Leon Dexter Batchelor

Batchelor was born in 1884 and grew up on a New England farm in Upton, Massachusetts.{{sfn|Boyce|Watkins|Winslow|1959|p=6}} He attended the New Hampshire College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts, as did his older brother, chemist Harry David Batchelor (class of 1903).{{Cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D1wHAQAAIAAJ|pages=63,192,194,211,215,248| title=Report of the Board of Trustees| publisher=University of New Hampshire| year=1904}} Both were members of Kappa Sigma.{{Cite journal| journal=The New Hampshire College Monthly| volume=IX| date=October 1901| number=1| page=29| title=College News| url=https://archive.org/stream/newhampshirec19011902newh/newhampshirec19011902newh_djvu.txt| via=Archive.org}}{{Cite journal| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8wMTAAAAIAAJ| title=Beta Kappa: New Hampshire College| page=452| journal=Caduceus of Kappa Sigma| volume=21| publisher=Kappa Sigma| year=1906}} Batchelor also served as a cadet in the college's Reserve Officers' Training Corps Battalion,{{Cite journal| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FPxEAQAAMAAJ| pages=235–236| title=Roster of Battalion| journal=Report of the Board of Trustees of the New Hampshire College of Agriculture and the Mechanical Arts| volume=28| location=Durham, New Hampshire| date=November 1, 1906| publisher=Edward N. Pearson}}{{Cite journal| title=Roster of Battalion| page=144| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Oo3OAAAAMAAJ| journal=New Hampshire College Catalogue| year=1905| publisher=Rumford Printing Company}} and was student manager of the 1906 New Hampshire football team.{{cite magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/newhampshirec19051907newh |magazine=The New Hampshire College Monthly |title=New Hampshire College Football Team |volume=14 |number=3 |date=December 15, 1906 |page=[https://archive.org/details/newhampshirec19051907newh/page/42 42] |access-date=May 16, 2020 |via=Wayback Machine}} He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in 1907.{{cite magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/newhampshirec19051907newh |magazine=The New Hampshire College Monthly |title=Graduating Class |volume=14 |number=8 |date=June 15, 1907 |page=[https://archive.org/details/newhampshirec19051907newh/page/121 121] |access-date=May 16, 2020 |via=Wayback Machine}} He then attended Cornell University and earned his Doctor of Philosophy in 1911.{{cite news| newspaper=The Cornell Daily Sun| volume=XXXII| number=103| date=February 17, 1912| title=95 Seniors Graduate| url=http://cdsun.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/cornell?a=d&d=CDS19120217.2.18}}

Batchelor taught horticulture at Cornell University from 1907 to 1910 and resigned to teach at Utah Agricultural College. While teaching at Utah, Batchelor published studies about thinning apple orchards.{{Cite journal| url=http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=PRP19130823.1.4&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN------#| journal=Pacific Rural Press| volume=86| number=8| date=August 23, 1913| page=172| title=Thinning Apples| via=California Digital Newspaper Collection}}{{sfn|Boyce|Watkins|Winslow|1959|p=6}}{{Cite journal| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H-cxAQAAMAAJ| title=Campus Notes| page=19| journal=The Cornell Countryman| volume=8| number=1| date=October 1910}}{{Cite journal| journal=Agricultural College of Utah Catalogue, 1913-1915| page=20| url=http://www.mocavo.com/Agricultural-College-of-Utah-Catalogue-1913-1915/690535/20| title=Academic faculty| via=Mocavo}}{{Cite journal| journal=Agricultural College of Utah Catalogue, 1912-1913| page=23| title=Extension Staff| url=http://www.mocavo.com/Agricultural-College-of-Utah-Catalogue-1912-13/555967/23| via=Mocavo}}{{Cite news| date=December 10, 1912| newspaper=The Logan Republican| location=Logan, Utah| page=1| title=Horticulturalists Hold Meeting| url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/68161381/| via=Newspapers.com}} In 1915, he joined the University of California Citrus Experiment Station as an Associate Professor of Plant Breeding. Batchelor was promoted to Professor of Orchard Management in 1919 and to director of the Citrus Experimentation Station in 1929 to replace retiring director Herbert John Webber.{{sfn|Boyce|Watkins|Winslow|1959|p=6}}

Batchelor became a preeminent authority within California on the study of walnuts.{{Cite news| date=October 19, 1916| newspaper=Bakersfield Californian| location=Bakersfield, California| page=9| title=Local News Happenings| url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/5049937/| via=Newspapers.com}} He was named by the state director of agriculture in 1940 as the seventh member of the California Walnut Control Board.{{Cite news| date=June 8, 1940| newspaper=The Fresno Bee| location=Fresno, California| page=6| title=untitled| url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/25827122/}} Batchelor remained director of the Citrus Experimentation Station until July 1, 1951, when he returned to research.{{sfn|Boyce|Watkins|Winslow|1959|p=6}} Batchelor was selected as the University of California, Riverside's Faculty Research Lecturer for 1954. {{sfn|Boyce|Watkins|Winslow|1959|p=8}} Batchelor Hall on UC Riverside's campus is named after Batchelor, the longest-serving director of the Citrus Experimentation Station.{{Cite web| url=http://plantbiology.ucr.edu/history.html| title=Department History| website=University of California, Riverside| date=October 29, 2013}}

• {{Cite journal|title=Classification of the Peony|date=May 1910|journal=Cornell University Agricultural Experimentation Station of the College of Agriculture|pages=223–229|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RRA2AQAAIAAJ|publisher=Cornell University}}
• {{Cite book|title=Irrigation of Peaches|date=January 1916|publisher=Utah Agricultural Experiment Station|url=http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/uaes_bulletins/108}}
• {{Cite book|title=Winter injury to young walnut trees during 1921-1922|year=1922|url=https://archive.org/details/winterinjurytoyo00batciala|publisher=University of California|via=Archive.org}}
• {{Cite book|title=Walnut culture in California|year=1924|publisher=University of California|url=https://archive.org/details/walnutculture3791924batc|via=Archive.org}}
• {{Cite book|title=The Citrus industry|volume=1|isbn=9780931876028|oclc=624111334|series=USAIN State and Local Literature Preservation Project, California|editor1-first=Leon Dexter|editor1-last=Batchelor|editor2-first=Walter|editor2-last=Reuther|editor3-first=Herbert John|editor3-last=Webber|editor-link3=Herbert John Webber|editor-mask=1|publisher=University of California|year=1943|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=tKdJAAAAMAAJ}}
• {{Cite book|title=Walnut production in California|year=1945|url=https://archive.org/details/walnutproduction364batc|publisher=University of California|via=Archive.org}}

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{Cite journal|journal=University of California: In Memoriam|year=1959|title=Leon Dexter Batchelor, Horticulture: Riverside|url= http://texts.cdlib.org/view?docId=hb3r29n8f4;NAAN=13030&doc.view=content&chunk.id=div00002&toc.depth=1&brand=calisphere&anchor.id=0|author1-first=A. M.|author1-last=Boyce|author-link1=Alfred M. Boyce|author2-first=G. S.|author2-last=Watkins|author-link2=Gordon S. Watkins|author3-first=M. M.|author3-last=Winslow|pages=6–8}}

• {{findagrave|149967002}}
• [https://www.fold3.com/image/558161860 Draft registration card] of September 1918 at fold3.com

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Category:1884 births

Category:1958 deaths

Category:People from Upton, Massachusetts

Category:Cornell University alumni

Category:University of New Hampshire alumni

Category:American horticulturists

Category:University of California, Riverside faculty