Wilson Popenoe was a offered a full scholarship to attend Cornel University which he turned down to travel the Americas and Asia for the US department of agriculture. He was given the title ‘plant developer’. In 1913 he helped establish orange crops in Brazil. He planted coconuts, olives, figs and Thai rambutan in Brazil, Honduras, Ecuador and Guatemala. After marrying Dorothy Hughes, an archaeologist, they became sympathetic for the mistreatment of farm workers in South America. 1925 he was hired by United Fruits to open a research station in Lancetilla which he accepted as he was determined his work could help people of both high and low levels. His assignment was to gather samples of both wild and local fruits from around the world. He was also charged with a secondary task of determining what crops might be able to grow on land ruined by Panama disease. His proposed replacement crops included rubber, a dozen kinds of timber, the oil palm and cacao, all which are now grown in Central America. He created a new breed of tobacco to compete with Cuba under the orders of Sam Zemurray. The Honduras product is as close as one can get to a Havana stogie. Wilson developed the largest collection of antivenom for banana workers as snake bites were common in the field. His banana collections are still used in the search for resistant banana breeds. He planted the first successful avocado crop. He convinced United Fruit to donate 3 million to fund the Panamerican school of agriculture and had them agree not to hire any of the graduates so that people would serve public interests rather than corporate ones. His last legacy was the Botanic Gardens.