Biographical Note
John R. Hardison was a Research Pathologist with the U.S. Department of
Agriculture in Corvallis from 1944 until 1980. In 1950-1955, he had a
joint appointment with the USDA and the Agricultural Experiment Station.
In 1981, he was appointed to a part-time research faculty position in the
Department of Botany and Plant Pathology. Hardison earned his BS in 1939
from Washington State College and his MS (1940) and Ph.D. (1942) from the
University of Michigan.
Hardison's research on field burning as a means to control diseases in
grass seed production began in the 1940s and continued until the early
1980s.
Content Description
The John R. Hardison Papers consist of reports and publications,
correspondence, newspaper clippings, and reference files. The reference
files include reprints and photocopies of journal articles, reports and
publications, and correpondence on a variety of topics pertaining to field
burning, including burn and soil effects, insects, regulation programs,
fire effects on range grass, plant disease control, straw utilization,
fire ecology, and fire policy. The Papers include reports published by the
Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station and correspondence and reports to
and from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Oregon Department of
Agriculture, the Oregon Environmental Quality Commission, the Oregon Seed
Council, and the Oregon Seed Growers League. Information pertaining to
forest slash burning; summaries of burning in California, other states,
Canada, and other countries; and Hardison's testimony on field burning to
the Oregon legislature and in lawsuits are part of the collection.