Student and her prize cow Founded as the Massachusetts Agricultural College under the Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862, UMass Amherst has long been dedicated to the study and teaching of agriculture and the natural sciences. One of two land grant institutions in the Commonwealth (along with MIT), the university has played an important role in the development of scientific agriculture in New England and has been a major factor in agricultural instruction through its classes and extension service.

The Department of Special Collections and University Archives contains a wealth of information on the history of agriculture and related fields, including horticulture, botany, entomology, animal husbandry, gardening, and landscape design. The strength of the collection lies in the development of American agricultural sciences with an emphasis upon the northeastern states, supplemented with numerous works on British, French, and German agriculture. SCUA is particularly interested in documenting the growth of organic agriculture, heritage breeds, and the practices of sustainable living.

Additional depth is added to the collections through the records of the several departments at UMass Amherst charged with instruction in the agricultural sciences, such as the Stockbridge School, and the papers of individual members of the faculty.

Significant collections

Manuscript collections

• Farming, rural life, agricultural education
  • Brooks, William P.. Papers, 1877-1931
  • Butterfield, Kenyon Leach. Papers, 1889-1945
  • Cance, Alexander. Papers, 1911-1951
  • Massachusetts Chicken and Turkey Broiler Test, Inc.. Records, 1953-1958
  • Massachusetts Agricultural Surveys, 1910-1951
  • Massachusetts Agricultural Fairs. Posters, 1852-1860
  • Massachusetts Farm Prices Research. Collection, 1910-1965
  • Mitchell, Helen. Papers, 1935-1976
  • Montague, Holland. Diary, 1852-1860
  • New England Agricultural Economics Council. Records, 1955-1970
  • New England Federation of Agricultural Students. Records, 1907-1915
  • New England Farmstead Home Accounts. Contest entries, 1883-1884
  • New England Research Council on Marketing and Food Supply. Records, 1922-1955
  • Northeast Organic Farming Association. Records, 1993-2005
    • The Natural Farmer, digital files of NOFA newspaper, 1999-2005
  • Regional Dairy Marketing Program. Records, 1946-1960
  • Rural American Women's Conference. Records, 1981
  • Stockbridge, Levi. Papers, 1889-1890
  • Tilton, Hannah. Account book, 1845-ca.1885
  • University of Massachusetts. Cooperative Extension Service. Records, 1882-
  • Wyman, Eunice P.. Account book, 1814-1840
• Botany, horticulture, gardening
  • Clark, William Smith. Papers, 1844-1884
  • Denslow. Botanical Collection, 1860s
  • Stone, George Edward. Papers, 1883-1884
  • Thurber-Woolson. Botanical Collection, 1803-1818
  • Torrey, Ray Ethan. Papers, 1832-1983
  • Waugh, Frank A.. Papers, 1896-1983
• Other natural sciences
  • Bent, Arthur Cleveland (ornithology). Papers, 1880-1942
  • Fernald, Charles H. (entomology). Papers, 1869-1963
  • Fernald, Henry T. (entomology). Papers, 1881-1955
  • Goessmann, Charles A. (agricultural chemistry). Papers, 1850-1917
  • Lyman, Benjamin Smith (geology). Papers, 1851-1920

Printed works

• Agriculture
  • Early works through the late nineteenth century on general agriculture in America, Britain, and Europe, including John Fitzherbert, Thomas Hale, Arthur Young, "Columella," John Smith, Gervase Markham, et al.
• Animal husbandry
  • Works on sheep culture in the United States (e.g. Robert R. Livingston, Samuel Bard) and England (Lord Somerville, John Lawrence); works on dairy and beef cattle, horses, chickens.
• Beekeeping and entomology
  • Among the earliest rare books acquired by the Massachusetts Agricultural Library were a collections of rare books in beekeeping, including Thomas Hill, John Keys, Daniel Wildman, Henry Eddy, from the late 17th through late 19th centuries.
  • Works by Maria Sibylla Merian, John Curtis, Dru Drury, Johann Jakob Romer, Jacob l'Admiral
• Botany and Silviculture
  • Important works on American botany by Frederick Pursh, Thomas Nuttall
  • Humphry Marshall's Arbustrum Americanum, François André Michaux, early editions of Linnaeus
• Gardening and landscape design
  • Three editions of Bernard M'Mahon's American Gardener's Calendar, William Cobbett, Alexander Jackson Davis, Humphry Repton, and others.
• Genetics, eugenics, animal breeding
  • Essentially compete runs of Eugenics Quarterly, and key works in eugenics.
• Pomology, viticulture, and fruit culture
  • William Prince, William Coxe, William Chorlton, etc.

Electronic resources

• Core Historical Literature of Agriculture, Cornell University
• The Natural Farmer, digital files of NOFA newspaper, 1999-2005