INTRODUCTION 



John Bennet Lawes was the founder of the Rothamsted 

 Experimental Station. He began experiments with various 

 manurial substances, first with plants in pots and then in the field, 

 soon after entering into possession of the estate at Rothamsted in 

 1834. In 1843 more systematic field experiments were begun, and 

 the services of Joseph Henry Gilbert were obtained as Director, 

 thus starting the long association which only terminated with the 

 death of Lawes in 1900, followed by that of Gilbert in 1901. 



The Rothamsted Experimental Station has never been connected 

 with any external organisation, but was for many years maintained 

 entirely at the cost of the late Sir John Lawes. In 1889 he 

 instituted a Trust for the continuance of the investigations, 

 setting apart for that purpose the old laboratory (which had been 

 built by public subscription, and presented to him in 1855) certain 

 areas of land on which the experimental plots were situated, and 

 ^100,000. 



By the provision of the Trust Deed the management is 

 entrusted to a Committee nominated by the Royal Society (four 

 persons), the Royal Agricultural Society (two persons), the Chemical 

 and Linnean Societies (one each), and the owner of Rothamsted. 



Mr. A. D. Hall was appointed Director in 1902 and held the 

 position till he resigned in 1912, when the present Director, 

 Dr. E. J. Russell, was appointed. Mr. Hall brought about great 

 developments, re-organising the work, increasing the staff, and 

 considerably extending the buildings and laboratories. In 1906 

 Mr. J. F. Mason, M.P., presented the Committee with ^"1,000 for 

 the building and equipment of the "James Mason" Bacteriological 

 Laboratory, together with an annual grant towards its maintenance. 

 In 1907 the Goldsmiths' Company made a grant of ^"10,000, the 

 income of which is devoted exclusively to the investigation of the 

 soil. The Permanent Nitrate Committee also made a grant of 

 ,£"2,000 to the endowment. In 1913 Lady Gilbert presented the 

 library of the late Sir J. Henry Gilbert. The Hon. Rupert Guinness 

 provides funds to maintain a special research chemist. The collec- 

 tion of smaller donations and annual subscriptions is the work of 

 the Society for extending the Rothamsted Experiments which was 

 founded in 1904, and the sums thus obtained provide a valuable 

 contingency fund. 



During the year 1911 a scheme was published from the Board 

 of Agriculture for the encouragement of agricultural research with 

 funds provided by the Development Commission, and this scheme 

 established or assisted a certain number of institutes for fundamental 

 research, each dealing with one great branch of the subject. The 

 Rothamsted Experimental Station is recognised as the Institute for 

 dealing with Soil and Plant Nutrition Problems. In accordance 

 with this scheme an annual grant of £2,500 was made, which has 

 this year been increased to /"2,850. 



Besides the regular staff, a number of post graduate workers 

 and holders of scholarships carry out their investigations at 

 Rothamsted, and investigators from other institutions periodically 

 spend a certain amount of time in the laboratories studying 



