Creator: Green, Jesse R., 1890-1967

 

Provenance Note: Personal papers, manuscripts, correspondence and photographs created by Jesse Green, and pamphlets and booklets collected by Jesse Green were donated by Jesse and Ralph Green, Bozeman, Montana, Winter 1968.

 

Historical Note: Jesse R. Green was born April 18, 1890 and raised on Bull Run Creek in the Horseshoe Hills north of Manhattan, Montana. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. John H. Green homesteaded on Bull Run Creek, 3 1/2 miles north of Central Park. Green ranched in the Horseshoe Hills and in the area north of Central Park for nearly 15 years between 1910 and 1925. He married Olga Ellington on March 2, 1915 and had five children. Jesse received a degree from MSU in industrial chemistry in 1932 and was employed by Montana State University Agriculture Experiment Station in Bozeman from 1926-1937. He then worked for Anaconda Mining Company, Fertilizer Division for 20 years. Jesse spent his life researching and writing about geology, soil, fertilizers, crops, and all aspects related to phosphorus mineral. He wrote over 30 articles and numerous news stories. Jesse Green died November 1, 1967. See MSU Archives file A5.8 Green, Jesse/pu for reprints of articles published by Jesse Green and A5.8 Green, Jesse/bi for his obituary. His thesis is also in the MSU Archives.

 

Content Description Note: The collection is divided into five series: literary manuscripts, correspondence, photographs, printed materials, and scrapbooks. Topics of the manuscripts mainly cover phosphorus. Series two, correspondence, are letters to Green from researchers of geology, soil, phosphorus, and chemical testing of various crops. The photographs are geology formations and rocks related to phosphorus. The largest series, 4, are printed publications collected by Jesse Green and covering phosphorus and many aspects of ranch and farm life such as building maintenance and materials, silos, water tanks, machinery, sharpening saws and files, various crops and livestock, and home improvements. The final series is scrapbooks of Green's many newspaper and magazine articles written between 1930 and 1966.

Series 1: Literary Productions, 1927-1939

Manuscripts of articles by Jesse Green, field research and trial test notebooks, and unpublished articles by different authors are found in this series. Topics cover phosphate fertilizer, phosphorus mineral, and sugar determination and tests. Folders from which oversize materials have been removed are marked with an asterisk (*) and placed in Box 7, Folder 1.

Box 1
1. Summary of the work on sugar determinations
2. Method for the extractions of sugar from apple, tree leaves, bark and wood for the purpose of its determination
3. Determination of reducing substances in apple leaves, and Determination of sugar in apple leaves by alcohol extraction
4. Difficulties encountered with the Schaffer and Hartman crysrous titration of reduced copper in sugar determinations
5. Phosphates of the world, and The story of phosphates
6. Report on fertilizer tests made in Weld County, Colorado, 1939
7. Report on fertilizer tests made in the San Luis Valley, Colorado, 1939
8. Papers on fertilizers and phosphorus*
9. Western phosphate field
10. Papers written by others
11. Field research notes 1927, 1935-1938
12. Field research notes 1939

Series 2: Correspondence, 1920-1965

Letters from numerous friends and research colleagues pertaining mostly to research interests of Green's. The letters cover various topics such as mineral assays, soil analysis, geology of Montana and Wyoming, fertilization.

Box 2
1. Letters 1920-1929
2. Letters 1930-1939
3. Letters 1940-1945
4. Letters 1946-1949
5. Letters 1950-1959
6. Letters 1960-1965

Series 3: Photographs

Photographs of phosphorus rocks are 3 x 5 inches with no dates. One photograph of John Roberts has no date, size 2 x 4 inches which goes with letter dated April 2, 1965. All photographs are black and white.

Box 2 (cont.)
7. Photographs #1-8
    #1-3 Phosphorus rocks
    #4-5 Quadrant formation E, Whitehall, MT
    #6 Quadrant formation, Hogback NE of Dillon, MT
    #7 Wind River Canyon, WY
    #8 Dr. John Roberts

Series 4: Printed materials, 1910-1967

Articles from newspaper clippings, reports, journals and books, some of which were written by Jesse Green. A variety of pamphlets, brochures, and booklets collected by Jesse Green are in Boxes 3-6. These cover numerous farming topics such as concrete, gas engines, electricity, explosives, grain, sugar beets, wet lands, and home improvements. Folders from which oversize materials have been removed are marked with an asterisk (*) and placed in Box 7, Folders 2-3.

Box 2 (cont.)
8. Newspaper clippings and reports 1930-1939
9. Newspaper clippings 1940-1949
10. Newspaper clippings 1950-1959
11. Newspaper clippings 1960-1966
12. Soil conservation plan
13. Visiting scientist program
14. Patents about phosphorus
15. Articles on phosphorus
16. Articles on phosphorus and related topics*
17. Articles on various topics*
18. Pamphlet on Montana agriculture

 

Box 3
1. Farm machinery
2. Farm machinery
3. Gas engines
4. Farm buildings
5. Water storage tanks
6. Silos
7. Bridges, culverts, and viaducts
8. Brick construction
9. Concrete construction
10. Concrete construction
11. Concrete construction
12. Concrete construction

 

Box 4
1. Lumber construction and uses
2. Home improvements
3. Home improvements
4. Home appliances
5. School shop and laboratory materials
6. Farm engineering
7. Irrigation
8. Surveying
9. Varnish gums
10. Drain tile
11. Electricity and wiring
12. Lightning
13. Welding and torches

 

Box 5
1. Tool steel, bits, and screws
2. Saws and files
3. Rope
4. Belts
5. Lead paint
6. Explosives
7. Wet lands
8. Livestock feeding
9. Poultry
10. Fertilizers
11. Fertilizers
12. Weed control
13. Seed certification

 

Box 6
1. Crop and cereal grains
2. Barley
3. Corn
4. Crested wheatgrass
5. Flax
6. Oats
7. Soybeans
8. Sugar beets
9. Sweet clover
10. Wheat

 

Box 7 Oversize
1. Palatability of various phosphate mixtures, and The Fertilizer car
2. Phosphate plant side dressing fertilizer show drawing
3. Organic farming myth, and Business trends and progress chart

Series 5: Scrapbooks, 1930-1962

Newspaper and magazine clippings of articles written by Jesse Green. There is no arrangement to these clippings such as topics, dates, or type or place of publication.

Box 7 Oversize
4. Scrapbook I
5. Scrapbook II
6. Scrapbook III
7. Scrapbook IV

Updated: 5/5/09