Robert Greenleaf Leavitt

Following his Harvard education, Leavitt began publishing widely in the field of botany, including articles in The American Naturalist, The Botanical Gazette, Science magazine (the official publication of the American Association for the Advancement of Science), the Boston Society of Natural History magazine as well as other publications in the field.

[4] He wrote Leavitt's Outlines of Botany,a standard text book at the time; it was published by the Harvard University Press.

[1] Leavitt spent some nine years at the Ames Botanical Laboratory in study, research, writing and collecting specimens, including trips to Cuba and Europe.

"I expect to put in the rest of my time before I retire to my farm in Maine in helping to improve the schools of this State System," Leavitt wrote to his Harvard class.

"At 60 I expect to retire for 40 years of research, with special reference to fruits adaptable to Maine, at my experiment station in a beautiful country among the foothills of the White Mountains.

Following his service as a high school teacher in New Jersey, Robert Greenleaf Leavitt retired to his farm in Maine, where he raised 40 varieties of apples.