CHAPTER XIX 



PROFESSOR LIEBIG, then an obscure chemist, now 

 known as the " Father of Agricultural Chemistry," in 

 his homemade laboratory in Giessen, delved deeper 

 into the secrets of plant life than his predecessors. In 

 1834, he published to the world the results of his re- 

 search. Briefly stated, these were that all plants and 

 foods contain definite and fixed amounts of certain 

 chemical elements; chiefest among these being phos- 

 phorus, potash and nitrogen; that these were obtained 

 through the plant from the soil. That in time by con- 

 tinued cropping the plants would exhaust the meager 

 soil supply of these elements, and unless they were, 

 by the hand of man, replaced, the soil would ultimately 

 become worthless. Hence, soil feeding was an im- 

 perative necessity if the limited areas of tillable land 

 in civilized countries continued to supply proper food 

 for the constantly increasing inhabitants. 



The leaders of agriculture in England, France, Aus- 

 tria, Italy, Germany, and nearly all other countries, 

 accepted and acted upon these theories with marked 

 improvements in the agriculture of each. Naturally 

 his own country was the first to adopt Liebig's theo- 

 ries and put them into practical execution. The re- 

 sults in the increased yield of cereals per acre on four 

 German estates are shown in Table No. 6. Contrast 

 with these Table No. 7, showing the decreasing yields 

 per acre in the State of Kansas. 



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