Butte County
Biographies
ROBERT L. BEAGLES
R. L. BEAGLES.--The Superintendent of
the United States Plant Introduction Field Station, which at this writing
comprises eighty acres of land located four miles east of Chico,
is R. L. Beagles, who claims the honor of being a native Californian. He was
born in Napa County,
on September 19, 1872, a son of W. H. Beagles, a well- known pioneer and
horticulturist of that county. After he had completed his education in the Napa
High School, R. L. Beagles took course at the Pacific
University, and then entered the University
of California, specializing in
horticulture and agriculture. While a student in the high school he began
working about his father’s orchards, and when he had completed his education he
set about to put into practice what he had mastered. He spent some time in
various lines of nursery work in the Sacramento Valley,
and later was interested in the Wholesale and retail fruit business at Vacaville.
By nature a deep thinker and student, he has contributed valuable articles to
the Citrograph and other horticultural and
agricultural publications.
Every
citizen of Butte County
has a pardonable pride in the fact that, after a thorough investigation
by experts of the United States
government into the soil and climatic condition of the different localities on
the Pacific Coast,
their county should be selected as favorable for its plant-introduction
experiments. No less a pride is felt by Californians, that the government
should find within the borders of the state, the person with the requisite
knowledge, skill and ability to superintend the very important project. Here is
to be found everything foreign and native in the world’s flora, scientifically
transplanted and classified, with minute and exact records of every species of
the vegetable kingdom; more especially those in the line of nut and fruit
trees, grains, grasses, flowers, vegetable and shrubbery--with the ultimate
purpose of giving to the United States all the good things pertaining to plant
life which thrive here.
The
person for this important work was found in R. L. Beagles, Whose ability and
painstaking effort are making this small area of land a place of world wide
interest. From a very modest beginning, in 1904, this was started by P. H.
Dorsett, general supervisor of the various stations, now of Washington,
D. C. Without houses or buildings of any sort, he directed the work of laying
out the grounds, drives, etc., until 1906, when Mr. Beagles took charge, and
since then the erection of the many necessary buildings and the development
work have been under his direction. The whole acreage is to be planted, records
made of the results of experimentations, and reports sent to the United States
Department of Agriculture at Washington, D. C. This work necessitates the
closest cooperation with the department heads in Washington.
From twelve to fifteen men are at work under the direction of Mr. Beagles. An
addition of one hundred thirty acres was made in 1918.
R.L.
Beagles was united in marriage, in San Francisco, February
14, 1900, with Miss Hattie Stubenrauch, a sister of
the late A.V. Stubenrauch, Professor of Pomology in the agricultural department of the University
of California. Mr. and Mrs. Beagles
have one child, Alethea. Mr. Beagles is a member of
Chico Lodge, No. 423, B. P. O. Elks, and of the Woodmen of the world. As a
diversion from his duties he is an enthusiast with rod and gun. He is a hard
worker and gets results. Both himself and his wife are
well known throughout the Sacramento Valley.
Transcribed
by Kim Buck.
Source: "History of
Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages 846-849, Historic Record Co, Los Angeles, CA, 1918.
© 2008 Kim
Buck.
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