

89 



NOTES ON SIX LECTURES 



DELIVERKU I5Y ROBERT WARINGTON, F. K. S , ON THE 



AGRICULTURAL INVESTIGATIONS AT ROTHAMSTED, 



ENGLAND. 



PUBLISHED BY THE U. S. DEPAR I MENT OF AGRICULTURE, 

 WASHINGTON, 1 892. 



By Frank T. Shutt, M.A., F.I.C., F.C.S. 



In the early years of the present century Sir John Bennet Lawes, 

 associated with Dr. Gilbert, began those experiments, the results of 

 which have been so pDtent in revolutionizing agriculture throughout the 

 civilized world. Tiioroughly practical and at the same time thoroughly 

 scientific, these investigations and the deductions made therefrom have 

 served not only to materially improve tne system of agriculture by 

 increased production at decreased cost, but also to elevate farming 

 from an art overgrown with traditions, handed down from father 

 to son through successive generations, to the ranks of science. 

 Agriculture has now taken its place in our universities side by side 

 with Classics, Mathematics and Natural Sciences. It fills that place 

 worthily ; and that this is so is largely due to the skilful and indefatig- 

 able labours of those English scientists. Sir John Lawes and Dr. Gilbert. 

 During the summer of 1888, the writer had great pleasure in 

 visiting Sir John Lawes's estate at Harpenden in Hertfordshire, Dr. 

 Gilbert very kindly acting as escort and explaining the many experiments 

 then in progress. The grand old manor of Rothamsted, which has 

 been in the Lawes family since 1623, was built in the fifteenth century, 

 or as Mr. Warington remarks, before Columbus discovered America. 

 Assisted by a young chemist of the name of Dobson, Sir (then Mr.) 

 John Lawes began experimenting in 1837 on the effect of soluble phos- 

 phate. Although these trials were only carried on in pots, the results 

 were so gratifying that Mr. Lawes took out a patent for manufacturing 

 superphosphate from mineral phosphate and sulphuric acid. This marks 

 the beginning of the manufacture of this fertilizer, an industry now 

 grown to such gigantic proportions and of such great benefit to agri- 

 culture. In 1843 he was joined by Dr. Gilbert, a former pupil of Liebig, 

 as chemist. For over half a century these two (Sir John himself being 



