Statewide County HI Archives Biographies.....Westgate, John Minton February 17, 1878 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/hi/hifiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: J. Orr jessicanorr@gmail.com January 19, 2012, 7:58 pm Source: The Story of Hawaii and Its Builders, Honolulu Star Bulletin, Ltd. Territory of Hawaii, 1925 Author: Edited by George F. Nellist JOHN MINTON WESTGATE, Experiment Station Director. Engaged in scientific agricultural work since 1899, J. M. Westgate came to Hawaii, Jan. 13, 1915, as director of the U. S. Agricultural Experiment Station in Honolulu, having been transferred from the U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C., where he had been Agronomist in charge of alfalfa and clover investigations. He was born in Kingston, N. Y., Feb. 17, 1878, and is the son of Hollis Smith and Clara (Minton) Westgate. He received his B. S. degree from the Kansas Agricultural College, Manhattan, Kans., in 1897, and his M. S. degree in 1899. He also took two years’ post-graduate work in the University of Chicago (1901-1903). In 1905 he married Inez Wheeler and they have two children, Philip John and Mark Wheeler Westgate. Mr. Westgate has been Scout Master of Honolulu Troop 18 since 1920 and is also a member of the local Boy Scout Council. He is a fellow and life member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; life member of the American Genetic Association; member of the Botanical Society of America, and the American Society of Agronomy. He is the author of numerous bulletins and reports on scientific agricultural subjects. Since coming to Hawaii in 1915, Mr. Westgate’s principal work has been the administration of the Hawaii Agricultural Experiment Station which has given primary attention to the diversification of Hawaiian agricultural industries, it being realized that the greatest economic stability will be attained when there shall be a considerable number of agricultural industries either developed or ready to be launched in time of need rather than for the Islands to be largely independent upon but two major industries. The station in its early years (1901-1908) was under the direction of Jared G. Smith, during which time many of the present policies were inaugurated. Dr. E. V. Wilcox was director from 1908 to 1914. During this period the possibilities of the minor agricultural industries were stressed and a great deal of attention given to the study of the problems affecting the then relatively undeveloped pineapple industry, Dr. W. P. Kelly, chemist, demonstrating the cause of the pineapple yellow, which proved disastrous to the crop over large areas of otherwise valuable pineapple soils, to be the presence of an excess of manganese in the soils in question. In the summer of 1916 the station was able through M. O. Johnson, its chemist, to demonstrate for the first time the effectiveness of the iron sulphate spray in overcoming the injurious effect of manganese on pineapples. This spray has since enabled thousands of acres of lands to be brought into successful pineapple culture which could not otherwise have been so used. The production of the pigeon pea as a pasture and soil improving crop has been developed by the station until has high as 10,000 acres in a single year have been devoted to this one crop at one time. This development was primarily due to the work of Dr. F. G. Krauss while connected with the station. Fodder grasses such as the Sudan grass and elephant grass have been introduced by the station and are proving important as dairy feeds. This station has also introduced many new varieties of fruits and has developed improved methods of propagation of many of the standard varieties. Approximately 25,000 plants, trees, or cuttings of improved varieties of fruits are annually distributed by the station throughout the islands. Through its chemist, J. C. Ripperton, the station is at present focusing its attention on the development of the starch production industry, utilizing principally tubers of the edible canna as the source of the commercial starch. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/hi/statewide/bios/westgate640bs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/hifiles/ File size: 4.4 Kb