jepson, University of California, Botanist
Th. Dobshansky, Columbia University, Geneticist
Carl Epling, University of California at Los Angeles,
Botanist
C. W. Went, California Institute of Technology,
Plant Physiologist
J. T. Euchholz, University of Illinois, Cytologist
Richard Goldschmidt, University of California,
Geneticist
C. 0. Sauer, University of California, Geographer
R. C. Miller
Wm. C. Castle, Harvard University, Geneticist
A. J. Riker, University of Wisconsin, Pathologist
R. A. Brink, University of Wisconsin, Geneticist
G. S. Boyce, Yale University, Forest Pathologist
Curt Stern, University of California, Geneticist
Adrianne Foster, University of California,
Plant Anatomist
R. S. Hosmer, Cornell University, Forester
Randolph Pack, Pack Foundation
George McNew, Director, Boyce Thompson Institute
James Bonner, California Institute of Technology,
Plant Physiologist
R. Gustavson, Resources for the Future, Inc.,
University of Chicago; University of Arizona
Edgar Anderson, University of Missouri, Geneticist
A. W. Kuchler, University of Kansas, Plant Geographer
APPENDIX D. Some representatives of industry visiting the
Institute of Forest Genetics over the last 10 years.
ALABAMA
1/26/57 Earl Porter, International Paper Co., Mobile
ARIZONA
5/19/52 Bruce Elmore, Southwest Lumber Company, McNary
CALIFORNIA
6/13/60 R. L. Jordan, American Forest Products Industries,
San Francisco
1/26/57 Wylie R. Macpherson, Arcata Redwood Company, Orick
4/1/60 D. W. Burnett, Beach Box & Lumber Co., Placerville
11/9/54 Frank Berry, Eerry Lumber Company, Pine Grove
6/8/53 Samuel Bryan, Calaveras Land & Timber Co., West Point
5/17/51 Charles Berolzheimer, Calif. Cedar Products Co., Stockton
11/14/52 E. B. Price, Calif. Christmas Tree Growers As en., Aptcs
5/13/55 California Christinas Tree Growers Assn. (27 members )Aptos
6/13/60 F. Landenberger, Calif. Redwood Association, Eureka
7/22/55 W. E. Pratt, Calif. Redwood Association, San Francisco
12/26/56 W. Hensz, Central Valley Lumber Co., Sacramento
12/26/56 J. Benedett, Central Valley Lumber Co., Sacramento
9/9/58 A. S. Russell, Christmas Tree Grower, Lafayette
11/14/51 Rolland Armstrong, Christmas Tree Grower, Coloma
3/29/56 A, H. Cross, Clover Valley Lumber Co., Portola
3/18/52 John H. Masson, Collins Pine Co., Chester
3/18/52 Waller Reed, Collins Pine Co., Chester
4/27/61 Robert Hughes, Crane Mills, Corning
10/5/55 H. C. Zellerbach, Crown Zellerbach Corp., San Francisco
10/5/55 L. J. Doherty, Crown Zellerbach Corp., San Francisco
5/12/53 H. M. Derr, Derr Lumber Comf an v, Sacramento
5/12/53 F. N. Benton, Diamond National, Sacramento
6/13/60 Charles Arment, Diamond National, Chico
5/12/53 Jack Hackard, Economy Lumber Co., Sacramento
5/12/53 James Owens, Economy Lumber Co., Sacramento
5/12/53 Chas. Shepard, Friend & Teny Lumber Co., Sacramento
1/21/57 B. H. Critchfield, Glass Mt. Christmas Tree Farm,
St. Helena
1/21/57 H. M. Critchfield, Glass Mt. Christmas Tree Farm,
St. Helena
6/13/60 D. G. Beach, Hazel Valley Lumber Co., Placerville
6/13/60 B. E. Parsons, Hazel Valley Lumber Co., Placerville
1/26/57 Fran Holmes, Holmes Eureka Lumber Co., Eureka
6/13/60 John Sweeley, Masonite Corporation, Ukiah
1/26/57 W. S. Anderson, McCloud River Lumber Co., Fairfax
2/12/59 J. E. Nicholson, Michigan California Lumber Co., Camino
10/3/61 Ed Swartz, Lake States Conservation Co., Inc., San Jose
11/11/55 Kent Smith, Redwood Christmas Tree Farm, Miranda
4/27/61 James Nicklos, Consulting Forester, Sacramento
5/12/53 H. N. Stephenson, Sacramento Box Co., Sacramento
APPENDIX D. (Cont d. )
3/10/60 Q. H. Burton, Shasta Forest Co.,
Fall River Mills
3/10/60 T. E. Sleen, Shasta Forest Co., Redding
6/13/60 Win. Beatty, Shasta Forest Co., Redding
6/18/54 Ray Dougherty, Shasta Forest Co, Redding
5/12/53 A. Gustafson, Sierra Mill & Lumber Co.,
Sacramento
11/11/59 T. N. Stoate, Simpson Redwood Co., Arcata
10/23/59 John Miles, Simpson Redwood Co., Eureka
7/10/58 H. K. Trobitz, Simpson Redwood Co., Eureka
1/26/57 W. H. Holmes, Soper Wheeler Co.,
Strawberry Valley
9/29/59 D. Cosens, Soper Wheeler Co.,
Strawberry Valley
3/13/57 James E. Miller, Southern California
Edison Co., Shaver Lake
3/13/57 Wm. H. Wingo, Southern California Edison
Co., Shaver Lake
5/12/53 R. E. Tracy, Tracy Lumber Co., Sacramento
4/27/61 Del Wade, Union Lumber Co., Caspar
4/27/61 Robert Fisher, R. L. Smith Lumber Co.,
Wildwood
1/26/57 J. W. Girard, Jr., U. S. Plywood Corp.,
Redding
6/13/60 Knox Marshall, Western Pine Association,
Sacramento
12/28/55 C. E. Banks, Zellerbach Paper Co.,
Sacramento
11/16/54 R. D. Hodges, Jr., Western Pine
Association, Sacramento
8/12/52 R. A. Thompson, Western Lumber
Manufacturers, San Francisco
5/24/60 Robert Maben, Winton Lumber Co., Martell
5/24/60 C. J. Winton, Winton Lumber Co., Martell
3/11/60 John Colsail, Winton Lumber Co., Martell
3/11/60 Gil Ross, Winton Lumber Co., Martell
4/7/58 John Dittman, Winton Lumber Co.,
Sutter Creek
5/2/57 R. L. Spencer, Winton Lumber Co.,
Sutter Creek
9/28/55 John Rosenberg, Winton Lumber Co.,
Martell
8/9/55 R- s - Kearns, Winton Lumber Co., Martell
FLORIDA
11/11/59 C. J. Rogers, St. Regis Paper Co.,
Pensacola
-2-
ll/n/59
11/12/52
11/12/52
3/29/58
H/ll/59
8/15/51
7/10/53
3/29/58
10/26/51
5/1V59
9/6/51
9/28/55
V22/59
V22/59
9/13/61
6/28/59
H/17/59
3/29/58
1/26/57
H/12/59
11/11/59
12/28/55
1/26/57
7/12/59
6/6/53
3/29/58
10/23/59
GEORGIA
C. H. Driver, International Paper Co., Bainbridge
E. T. Haves, West Lumber Co., Atlanta
C. B. West, West Lumber Co., Atlanta
E.
R.
IDAHO
C. Cleaveland, Boise-Cascade Corp., Boise
G. Cox, Potlatch Forests, Inc., Lewiston
ILLINOIS
J. W. Watzek, Jr., Crossett, Watzek, Gates, Chicago
INDIANA
Robert Kern, Christmas Tree Grower, Rochester
LOUISIANA
T. E. Bercaw, Gaylord Div. of Crown Zellerbach Corp.,
Bogalusa
MICHIGAN
A. J. McGuire, General Hardwood Co., Detroit
W. Heckrodt, Michigan Christmas Tree Growers, Midland
David Goldberg, Michigan Lumber Co., Detroit
f
MINNESOTA
Hans Winton, Winton Lumber Co., Minneapolis
MONTANA
H. H. Koessler, Intel-mountain Lumber Co., Missoula
C. J. Warren, Intel-mountain Lumber Co., Missoula
NEBRASKA
Robert McKee, Lake States Conservation Co., Inc.
North Platte
NORTH CAROLINA
W. W. Hicks, Halifax Paper Co., Inc., Roanoke Rapids
OHIO
E. P. Stephens, Champion Paper and Fiber Co., Hamilton
OREGON
C. W. Raynor, Booth-Kelly Lumber Co., Eugene
F. J. Sandcz, Booth-Kelly Lumber Co., Springfield
G. H. Harrington, Crown Zellerbach Corp;, Gardiner
G. H. Schroeder, Crown Zellerbach Corp., Portland
D. G. Campbell, Crown Zellerbach Corp., Vernonia
Dugan Pearl, Evans Products Co., Coquille
B. Gerdes, Firseed, Inc., Eugene
W. D. Hagenstein, Industrial Forestry Assn., Portland
S. D. Waite, International Paper Co., Vernonia
J. F. Garrz, Simpson Redwood Co., Salem
-3-
APPENDIX D,
8/5/57
5/26/53
5/23/56
3/15/55
3/15/55
5/25/59
6A/53
3/24/57
8/19/55
11/12/59
ll/H/59
3/29/58
10/21/59
V3/52
4/27/61
3/29/58
6/18/54
11/4/61
11/V61
11/11/59
11/11/59
12/10/54
12/10/59
5/19/52
5/5/53
7/10/58
7/10/58
7/10/58
7/10/58
7/10/58
4/25/56
6/18/5^
6/18/54
3/31/58
10/3/58
1/22/57
(Cont d)
Stuart Moir, Western Forestry & Cons. Assn.,
Portland
C. A. Rasmussen, Western Pine Assn., Portland
E. L. Kolbe, Western Pine Assn., Portland
Vern Johnson, Western Pine Assn., Portland
Clayton Kennedy, Western Pine Assn., Portland
T. J. Orr, Weyerhaeuser Co., Klamath Falls
VIRGINIA
West Virginia Pulp and Paper Co.,
Herman Work,
Covington
WASHINGTON
Prentice Bloedel, Bloedel Enterprises, Winslow
R. C. Austin, Crown Zellerbach Corp., Camas
Boyd C. Wilson, Industrial Forestry Assn.,
Ni squally
J. W. Duf field, Industrial Forestry Assn.,
Ni squally
A. J. Sandoz, International Paper Co.,
Longview
R. Millpointer, M & D Timber Co., Bellevue
Frank Manning, Manning Seed Co., Seattle
Wm. Manning, Manning Seed Co., Seattle
P. F. Johnston, Manning Seed Co., Seattle
J. G. Cameron, Manning Seed Co., Puyallup
J. R. Colley, Port Blakeley Mill Co., Chehalis
Edward Pehola, Port Blakeley Mill Co., Monroe
George Thompson, Port Blakeley Mill Co., Seattle
Donald Malmberg, Port Blakeley Mill Co., Seattle
R. G. Avery, Port Blakeley Mill Co., Seattle
J. E. Winn, Port Blakeley Mill Co., Seattle
Garrett Eddy, Port Blakeley Mill Co., Seattle
P. H. Elfendahl, Port Blakeley Mill Co.,
Seattle
A. 0. Pelzold, Simpson Co., Shelton
H. 0. Puhn, Simpson Co., Shelton
R. J. Seidl, Simpson Co., Seattle
T. R. Yocum, Simpson Co., Seattle
C. H. Kreinbaum, Simpson Co., Seattle
E. G. Griggs, II, St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co.,
Tacoma
B. C. Gerdes, St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co., Orting
G. Jacobson, St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co., Tacoma
0. Cornelius, Weyerhaeuser Co., Tacoma
H. Cummings, Weyerhaeuser Co., Centralia
N
R,
W.
J. H. Rediske, Weyerhaeuser Co., Centralia
-4-
WASHINGTON, D. C.
6/26/51 S. L. Frost, American Forestry Assn.
WISCONSIN
5/18/59 J. P. Van Buijtenen, Institute of Paper Chemistry,
Appleton
1958 P. N. Joranson, Institute of Paper Chemistry,
Appleton
10/3/61 Bon Skaife, Lake States Conservation Co., Inc.,
Appleton
10/3/61 Win. Skaife, Lake States Conservation Co., Inc.,
Appleton
BRITISH COLUMBIA
1/22/57 T. N. Stoate, MacMillan-Bloedel, Ltd., Vancouver
1/2/59 Hugh Weatherby, Timber of Canada, Vancouver
-5-
APPENDIX E.
Persons undergoing training or studying at the
Institute of Forest Genetics for several days
to several months
United States:
Chas. A. Bigelow
R. T. Bingham
J. T. Buchholz
R. A. Brink
K. W. Dorman
T. E. Greathouse
James Greene
B. W. Henry
R. G. Hitt
E. L. Little, Jr.
Francois Mergen
Gene Namkoong
T. 0. Perry
Frank Pitken
Ralph Read
John Ritchey
LeRoy Saylor
E. J. Schreiner
R. R. Silen
E. B. Snyder
A. E. Squillace
P. C. Wakeley
U.S. Forest Service,
Region 6
U.S. Forest Service,
Region 1
Professor of Botany,
University of Illinois
Head, Dept. of Genetics,
University of Wisconsin
U.S. Forest Service,
Southeastern Station
U.S. Forest Service,
Region 6
5/8-5/11/60 (4 days)
3/4-4/3/50 (1 month)
Summers 1942 and
191*3 (6 months)
1948 (7 days)
6/19-6/28/50
(10 days)
9/30-10/9/58
(10 days)
Ida Cason Galloway Foundation (7 days)
U.S. Forest Service,
Southern Station
Dept. of Genetics,
University of Wisconsin
U.S. Forest Service,
WO, Dendrologist
Yale University
U.S. Forest Service
Southern Station
University of Florida
University of Idaho
U.S. Forest Service,
Rocky Mountain Station
Calif. Division
of Forestry
Graduate Student, North
Carolina State College
U.S. Forest Service,
Northeastern Station
U.S. Forest Service,
Pacific Northwest Station
U.S. Forest Service
Southern Station
U.S. Forest Service,
Rocky Mountain Station
U.S. Forest Service,
Southern Station
10/24-10/27/55
(4 days)
191*8 (7 days)
6/20-7/18/56
8/6-8/9/56 (32 days)
5/31-6/5/53 (6 days)
11/7-11/1V59
(8 days)
6/12-6/13/50
8/20-8/22/57 (5 days)
11/15-12/7/56 (23 days
(5 days)
5/3-5/7/59
5/11- 5/1 4/ 59 (10 days)
U/5-V19/60
3/7. 4/ 3/61 (6 weeks)
1936 (5 days)
6/20-6/2 V 55 (5 days)
(5 days)
3/4-4/3/50 (1 month)
6/19-6/28/50; 10/24-
10/27/55 (1^ days)
Foreign:
See Appendix B for names marked by * for time spent in training
APPENDIXES. Some popular articles about the Institute of
Forest Genetics
Magazines:
AMERICAN FORESTS - September 1952 58(9): l8, 28, illus.
! Blood will tell" by W. B. Greeley
ARIZONA FARMER RANCHMAN - September 27, 1958 pp. 36-37, illus.
"Pines with hybrid vigor" featuring hybrids of Arizona pines
FRONTIERS - A magazine of natural history - April 1952 and
October 1958
"Hybrid trees, hope of foresters" Vol. l6, No. k pp. 103-105,
illus .
"Breeding better, taller trees" by H. E. Jackson, Vol. 23, No. 1
pp. 20-22, illus.
GOLDEN GARDENS - an all California garden magazine - November 1951,
pp. 7, 28-30, illus.
"California Forest and Range Experiment Station at Placerville -
The Institute of Forest Genetics"
"California might be the last state in which you d expect to find
foresters trying to improve on Nature s pines" goes on to say many
characters of our California giants could stand genetic improveicent .
Describes the great diversity in pines "There s much else to in
terest gardeners, as well as foresters, at the Institute. Next to
the hybrids themselves, the outstanding attraction is the Eddy
Arboretum."
JOURNAL OF FORESTRY - July 1959
"Forest geneticists to meet at Placerville prior to S.A.F.
meetings," Vol. 57, No. 7, p. 51^, "The Institute s pioneering
work in basic forest genetics makes it the mecca of American
tree breeders, thus an ideal place for the joint meeting."
THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE - CX(3): 287-32U, September 1956
A general article on the U. S. Forest Service, "Our green
treasury, the National Forests" pp. 320-321 and photo p. 291
"Tree hybridization holds limitless promise."
POPULAR MECHANICS - September 1951, pp. 143-1U6, 2kb, 2k6, illus.
"They re breeding new forest trees" by Ewart Thomas "Fast-
growing pine trees that may mature in half the usual time are
being planted in America s forests. They ll be ready for the
sawmill in kQ years or less, at about the time their native con
temporaries have emerged from the sapling stage." " Jack-in- the
Beanstalk hybrids . "
PRINCETON ALUMNI WEEKLY - May 20, 1955, Vol. LV, No. 27, p. 10
"James G. Eddy 03 tells classmates of the Institute s
founder of the fruits of his vision and dedication.
APPENDIX G. (Cont d)
PULP AND PAPER INDUSTRY - September 19^6, Vol. 20,
No. 10, pp. 22-26, illus.
"Hands across U. S. California answers South s big
problem." "In the foothills of California s Sierra
Nevada mountains, thousands of miles away from the
Southern pine pulp and paper industry, government
scientists are working out the answer to the southern
pulp and paper industry s most pressing question -
how to produce a faster growing pine tree . "
READER S DIGEST - August 1951, 59(352): 121-123
"New yellow dust in Placerville" condensed from
Science News Letter, July 1, 1951, by Neil Hunter.
SOUTHERN LUMBERMAN - December 19^8, 77 (22-25): 279-281,
illus .
"Pine breeding today" by Palmer Stockwell
THE TIMBERMAN - May 1951
"Plant hybrid pines for testing." "Several of the
67 pine hybrids produced at the Institute . . . are being
set out this spring in field tests in various parts of
the state where they will be observed for resistance to
diseases and insects and for general performance."
Newspapers;
BALTIMORE SUN - Friday, April 8, 1955
"A three-species hybrid pine tree" p. 1^. An
editorial noting the dynamics of forest tree breeding
as productive research in the natural sciences .
THE BIRMINGHAM (ENGLAND) POST - April 1, 1952
"Forests in half the time," by S. Mackie . "Genetic
principles similar to those that developed the pheno
menally successful hybrid maize have been applied by
plant breeders in the United States to pine trees. The
object has been to obtain trees that will mature in
about half the usual time. In many cases resistance to
insect pests and disease has been developed
yi mltaneously . "
"A hundred hybrids have been produced from about 60
species by the Institute of Forest Genetics in
:. Is-acer - 11:2, Calif., "by the research workers."
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR - August 21, 19^8, Magazine
Section, pH
-2-
APPENDIX G. (Cont d)
(DALLAS) TEXAS CHEMURGIC NEWS - November i, 1947
"Hybrid pines may replace native forests . Pacific
Coast timber research leads in nation."
THE OREGONIAN (Portland) - Wednesday, June 18, 1952, p. l
"Research on cell structure of pine trees has produced
many improved varieties," by Fred M. White.
SACRAMENTO BEE - Thursday, September 27, 1951, P- 25,
1/3 page picture - story spread
SACRAMENTO BEE - Saturday, April 13, 1957, pp. C-3, 10,
l page picture - story spread
SACRAMENTO BEE - Monday, March 23, 1959
"Lumber concern plants hybrids on Amador farm." "The
Winton Lumber Company today announced plans for planting
hybrid and purebred trees on its Amador County tree
farm "
SACRAMENTO BEE - Sunday, May 2k, 1959, PP- F3, ^
"Yet more ranchers are expected to show interest in
putting forest land back into production. They will be
encouraged. . .by new fast growing hybrid timber trees
produced at the United States Forest Service s Institute
of Forest Genetics near Placerville. When some of these
hybrids show their vigor .. .ranchers may see the possibi
lity of forest conservation with a reasonable rate of
return . "
SACRAMENTO BEE - Thursday, August 13, 1959, P- C2 illus .
U. S. nursery seeks to create hybrid pines." "The
Placerville nursery of the United States Forest Service
is moving to put into practical operation features con
cerning pine tree growth which have been proved in the
laboratory of the Institute of Forest Genetics ... .the
nursery produced U0,000 hybrids in its first year and
shipped trees to all national forests in the state."
SAM JOSE MERCURY NEWS - July 10, 1955
"Pine tree breeding farm, " a report of staff writer
Dick Barrett s "120 mile round trip just to visit the
Institute ..."
-3-
APPENDIX H. (Cont d)
Private individuals and companies:
East Bay Municipal Utility District, Oakland, Calif.
Mr. B. F. Baer, Garden Valley, California
Bloedel Timberlands Development, Inc., Seattle,
Washington
Boise Cascade Corporation, Boise, Idaho
C. Brewer & Co., Hilo, Hawaii
Boyce Thompson Institute, Grass Valley, California
Calaveras Land and Timber Corp . , Mokelumne Hill,
California
Dr. J. K. Stoddard, Cashiers, North Carolina
Mr. H. S. Chase, Castro Valley, California
Mr. T. Christiansen, Garden Valley, California
Cloverdale Kiln Co., Cloverdale, California
Collins Pine Co., Chester, California
Mr. H. B. Critchfield, St. Helena, California
Crown Zellerbach Corp., Gardiner, Oregon
Mr. Roy W. Darden, Cedar Hill, Tennessee
Empire Star Mines Co., Ltd., Grass Valley, Calif.
Henry Field Seed Co . , Shenandoah, Iowa
Forest Industries Tree Nursery, Nisqually, Washington
Gay lord Container Division of Crown Zellerbach Corp.,
Bogalusa, Louisiana
Mr. W. 0. Hacker, South Harwick, Massachusetts
Halifax Paper Co., Inc., Roanoke Rapids, North
Carolina
Baker, Hostetler & Patterson, Cleveland, Ohio
International Paper Co., Bainbridge, Georgia
MacMillan and Bloedel, Ltd., Namaimo, British
Columbia, Canada
Mr. Jack McCaskill, Pasadena, California
Holme, Roberts, More, Owen & Keegan, Denver, Colorado
Nebo Oil Co., Natchitoches, Louisiana
Nekoosa Edwards Paper Co., Port Edwards, Wisconsin
Newont Exploration, Ltd., Tombstone, Arizona
Mr. Wilbur A. Oborne, Chatam Center, New York
Port Blakeley Mill Co., Seattle, Washington
Santa Clara Council, Boy Scouts, San Jose, California
Dr. Paul F. Sharp, San Andreas, California
Ralph L. Smith Lumber Co., Anderson, California
W. T. Smith Lumber Co., Chapman, Alabama
Southern California Edison Co., Los Angeles, Calif.
Mr. Victor J. McNitt, Sherburne, New York
Mr. Sheddie Tetterton, Camden, South Carolina
Winton Lumber Co., Mart ell, California
-2-
APPENDIX^H. Distribution of Institute seed> pollen
or plants
Foreign - k-6 cities in 27 countries on T continents:
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Sabie, Eastern Transvaal, Union of South Africa
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Canberra, A.C.T., Australia
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Perth, West Australia, Australia
Sydney, Australia
Tasmania, Australia
Creswick, Victoria, Australia
Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia
La Paz, Bolivia
Maple, Ontario, Canada
Chalk River, Ontario, Canada
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Combarbala, Chile
Santiago, Chile
Bogota, Columbia
Beograd, Czechoslovakia
Horsholm, Denmark
Gianadis-Ramleh, Egypt, UAR
New Waltham, Grimsby, England
Wrecclesham, Surrey, England
Kew, Surrey, England
Toulouse, France
Hannover, Germany
Schmalenbeck, Germany
Amritsar, Punjab, India
Kibutz Ha Sollelin, Doar Afula, Israel
Ilanoth, Nathanya, Israel
Meguro, Tokyo, Japan
Nairobi, Kenya
Suwon, Kyunggido, Korea
Chilpancingo, Gro., Mexico
Calle, Londres, Mexico
Dunedin, New Zealand
Whakarewarewa , Rotorua, New Zealand
Madeira, Portugal
Causeway, Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia, U.S.S.R.
Lourizan, Pontevedra, Spain
Quevedo, Valencia, Spain
El Obeid, Kordofaw, Sudan
Wad Me dan i, Sudan
Ekebo, Ka llstrop, Sweden
Stockholm, Sweden
Grup Muduru, Mugla, Turkey
u
APPENDIX 1. Pine hybrids produced for commercial exploitation
Lodgepole x Jack
University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri
Nekoosa Edwards Paper Co., Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin
Inland Empire Paper Co., Spokane, Washington
Crown Zellerbach, Beaver Marsh, Oregon
Jeffrey x (Jeffrey x Coulter)
U. S. Forest Service Regions 5 and 6
California Division of Forestry
Ponderosa x Apache
Weyerhaeuser Co., Klamath Falls, Oregon
U. S. Forest Service Region 6
Pitch x loblolly
Institute of Forest Genetics, Suwon, South Korea
Shortleaf x loblolly
Gaylord Container "Corp . with U. S. Forest Service, Bogalusa,
Louisiana
Knobcone x Monterey
U. S. Forest Service Regions 5 and 6
Crown Zellerbach Corporation, Gardiner, Oregon
Shore x lodgepole
Critchfield Glass Mountain Christmas Trees, St. Helena, California
X
APPENDIX J. Pine species and hybrids self pollinated at
Institute of Forest Genetics
Species or Hybrids Years attempted
Attenuate 1927, ^7, 57
x Attenuradiata 1933, 39
Attenuata x attenuradiata 19^6
Banksiana 1929, 55, 57
Coulteri 1957
Densiflora 1928, 29
Echinata 1938, 5^, 55
Echinata x taeda 19^6, Vf, 48, 50, 53, 55
Edulis I960
Flexilis 1955
Glabra 1957
Halepensis 1957
Halepensis brutia 1931, 38
Jeffreyi 1927, 29, 38, 39, "US, 50,
53, 57
Jeffreyi x coulteri I960
Lambertiana 1927, 28, 39, 5^ 57
Monophylla 1960
Monticola 1927, 39
Muricata 19^, U8, 52, 57
Murrayana 1927, 39, ^7, *&, 53
x Murraybanksiana 19^6, kj
Nigra 19^3
Nigra calabrica 19^0, ^3, 55, 57, 60
Nigra cebennensis 1957
Nigra cebennensis x nigra calabrica 1960
Parryana 1960
Patula 1955, 57
Pinaster 1931, 5^, 57
Ponderosa 1926, 27, 28, 29, 38, 39,
1*7, % 52, 53, 5^, 57/50
Ponderosa apacheca x montezumae 1966
Ponderosa scopulorum 195^-
Radiata 1927, 29, 30, 57
Rigida 1929, M, 5*, 55, 57
Rigida x taeda 19^7, 60
Sabiniana 1927, 28, 29, ^7, 55, 58
Sondereggeri F. 1959
Strobus x excelsa I960
Sylvestris 1939
Taeda 1950, 55
Taeda x caribaea 1950
Torreyana 1955, 57
Virginiana 195^, 55
Self ing summary
31 species
11 hybrids
