EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Vol. XII. No. 3. 



The life of the hite Sir John Rennet Liiwes furnishes a remarkable 

 example of individual zeal and niuniticence, directed to the promotion 

 of agriculture and the advancement of agricultural science. Born to 

 wealth and luxury, and inheriting an estate upon the management of 

 which he entered with the keenest interest and business sagacit_y, the 

 squire of Rothamsted early developed a spirit of inquiry which dom- 

 inated his whole life. A keen observer and an untiring experimenter, 

 he saw in ever}- weed an unsolved prol)lem, in every clod of soil a sub- 

 ject for stud3\ For over 60 3'ears he devoted a large share of time and 

 thought from a busy commercial life to the solution of these problems 

 of agriculture, converting a portion of his estate into an experiment 

 station and providing the means for its maintenance. His thorough 

 knowledge of the details of farming, coupled with his practical sagac- 

 ity, enaliled him to grasp at once the real bearing and importance of 

 each new fact. His services to agriculture are known and recognized 

 throughout the civilized world, but perhaps nowhere have the}' been 

 more appreciated or had a greater influence than in this country. His 

 name in connection with the famous Rothamsted experiments has for 

 man}' years been a familiar one in the class room of the agricultural 

 college, at the farmers' institute, and to readers of the agricultural 

 press. The full measure of success which he achieved makes his life 

 one of inspiration and unusual interest. The universal appreciation 

 of his services and the close relations which he has borne to the Amer- 

 ican stations will cause the deepest regret at his death and a profound 

 sense of loss to the cause of agricultural investigation. He died 

 August 31, 1900, in his eighty-sixth year, "full of da^s and full of 

 honors, and venerated by all who knew him." 



Although Sir John's earlier education, obtained at Eton and Oxford, 

 was mainly classical, he developed a fondness for chemistry which led 

 him to spend some time in London in its study. Some of his earlier 

 work was directed to the isolation of the alkaloids of medicinal plants. 

 He entered upon the management of the paternal estate of Rothamsted 

 at the age of twenty, and some three years later, in 1S3T, he com- 

 menced his experiments with soil in pots. This was before Liebig jiud 



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