William J. Spillman and the Birth of Agricultural Economics

Reference & Research Book News, August, 2005

HD1771

2005-000618

0-8262-1581-5

William J. Spillman and the birth of agricultural economics.

Carlson, Laurie Winn. (Missouri biography series)

U. of Missouri Press, [c]2005

210 p.

$39.95

Carlson (history, Washington State University) recounts the life and work of Spillman (1863-1931), a scientist and popular agriculture educator for the US Department of Agriculture. He pioneered solutions for the problems of overproduction and low prices, and argued that industrialized agriculture was not inevitable but a carefully crafted ideology that farmers were being pushed to embrace.