604 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



The story of Kiihirs struggle to secure authority for the establish- 

 ment of such an institute, his efi'ort to provide land necessary for it, 

 and later funds for buildings, illustrates how undeveloped was the 

 idea of agriculture as a subject for teaching and investigation in the 

 university, and how little confidence and interest there was among 

 those in authority'. Ilis persistent eli'orts won, however, and in 1863 

 the institute was authorized. Kiihn personally advanced and bor- 

 rowed money to pa}' for the land, which was later taken over by the 

 universit}', and after much labor secured a grant of about $1,500 for 

 adapting buildings upon it to his purpose. 



The success of the new institute won support for it, and five years 

 later new buildings were erected to better serve its needs. The idea 

 grew, and similar institutes were established at other universities, but 

 Halle maintained its lead. In 1890 its attendance exceeded that of 

 all the other agricultural institutes in Prussia combined, including 

 the agricultural high school at Berlin. The students then numbered 

 two hundred and eighty-one. 



Experimental and demonstration work had early formed a part of 

 Iviihn's plixn for the agricultural institute. Land was acquired from 

 time to time for the purpose, other parcels leased for continuous field 

 experiments, and Kiihn personal!}' purchased over thirty acres which 

 were leased to the university to secure contiiluity of the work. Ex- 

 perimental fields and gardens, greenhouses, stables, etc., were pro- 

 vided. In 188G the area under the institute included about 275 acres, 

 used mainly for the experiments and the maintenance of live stock. 

 The stables, known as the IlauHtiei'gartcn^ were perhaps Kiihn's 

 special pride and interest. Here he made studies of races, breeds 

 and breeding, feeding experiments, etc. The collection of domestic 

 animals increased steadily until he had about one thousand head, 

 representing over one hundred and thirty races and breeds. 



Like many of the earlier workers in agriculture, Kiihn's studies 

 and writings covered an unusually wide field. His contributions 

 were ]3ublished for the most part as reports from the physiological 

 laboratory and experiment station of the institute at Halle, in a 

 series begun by him in 1872. Among the subjects included were soils, 

 drainage, fertilizers and manures, the culture and manuring of vari- 

 ous field croj^s, nitrogen assimilation, plant diseases, nematodes, 

 animal feeding and breeding, and agricultural machinery. 



Among his noteworthy works were his studies on nematodes as a 

 cause of sugar beet sickness, which he found could be destroyed by 

 burning over the ground. He was a jirolific writer for the more 

 popular agricultural journals throughout Germany, taking special 

 interest in presenting the results of his studies to those engaged in 

 practical farm operations. 



