Los Banos Rotary Club History
Sees Bright Future For Agriculture

A revolutionary change in agriculture for the San Joaquin valley was predicted to members of the Los Banos Rotary Club Tuesday noon by Dr. Roy Hansberry, director of the Shell Oil Co.’s agricultural laboratory at Modesto. As guest speaker at the luncheon, Dr. Hansberry described some of the recent chemical developments benefiting almost every agricultural crop. The new insecticide, DDT, is but one small instance of this development, he said, as he described the work scientists are doing to develop new chemical preparations.

Dr. Hansberry told of the newly developed chemicals that effectively kill weeds, including morning glory; of a chemical that is sprayed on ripening fruit trees and holds ripened fruit, giving it a better color, and permitting more time to harvest. The same hormone chemical, in slightly different form, assists in developing root systems on young plants and cuttings, and another variation sprayed on harvested potatoes prevents sprouting while he potatoes are in storage. In fruit sections, a new chemical sprayed on the trees in the fall delays the blooming of the trees for two or three weeks and thus lessens frost danger.

Hansberry also outlined the work the Shell Oil Co. is doing in this field at their Modesto laboratory and experimental field, where, he said, every agricultural crop grown in the valley is under cultivation.

With the concentrated chemical solutions that are now becoming available for agriculture’s use, Dr. Hansberry said, the primary problem becomes one of application, and in this respect he paid high compliment to the work of Lloyd Stearman, vice president of the Inland Aviation Co. of Los Banos, for the work he is doing in developing modern dust and spray equipment or use on airplanes.

July 16, 1946

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