Connecticut State The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station

Facilities

Main Laboratories

123 Huntington Street New Haven, CT 06511 (203) 974-8500

 

To put science to work for society, The Connecticut Agricultural General Assembly chartered The Station to investigate plants and their pests, insects, soil, and water. Inspired by Samuel W. Johnson, professor of agricultural chemistry at Yale University and established in 1875, The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station is the first in  America and remains a separate state agency. Initially located at Wesleyan University and later at Yale, The Station moved to this site in 1882. The first building erected now houses the Osborne Library, named for the Station Scientist who discovered the first vitamin, A. The Jones Auditorium commemorates The Station scientist who invented hybrid corn. Under the direction of its Board of Control, Station scientists today investigate insects and diseases that damage trees and crops; analyze for food safety, water quality, and soil properties; study the genetics and biochemistry of plants; and experiment with new crops and changing forests. They also investigate mosquitoes and ticks that spread disease organisms that cause encephalitis and Lyme disease in humans.

  • The Johnson-Horsfall Laboratory, built in 1904, houses the Departments of Analytical Chemistry and Biochemistry. It was renovated and expanded in 2003.
  • The Jenkins-Waggoner Laboratory, built in 1933, houses the Departments of Entomology and Plant Pathology and Ecology. It was renovated and expanded in 2013-2014 and finished January 2015.
  • The Slate Laboratory, built in 1959, houses the administrative offices and the Departments of Forestry and Horticulture and Environmental Sciences.
  • The Osborne Library, built in 1882, houses much of the Station's collection of books and journals.
  • The Donald F. Jones Auditorium (Jones Auditorium) commemorates Dr. Donald Foresha Jones, maize geneticist and the double-cross hybrid corn discoverer.
  • The Donald F. Jones Auditorium is used for Station meetings and meetings of agricultural and natural resource organizations.

Lockwood Farm

890 Evergreen Avenue, Hamden, CT 06518-2361

(203) 974-8618

 

Ten thousand years ago, the Wisconsin Glacier sculpted the Farm, and then Cheshirefine sandy loam formed—with a mixture of moderately well-drained Watchaug loam and shallow-to-bedrock Sunderland fine sandy loam. In 1910, The Station’s Board of Control purchased the original 20 acres of the Farm with funds of the William R. Lockwood Trust. They selected the site for its orchards. The Board’s other purchases, as late as 1997, enlarged the Farm to 75 acres. The hybrid corn that feeds the world was invented on Lockwood Farm. The Farm serves as an outdoor laboratory for Experiment Station scientists who conduct research to learn how to manage plant pathogens and insect pests of agricultural crops and trees. Scientists also evaluate new crops for Connecticut, test fruits and vegetables, and evaluate crops for biofuel. Lockwood Farm has a bird and butterfly garden that is accessible to all and a popular spot for visitors. On the first Wednesday in August each year, citizens can meet scientists and staff and learn about experiments at Plant Science Day, the Station’s annual open house.

 

Valley Laboratory

153 Cook Hill Road, Windsor, CT 06095-0248
(860) 683-4977

 

The Valley Laboratory is an important research component of The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station based in New Haven. The Station was established in 1875 as the first Agricultural Experiment Station in <st1:country-region w:st="on">America </st1:country-region>. The Valley Laboratory was created in 1921, originally named the Tobacco Substation. The current building was erected in 1940 and the name was changed to the Valley Laboratory in 1965 to reflect the diversity of agriculture in the valley and research conducted at this site. The Valley Laboratory is a multidisciplinary research station and farm where studies are conducted on insect pests of plants, plant diseases, weeds, soil fertility, fungi, and agricultural crops, as well as providing public service to growers and citizens.

  • The 50 acre Valley Laboratory has a research farm and forest and a laboratory that houses six of the Station's scientists.

Griswold Research Center
190 Sheldon Road, Griswold, CT 06351-3627
(860) 376-0365

 

In 2008, approximately 28 acres of prime farmland in Griswold and a small adjacent parcel of forest in Voluntown were transferred from the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) to The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station. Previously used by the DEEP as the State Tree Nursery, this state land and associated buildings will be used for many projects, including the study of diseases, cold hardiness and yield of grape vines, an evaluation of cultivars of rapeseed for biodiesel fuel production, a study on the biocontrol of parasitic nematodes of plants, trials of environmentally-friendly pesticide applications to control hemlock woolly adelgid, and to refine disease resistance in timber chestnut trees. In addition, a project will be initiated at the Center to document the activity of eastern equine encephalitis virus in mosquitoes in eastern Connecticut. The Center will also be a base for the Experiment Station's staff members who conduct ongoing surveys of lakes for invasive plants and of forests for emerging insect and plant disease pathogens. These efforts will greatly expand the agency’s ability to serve the residents of Connecticut.