Sir John Bennet Lawes. 231 



were commenced the systematic field experiments on turnips and 

 wheat; the wheat field has grown wheat without intermission ever 

 since. In 1847 the field experiments on beans commenced, and in 

 1848 those on clover, and on a four-course rotation. In 1851 the 

 rotations of wheat and fallow, and wheat and beans were started. In 

 1852 the field experiments on barley commenced. In 1856 those on 

 grass land. In all about 40 acres were brought under experiment. Of 

 all these crops complete chemical statistics were obtained. Experiments 

 on sheep-feeding with various foods commenced in 1848. The whole 

 bodies of ten animals oxen, sheep, and pigs of various ages and 

 conditions as to fatness, were analysed between 1848 and 1850. In 

 1850 an extensive series of pig-feeding experiments was made. 



The extent of the work undertaken, its thoroughness, and the 

 practical value of the results obtained, gained the admiration of both 

 scientific and practical men. At a meeting of Hertfordshire farmers 

 at St. Albans, on December 24, 1853, it was resolved to present 

 Mr. Lawes with a testimonial. The circular issued states : "It was 

 considered that Mr. Lawes has for many years been engaged in a series 

 of scientific and disinterested investigations for the improvement of 

 agriculture generally, which have been carried out to an extent, with 

 an attention to accuracy and detail, and at a cost, never before under- 

 taken by any individual, or even by any public institution." The 

 proposal was soon enlarged, and became national in its character. The 

 subscriptions received amounted to about 1,160. At Mr. Lawes' 

 desire, the greater part of this sum was spent in the erection of a new 

 laboratory, which was opened at a gathering of distinguished agricul- 

 turists on July 19, 1855, the Earl of Chichester presiding on the 

 occasion. The speeches made by Mr. Lawes, Dr. Gilbert, and others, 

 have fortunately been preserved.* Mr. Lawes, on this occasion, paid 

 a warm tribute to the work done by Dr. Gilbert. Besides the gift 

 of the laboratory, Mr. Lawes received a handsome silver candelabrum, 

 bearing a suitable inscription. In later years the laboratory was found 

 too small for the preparation and storage of the numerous samples, and 

 additional buildings were erected. 



Mr. Lawes was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1854, and 

 in 1867 one of the Royal medals was awarded to him and Dr. Gilbert 

 for their systematic researches upon agricultural chemistry. Seven 

 papers by Lawes and Gilbert have been published in the Society's 

 Philosophical Transactions. 



The connection of Mr. Lawes with the Royal Agricultural 

 Society was naturally a close one. He became a member of the 



* Herts Guardian, July 28, 1855. Also Gardeners' Chronicle and Agricultural 

 Gazette, July 15, 1871, p. 918. 



