This collection contains the papers of George Myron Shear, a plant pathologist and physiologist at Virginia Polytechnic Institute from 1930 to 1970. Among the correspondence are several 1927 letters from the laboratory of Thomas A. Edison regarding a project in which Shear was to collect for the lab various botanical samples of plants containing a milkly latex. Included among these are photocopies of two letters from Thomas A. Edison. (The project arose from Edison's attempt to develop a cost-effective domestic production of rubber.) The remainder of the correspondence relates largely to requests from various individuals for copies of Shear's articles and for assistance with various projects. Other letters relate to nominees for the No-Tillage Pioneer of the Year Award. Also included is a collection of Shear's writings, consisting mostly of printed materials relating to his work with no-tillage farming. Except where otherwise noted, all articles in the collection were either authored or co-authored by Shear. The publications are followed by a bibliography of Shear's reports and articles. A booklet about no-till farming, published by Allis-Chalmers and incorporating research data from Virginia Tech, completes the collection.