UPDATE -- Suffolk County Historical Society -- Photo of the Week -- Long Island Agronomist

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Photo of the Week

FROM THE SCHS LIBRARY ARCHIVES

“How shall we know it is us without our past?”
– John Steinbeck

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LONG ISLAND AGRONOMIST

by Wendy Polhemus-Annibell, Head Librarian

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Long Island Agronomist, Sept. 1907. (Image from the Collection of the Suffolk County Historical Society Library Archives.)

Long Island Agronomist was created to promote agriculture on Long Island and to increase the amount of shipping on the Long Island Railroad. The first issue appeared on July 31, 1907. Funded by the LIRR, Hal and Edith Fullerton wrote and published the pamphlet, and Hal shot most of the photographs. TheAgronomist reported on the successes of the LIRR experimental farms and included tips for farmers as well as articles on crops, insects, the weather, agricultural fair announcements, and classified ads. Letters to the editor were sometimes printed as well.

Published every two weeks until December 1910, the Agronomist then became a monthly publication. Its circulation rose from 600 to 16,000, with farmers from across the United States purchasing subscriptions. In an attempt to cut costs, however, the LIRR’s Department of Agriculture closed the experimental farms and ceased publication of the Long Island Agronomist after the final, November 1914 issue was released.

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