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Research By the late 19th century, Michigan farmers would turn to science to advance fruit production. Both private and public money funded research that pioneered many advances for Southwest Michigan's Fruit Belt. These included such groups as the Michigan Horticultural Society, the Michigan Pomological Society, the U.S.D.A. and Michigan State University. |
Jim Hancock of Michigan State University handles our blueberry breeding program, continuing on earlier work completed by Stanley Johnston. Johnston developed modern cultivating techniques for several blueberry varieties. Over the past fifteen years, Hancock has worked to extend the season and produce a better quality fruit. He experiments with germplasms from South America, notably from Chile, to produce a more weather-resistant type. - William Shane
Universities should spend more time on how to handle selling this fruit for profit instead of how to raise more of it. We already [have] a glut of fruit, but the main thing that universities teach is how to raise more. That’s going against the grain. [The] World Trade Agreement had a lot to do with it. You get fruits coming here from anywhere in the world, and if they can get them cheaper over there than they can get them here, we’re in trouble. - Harold Fox
Dr. Stanley Johnston ca. 1940s
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WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY / FT. MIAMI HERITAGE SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN
