New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station

With the pasage of the Morrill Act in 1864, Rutgers College was designated a Land-Grant college for New Jersey and developed the State College for Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts as well as an experimental farm, known as the College Farm. Much of the early experimentation at the College Farm was in chemical fertilizers for crops. Additional aid was sought from the state government, and in 1880, state funds were secured for agriculture experimentation with the passage of legislature establishing the New Jersey Agriculture Experiment Stations. These New Jersey Stations were governed by a Board of Directors which consisted of the Governor, the Board of Visitors of the State Agricultural College appointed by the Governor, and the President and Professor of the College of Agriculture. The Board was to appoint a director for the Station and select a primary location and any branch Experiment Stations in the state. The main location fot the State Experiment Station was quickly decided to be the College Farm in New Brunswick. In 1887 federal legislation was passed for the establishment and support of experiment stations at each state agricultural college. The Hatch Act, as it was called, was accepted by the New Jersey legislature and in March 1887 the Agricultural College at Rutgers Scientific School was established. This Experiment Station was also located at New Brunswick, under the supervision of the Board of Trustees of Rutgers and the State Board of Visitors.

Edward B. Voorhees was appointed director of the State Experiment Station in 1893, while the Presidents of Rutgers College became directors of the College Experiment Station. In 1896 Voorhees was made director of the College Experiment Station as well. He was also at that time made director of the College Farm. With federal funds for an endowment and maintenance from the Adams Act in 1906 scientific investigation and research into plant breeding, soil chemistry and bacteriology were furthered at the College Experiment Station. The Station also gave instruction to farmers directly through the Short Courses it offered every year. Jacob G. Lipman succeeded Voorhees as Director of both Experiment Stations in 1911. Lipman built several new departments at the Stations including the Extension Program in 1912. In an effort to reduce excess and redundancy in state funding, the College Agricultural Experiment Station was merged with the State Agricultural Experiment Station in 1945.

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