Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1901-04-06
IIrRJGSNFLUENCE UPON AGRICULTURE
n1 nnnnn Lnnnnnnn nnnnnnrn nlrnll1nuuh
dlnJannnnnnnTIuuuu y " -

Uul ~ - - - ~
,ov tacts In lIoblg's HE may con-
49,, ., N better understanding OF ms
rr.o, work for agriculture and agricul-
".ra chemistry lie was born IN lSv0'
mbls early days 50 deficient was he IN
momory That he was deemed stupid on
ors orcason the rector Of his school
reratsd him for bis ignorance telIing
him that he was the despair OF MS
,a,rbe,s pnd the heaylness Of his par
epts. and winding up by asking what
win become Of your Llebig. who was
even then fairly read In science ana
given to experimenting, answered amid
a burst Of derlslye laughter, u shan
be a chemist" IN spite Of the fact That
AT that time students did not look upon
chemistry as furnishing q ned Droad
enough Tor a man 10 devote his lie 10 IT,
ne never wayered In his selection OF ms
specialty II surprises one 10 iecalI
that Germany, now the home OF pala-
tlal chemical laboratories ana the cen.
fer of chemical research, ola not IN IoSu
have single laboratory open TO stu
dents. To prosecute his chemical STUDIES
Liebig went TO France, but found II
very difficult 10 get into a laboratory
there. Finally. by Humbodlts ala he
MAS Installed in the great Gay-Lussac 3
laboratory. There he made his llfst
important discovery, that Of is0merlsln.
His lmpetuous master In his delight
at the discovery, whlried MN III WIN
waltz all over the laboratory.
Through Humboldts nomination ne
was elected professor Of chemistry IN
the small German university OF Gles-
sen There. after difficulties he opened
a laboratory f0r students, with the ann
Of being 10 young German students
of chemistry what Gay.Lussac had
been 10 him. His was the first public
laboratory for the teaching Of practi-
cal chemistry ever opened in Germany
For twenty-eight years at this little
university he carried on original re-
search ana from dawn TO dark taught
men who were 70 carry his methods
and his spirit and his success all oven
the earth In 1852 he was called to
Munich. and died there In 1873. Lie
big says Shenstone, was essentially
pioneer In science. In the course Of
his life he took the lead In no less than
-four great departures. The first was IN
organic chemistry; the second and third
In the application OF chemistry TO agrl-
culture and 70 physiology the fourth
was the outcome Of his labors as
teacher"
Space VIII allow me 10 touch only
upon his founding of the science Of
agriculture and his contributions to
agricultural chemistry.
THE subject was worthy Of the
worker" but when he began there was
no such thing as a science OF agricul-
ture. and most Of the farmers were lg-
norant. badly educated and slaves Of
Lleblg sought TO correct this
state Of affairs. He saw then what eV-
erybody sees now. that you must rev.
olutloliLe the man on the farm before
YOU can revolutionze the farm. How
10 do this, how to educate the farmer
into a man Of science 30 that he shall
face the great problems Of agriculture
with an open mind, and himself coop
crate In attempting TO solve them, was
then, as now the great question In
technical education Llebig's answer 10
this question still challenges the
thought Of the world. His idea was
that the farmer must first be trained
IN pure and exact science, and secondly
IN practical experimentation. Perfect
agriculture" says he In his first book
on the subject Is the true foundation
of all trade and Industry; It Is the
Of the riches Of states, But
q rational system OF agriculture can
not be formed without the application
q scientific principles, for such a sys-
TEN must be based on an exact aC-
tualntance with the means Of nutri-
I on Of vegetables, and with the intlu-
ence OF soils and actions Of manure up.
on them"
Then with foundation laid the farm
or must next be an eXperlmenter ana
thinker on his own account IN the
preface Of his Natural Laws Of Hus-
bandry' Lieblg called attention to the
fact that no progress could be made so
long as agrlcuturists continued 10 be
guided merely by the facts observed In
their own noighborhood or az most by
The system Of some recognized author
lty. lie says again ~ farmers would
oaly make up their minds to acquire
by experiments on small scale an ac-
curats knowledge OF the productive
mower Of their land for certain KINDS or
classes Of plants few more expert
ments would readily enable them 20 dis
cover what nutritIve substances the
land contains In minimum proportion
and what manuring agents ought TO be
anplled to ensure a maximum crop,
Then ne continues; "ln matters OF TINS
Kind The farmer must pursue MS own
course" do his own experimenting
To carry ont some experiments IN
that ne had planned ana
incidentally To blaze the way TOT thc
farmers, he bought ut diessen ven III, ~
i,a1 IN l,nrrnqnN Inc