Abstract
This chapter presents an overview of the history of weed science in the United States, focusing on the beginning and development of university weed science programs in the country. One of the important steps that support the creation of any university teaching program is the availability of appropriate textbooks. While it is true that weed control research began long before 2,4-D was introduced, there were no textbooks until much later. One of the earliest publications on weed control was a bulletin of the North Dakota Agricultural experiment station that described eight weedy members of the mustard family and gave some advice on their extermination. The first edition of Martin's (1928) Scientific Principles of Plant Protection included a five-page chapter on weed killers. A one-credit course, Weed Eradication, one of the first college classes about weeds, was taught in the Agronomy department of Oregon Agricultural in 1911. Other early weed science courses began in Montana, Ontario, Canada, and Utah in 1922; New Hampshire 1928; North Dakota 1931; Kansas 1938; and California in 1940. Most US states now have one or more courses on weed science, weed ecology, and related subjects. The first extension weed specialist in the United States, Linden Harris, was appointed in Oregon in 1936. The primary objective of the first weed science textbook, Weed Control—A Textbook and Manual, was to assemble and review critically the various methods of weed control, including the results of recent investigations. The Morrill Land-Grant Act of 1862 allowed for the creation of land-grant colleges in the United States. In 1862, the US Congress also created the US Department of Agriculture that marked the beginning of organized interest in and research on the control of insects and plant diseases. Nearly every state land-grant institution now grants MS and PhD degrees in weed science. Now, most states have at least one extension specialist who concentrates on weeds and their control.
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