<888 THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. SIS 
lUo^rajiljical, 
SIR JOHN BENNET LAWES, BART., 
LL.D., F.R.S., F.C.S. 
Is there an intelligent American farmer 
to-day who does not respect the name of J. B < 
Lawes ? Are there any who do not feej 
indebted to him for having spent the greater 
part of his life in their service ? Asa matter 
of fact, the enlightened people of the entire 
civilized world owe him a debt of gratitude 
for his benevolent, never-ceasing labors to 
help and to benefit the science and practice of 
agriculture, beyond that which they owe to 
any other person, living or dead. 
Eleven years ago the work of this good, 
big-hearted man was little known to the mass 
of American farmers. Then it was that the 
R. N.-Y. induced him to write for its columns, 
and he is now appreciated as our first authority 
in the essential questions which have to 
do with the economical feeding of crops 
through the application of plant food to the 
soil. 
Our portrait is carefully and faithfully 
drawn from a photograph which Dr. Lawes, 
at our request, had taken last April. His first 
portrait appeared in the R. N.-Y., December 
20, 1878. Not well satisfied with the execution, 
the likeness was again drawn from the same 
photograph, and appeared in the issue of 
August 20, 1881. The picture was this time 
satisfactory enough; still it did not represent 
the Dr. Lawes of that time, but when he was 
many years younger. Now we present his 
picture as he is—with hair and whiskers as 
white as snow; a man of 75 years of age, 
though seemingly younger. 
John Bennet Lawes was b orn in 1813, and 
on the death of his father, eight years after¬ 
wards, inherited the fine entailed estate of 
Rothamsted, situated twenty-five miles from 
London, on the Midland railway, near Her- 
perden Station,Hertfordshire. The house is a 
fine battlemented mansion in the Tudor style 
of architecture. The oldest parts of it were 
built 400 yearn ago,in the days of Edward IV. 
and Warwick, the King-maker; but exten¬ 
sive additions in the same style were made in 
the reign of James I. ; still more have been 
built in modern days. The youthful owner 
of this now famous place was educated at 
Eton, England’s most celebrated pubiic 
school, and afterwards at Brazenose College 
Oxford University, where he remained three 
years. From an early age chemistry was a 
favorite study of his, and many were the 
jokes he played on the members of the house¬ 
hold and not a few the alarms he caused his 
relatives by the tricks and feats which his 
youthful knowledge of that study enabled him 
to perform. Things became more serious, 
however, when at the age of 20 he ordered 
from a London firm a complete laboratory, 
and fitted up one of the best bed-rooms at 
Rothamsted with stoves, retorts and all the 
apparatus and re-agents necessary for chemi¬ 
cal research. 
On attaining his majority, in October, 1834, 
Mr. Lawes took possession of his estate and at 
once took the home farm of 250 acres in hand. 
At that time his attention was much directed 
to the composition of drugs, and as the active 
principle of a number of substances was being 
discovered, in order to make these substances, 
he sowed on his farm poppies, hemlock, hen¬ 
bane, colchicum, belladonna, etc., some of 
which after the lapse of 54 years are still grow¬ 
ing on the place. Now really began his regu¬ 
lar studies in practical agricultural chemistry. 
He studied with much interest the researches 
of De Saussure on vegetation, though it was 
not till two or three years after this time that 
any connection between chemistry and agri¬ 
culture passed through his mind. His first ex¬ 
periments were made in a small way with 
different fertilizers in pans and pots. It was 
not long, however, before his interest in his 
investigations and his perception of the bene¬ 
ficial results that might be obtained from them 
if systematically conducted, led him to enlarge 
his operations and to transfer them from the 
greenhouse to the field. Among other consul era. 
tions that directed his attention in this direc¬ 
tion was a remark made by his friend and 
neighbor, the then Lord Dacre, with regard to 
the fact that bones produced excellent results 
on one farm, while on another they were com¬ 
paratively useless. He had spent a good deal 
of money on bones for his own land without 
success, but just then having received an offer 
of some tons of precipitated gypsum and spent 
animal charcoal from a broker in London— 
both of which substances had then no market 
value—and having on hand a large quantity of 
sulphuric acid from an unprofitable experi¬ 
ment in another line, a combination of the 
two was made, and the application of the su¬ 
perphosphate thus made to his fields was very 
successful. A great multitude of experiments 
in this line, in which the neutral phosphate of 
lime in bones, bone-ash, and apatite was ren¬ 
dered soluble by means of sulphuric acid, and 
the mixture applied to root crops, gave re¬ 
markably beneficial results. So striking were 
those obtained on a small scale in 1837, 1838 
and 1839 as to lead to more extensive trials in 
the field in 1840 and 1841 and subsequently, 
as one of the results of the eminent success 
of his investigations and experiments in this 
line, early in 1842 he took out a patent for the 
manufacture of the fertilizer now known as 
superphosphate of lime. 
In 1843 Mr. Lawes established large works 
near London for the manufacture of the new 
fertilizer according to the process covered by 
his patent, and when, shortly afterward, vast 
deposits of mineral phosphates were discov¬ 
ered, the business of converting them into 
superphosphate attained vast proportions. 
When in 1872 Mr. Lawes disposed of his busi¬ 
ness to a joint stock company, over 40,000 tons 
of superphosphate were turned out annually 
by his works alone. 
The first ten years of experimentation by 
Dr. Lawes were of importance to the public 
chiefly as a preparation for the system of re¬ 
corded experimentation which has made the 
fame of Rothamsted world-wide. It was 
not until 1842 that its owner secured the ser¬ 
vices of Dr. Joseph Henry Gilbert, then 26 
years old, who has ever since had charge of 
the laboratory department, and so closely 
have the two been associated ever since that 
the name of the one has almost become a com¬ 
plement to that of the other. So greatly 
was the scope of the investigations now 
enlarged and systematized that the estab¬ 
lishment of the Rothamsted Experiment 
Station may be said to date from that time. 
The first conception of the system must 
have been original with Dr. Lawes, for 
nothing of the kind had been previously prac¬ 
ticed. The problem before him was to deter¬ 
mine by exact experiments the actual relation 
of various crops with the soil in which they 
are grown and ith the fertilizers used to pro¬ 
mote their growth, and to do this on so exten. 
sive a scale, both as regards time and 
area, as to settle upon a definite basis 
the fundamental principles of agricul¬ 
tural practice. The investigations have 
chiefly embraced, 1, researches into the ex¬ 
haustion of soil, including experiments 
on wheat, barley, oats, potatoes, clover, root 
and leguminous crops; 2, on the principles of 
rotation and fallow; 3, on mixed herbage of 
grasslands; 4, on the process of vegetation 
generally, including investigations on the ac¬ 
tion of manures; 5, on the origin of nitrogen 
in plants; 6, on the feeding and fattening of 
animals; 7, on rainfall and drainage; 7, vari¬ 
ous supplementary researches, such as inves¬ 
tigations into the application of town sew¬ 
age to crops, especially to grasses, the chem¬ 
istry of the malting process, etc., etc. 
For the purposes of these experiments so 
long ago as 1841, 14 acres, divided into 20 
plots, were devoted to wheat, and seven acres, 
divided into 25 plots, to turnips. Later on, as 
the number of plots experimented upon in¬ 
creased, the area devoted to the work steadi¬ 
ly grew larger. The number of assistants of 
all sorts also increased with the increase of the 
work. At first only one laboratory man 
was employed; but very soon a chemical 
assistant was found necessary and then a 
computer and record-keeper. During the 
last thirty-three years the staff has con¬ 
sisted of one or two, or sometime? three, 
chemists, two or three general assistants 
whose principal occupation is to superintend 
the field experiments ; an occasional botanical 
assistant, with three or four boys under him ; 
a varying number of laborers always em¬ 
ployed in field and other wort, three com¬ 
puters and record-keepers for calculating 
and tabulating field, feeding and laboratory 
results, copying, etc., and one and sometimes 
two laboratory men. Besides the permanent 
laboratory staff under Dr. Gilbert, chemical 
assistance is frequently engaged in London 
and Germany. 
Down to 1855 the laboratory work was done 
in a large barn fitted up for the purpose, but 
during the winter of 1854-5 a fine new labora¬ 
tory was built by subscription among the 
farming community as a grateful recognition 
of the great benefit the researches of Dr. 
Lawes had conferred on agriculture. Although 
only a part of the results of the innumerable 
experiments has hitherto been published, 
yet that part would make a good-sized library 
of instructive reading. The station has al¬ 
ways been completely disconnected from any 
other organization, and all its expenses have 
been defrayed by Dr. Lawes. All along his 
single object has been, not to put money in 
his own coffers, but to afford to the farmers 
of the United Kingdom and of the civilized 
world information which wouldjenable them 
to put money in theirs. So multifarious and 
authoritative has been the vast fund of in¬ 
formation given to the public from Rotham¬ 
sted, that it is very doubtful whether within 
the last quarter of a ceniury any work relat¬ 
ing to agriculture has been puplished any¬ 
where in which frequent references are not 
specifically made to the work of the station, 
and certain it is that within at least that 
period not only has no valuable work of the 
kind been published, but no valuable number 
of any agricultural periodical has been issued 
which did not derive a fair share of its infor¬ 
mation from the experiments at Rothamsted. 
After upwards of half a century of busy, 
studious life and vast sums of money devoted 
to the public welfare, Dr. Lawes came to look 
upon the work which had occupied his atten¬ 
tion so long as a child which he was unwilling 
to desert or leave destitute after his death. 
Accordingly, some years ago, he set apart the 
sum of $500,000 and a sufficient area of land 
to insure the continuance of his life-work when 
an honored memory of him alone and the 
lasting benefits of his labors shall remain 
among the living. Dr. Lawes is a member of 
several learned and scientific societies, and six 
years ago, after a long delay, Her Majesty, 
the Queen, or rather the Government 
through her, as a mark of recog¬ 
nition of his eminent services to the 
public, conferred on him the hereditary title 
of Baronet, though a large majority of 
Americans think him amply entitled to a 
seat in the House of Lords,an honor frequently 
conferred for much less distinguished public 
services. 
Is there one in this country or in any other 
civilized country,who will not join the Rural 
New-Yorker in earnestly wishing that his 
useful, benevolent life may yet long be spared? 
Barn Doors. I wrote the following for a local 
paper some years ago; perhaps it will be new 
to some of your readers: I have wondered 
many times, while traveling over the country, 
why it is that all farmers will stick to the old 
practice of putting the large barn doors on 
the outside, covering them with a roof fastened 
against the boards, thus endeavoring to make 
the same storm-tight. The result is very soon 
a leaky, rotten door covering, with water 
running down inside the barn. Why not put 
the door inside? I would do it in this way: 
When laying out the frame, put in cross sills 
to correspond with the space to be occupied 
by the door when open and shut; jog the 
outside sill back at this point about two inches 
and also the girt at the top of the door. Now 
board down from above, letting the boards 
project below the girt three or four inches; 
fasten the door track to the girt so that the 
door will slide just back of the boards project¬ 
ing down from above. A strip nailed across 
from board to board at the bottom opposite 
the sill makes a space for the door to roll in, 
and no wind can get a chance to take the door 
off of the hinges. When it rains the water 
will follow down the upper boards over the 
outside of the door and thence down the door 
to the ground. This plan does away with the 
need of a roof over the door. w. i. k. 
Blair Co., Pa. 
Unmans WorK. 
CONDUCTED BY EMILY LOUISE TAPLIN. 
CHAT BY THE WAY. 
^ ^ / Y RACE, being the soul of thy complex- 
VX ion, shall keep the body of it ever 
fair.” That is what Shakespeare says, and he 
means a good deal. A strong and beautiful 
soul may dwell in an unprepossessing body, 
but it will shine through, making the uncome¬ 
ly features more attractive than beauty with 
a starved and narrow soul. Often we see 
plain-featured girls grow really handsome as 
they become older, merely because their harsh 
features are softened by a sweet and lovable 
disposition. A sunny temper and a sound di¬ 
gestion will do more to keep away wrinkles 
and crow’s-feet than all the cosmetics in the 
world. Sometimes, though, we see a middle- 
aged woman with smooth, fair skin, whose 
face is as expressionless as a mask—one of 
those tepid, neutral creatures, who feel neither 
joy nor pain very acutely, and feel only that 
which touches themselves. Better, a thousand 
times, a sympathetic heart, ready to feel for 
everyone, even if it does bring wrinkles: the 
women we all love are those with a face like 
a fiddle, as the Irish say, full of sympathy 
and expression that draw all hearts to¬ 
wards it. 
This is a season of pretty gowns, and fortu 
nately for many of us, they need not be ex¬ 
pensive. The best of it is that we can wear 
our grandmothers’ gowns—if we possess them 
—without exciting any comment. It is in 
good style now to wear white muslin guimpe 
and sleeves in a colored gown, and the 
sleeves cannot be too elaborate or eccen¬ 
tric in style. One very pretty frock, 
which, we may whisper, dated from 
the girlhood of the wearer’s mother,— 
—was a pale pink lawn, with an old- 
fashioned running pattern. It had a plain, 
full skirt and a shirred baby waist with straps 
over the shoulders, these being shirred, so as 
to form a puff. The tucked chemisette was of 
white muslin,and the puffed sleeves were of the 
same. Another plain dress of pale blue Danish 
cloth had a sleeveless, low-necked bodice; the 
neck was fitted in with a shirred chemisette 
of white embroidered muslin; the sleeves of 
the same consisted of a puff coming to the el¬ 
bow, with a deep frill falling below. Both 
sleeves and chemisette were evidently old- 
fashioned heirlooms, embroidered in tambour 
work, but they were both pretty and stylish. 
For country sports the prettiest suits are 
made of tennis suiting, a striped half-wool 
material of moderate price. Tho favorite 
bodice is either blouse or Garibaldi waist with 
full sleeves. Sometimes tho skirt is kilted, 
with sash drapery, but oftener it is full and 
plain. Last year English girls went in exten¬ 
sively for loose waists laced up the front like 
a boy's tennis shirt. They were much worn 
in scarlet laced with black cord; the sleeves 
were the full bishop shape, with deep cuffs 
The same style is favored here. But a sensi¬ 
ble girl who goes boating much wears a sen¬ 
sible blue flannel frock; just a plain skirt and 
blouse, lightened perhaps by a white piqufe 
sailor collar or a red neckerchief. Boating is 
provokingiy destructive to fine feathers or 
fine gowns. 
PROFESSIONAL WOMEN. 
There are so many trades and profes¬ 
sions for women now that none ought to be 
without an occupation. There is no need for 
us to go out of wbat we call feminine fields 
Female lawyers seem out of place, unless 
they confine themselves to what is called 
civil practice; there is such a wide difference 
between justice and law, as practised in the 
criminal courts, that women had better leave 
the matter alone. Female physicians are 
now as much honored as they were once re¬ 
viled, and female ministers hold a recognized 
place. But these professions require means 
to start with; they are beyond the reach 
of many self-supporting women. There are 
many who must support themselves while they 
are learning their profession. 
School-teaching has long been chief among 
so-called “ genteel ” employments for women. 
It is a hard lot to one who does not feel it her 
true vocation, yet it is essentially a woman’s 
occupation. I know one clever man who gave 
up this occupation which he loved, because he 
s aid he felt as if he was taking away some 
woman’s bread and butter. So long as there wer e 
prairies to break up and trees to fell, he 
thought no man should teach school. But now 
there are more teachers than positions—the 
market is overstocked. The sensible womanwill 
look out for something else. If she has strong 
health, strong nerves, and inclination towards 
^he work, she will become a trained nurse. It 
is an arduous profession, but a very honora 
ble one, and a well-trained nurse is always 
sure of employment. During her training 
she receives her maintenance, and a small 
salary in addition. Of course the work is 
very trying, but it is interesting, giving em¬ 
ployment to mind and body alike. The ap 
plicauts for the training school must be of 
good moral character and fair education; all 
are respectable, and many of them represent 
what we rather snobbishly term ^the upper 
classes. 
Since the artistic craze spread over 
this coun try, a great many girls have 
been studying china painting or decor¬ 
ating or some other branch of aesthetics* 
with th e intention of making this a means 
of livelihood. In very many cases it has re. 
suited in disappointment. Everybody paints 
nowadays, and one must be really clever at 
it to earn a livelihood. An original designer 
has a chance, but so many of our art students 
merely learn to be copyists. There is cer¬ 
tainly an opportunity for women in indus¬ 
trial art, and the girl who is looking for a 
living, instead of just learning to paint 
dog - roses on plaques or golden rod 
on banners, should put herself in a 
school of technical design, where she 
may turn her artistic taste to things practical 
The School of Industrial Art for Women 
120 West 16th street, New York City, was, I 
believe, the first technical school established 
