A Viewpoint for Plant Physiology

Notable as has been the growth of plant physiology and great as have been its contributions to agriculture, horticulture, forestry, and other fields, it may be questioned whether it is making as substantial contributions to plant science as it can and should make. There is considerable evidence that it is not. There are still too few courses in plant physiology offered in our colleges and some of those offered are not taught so effectively as would be possible and desirable. As a result many professional botanists and workers in applied fields of plant science have had little or no training in plant physiology. It is particularly unfortunate to find men going into agriculture and forestry lacking such training, because without it they can never really understand the growth processes of plants. There are also few plant physiologists employed in research projects by allied fields. While plant physiologists have been widely employed in horticulture for many years, few are in agronomy, and until very recently almost none in forestry. Many agricultural experiment stations do not even list plant physiologists as staff members. Likewise, few plant physiologists have entered industrial research. Although industrial laboratories such as those of food-processing companies and fertilizer manufacturers employ agronomists, chemists, plant pathologists, plant breeders, and soils specialists, they seldom have plant physiologists on their staffs. While considerable physiological research is being done in industrial laboratories, most of it is carried on under conditions such that our field receives no credit.