National Vegetable Research Station : notes on the station and its work.

  • Great Britain. National Vegetable Research Station.
Date:
1965
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: National Vegetable Research Station : notes on the station and its work. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    NATIONAL VEGETABLE RESEARCH STATION Wellesbourne, Telephone: Wellesbourne 382 Warwick. NOTES ON THE STATION AND ITS WORK The necessity for increasing food production in Britain during the 1939-45 war and the appreciation that this need would continue in future, led to the establishment of the National Vegetable Research Station at Wellesbourne, Warwickshire, and its Sub- Station at Paglesham, Essex, in September 1949. The Station and its Sub-Station are controlled by a Governing Body which is incorporated as a company limited by guarantee, not having a share capital, and is registered as The British Society for the Promotion of Vegetable Research. The properties at Wellesbourne and Paglesham are leased to the Society by the Agricultural Research Council, and that Council provides the Society with funds for the development and running of the Station. The Governing Body is made up of nominees of the Lord Presi- dent of the Council, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Secretary of State for Scotland, various universities, institutions and societies concerned with horticulture, vegetable producers (professional and amateur) and trade interests. The soil and climate at Wellesbourne are similar to those of the nearby Vale of Evesham where vegetable production is an important industry. The soil is a sandy loam without excessive variation, and the land is flat. The area of 375 acres is large enough to permit long-term rotation between field experiments and to provide the isolation necessary for certain investigations; also to allow a farm unit to be run with the object of building up the soil fertility to the high level required for vegetable research. Wellesbourne is situated near the centre of England and is easily reached by rail and road. The Sub-Station at Paglesham consists of 150 acres of fertile loam. The climate and other conditions in Essex account for its being the main vegetable seed producing area in England. The main purpose of this Sub-Station, therefore, is for the multiplication of stocks of seed of vegetables bred by the N.V.R.S. and for the investigation of problems related to seed production. When the site for the Station was obtained in 1949 there were no buildings or services for research. Since then much building development has taken place and in 1959 the Station was honoured by having the main laboratory building officially opened by H.R.H. Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. A team of about 50 scientists and a similar number of assistants has been built up and they deal with the breeding of improved varieties, the improvement and maintenance of soil fertility, the factors affecting crop growth, the study of irrigation, the control of pests, diseases and weeds, and the designing of experiments and analysis of the results. The Station has close associations with the National Agricultural Advisory Service of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, and is fortunate in being provided with facilities to test its findings at the N.A.A.S. Experimental Horticulture Stations in various parts of the country. In this way, results are being obtained which will be applicable to the different conditions in different regions thus assisting the Station to provide a service on a national scale to growers of vegetables, to other interests associated with this work, and to consumers of their products. Growers and others concerned with vegetable production may also join the N.V.R.S. Association and thus maintain close contact with the work of the Station. The following is a brief synopsis of this work, fuller information on which can be obtained from the Station Annual Reports.