The members were Harley Hastings of Laurel, Preston Townsend of Selbyville and Kenneth Kadow, a University of Delaware researcher. By the spring of 1942, an experi mental peach orchard was planted. A 13 x 120 foot brooder house was also constructed. By 1944 scientists reported significant progress at the new facility in research on disease control in po tatoes, vegetable varieties, peach pollination, agronomic crops and insect control in vegetables. In 1986, to better reflect its ongo ing contributions to the region's changing agricultural economy, the university's Board of Trustees voted to rename the Substation the Univer sity of Delaware Research and Edu cation Center.
Modern agriculture is a very com plex and sophisticated business en terprise.
Research at the Center to day still encompasses some aspects of variety testing, vaccine evalua tion, feeding trials and pesticide com parisons. But there also is signifi cant research on sustaining agricul ture using environmentally accept able methods, in carrying out educa tional programs to assist in wise farm management decisions and in seek ing out potentially new crops and marketing strategies. Each year, several hundred meet ings, conferences and seminars in volving several thousand people are held at the research and education center. The Center continues to ful fill the original desires of the 1941 governor's commission to provide for agricultural research in southern Delaware. From the start, it also has provided important educational pro grams through the Cooperative Ex tension unit of the college and university.