Celebrating our sesquicentennial: Photos from the Penn State archives

With expenditures now exceeding $600 million annually, Penn State research generates knowledge and economic activity that helps to improve the quality of life across America. The same was true, albeit on a more modest scale, in 1882 when Professor of Agriculture Whitman Jordan initiated a series of scientific investigations at Penn State that lasted more than 70 years and commanded international attention. The Jordan Soil Fertility Plots aimed to assess plants' nutritional needs and the long-term value of various kinds of fertilizers. In 1946, when this week's archival photo was taken, many of the 144 individual plots were still yielding valuable data.
See the plots in an aerial view at http://www.sesquicentennial.psu.edu/pix/weeklypic.html