Albrecht Daniel Thaer (; 14 May 1752 – 26 October 1828) was a German agronomist and a supporter of the humus theory for plant nutrition.
Early life
Albrecht Daniel Thaer was born in Celle, a neat little town in Hanover, on 14 May 1752. His father, Johann Friedrich Thaer, was physician to the Court, and born in Liebenwerda, in Saxony; his mother, Sophie Elisabeth, was the daughter of J. Saffe, receiver of rents and taxes of the district of Celle. Albert was the first born, and had three sisters, Christine, Albertine, and Wilhelmine, of which the first died in infancy, the second was married to Captain Schweppe, and the youngest to the well-known privy councillor, Doctor Jacobi.John Sinclair. "Memoir of Thaer" in: A.D. Thaer. The Principles of Agriculture, Volume 1. William Shaw and Cuthbert W. Johnson (tr.). Ridgway, 1844. p. i-xvi.
At the University of Göttingen he finished his medical studies, and afterwards practised medicine in his native place. In 1786, he married the daughter of a nobleman, Philippine von Willich.United States. Patent Office. "On Agricultural Schools," Ex. Doc. No. 54. in: Annual Report of the Commissioner of Patents. U.S. Government Printing Office, 1848 p. 312-3
The garden attached to his house, where he amused himself with cultivating flowers, gave rise to his agricultural celebrity; the taste for the culture of flowers led him gradually to that of agriculture; he bought a larger lot of sixteen acres, and executed on it his plans. It was soon the attraction of everybody, for the collection of rare plants and beautiful walks, fine orchards, and the different kinds of clover and grass. His success in the culture of various plants, stimulated him to buy a more extensive tract of land.
Career
Physician About that time, just when he was at the point of giving up his profession and devoting his time to agriculture alone, he received from London his patent, as physician to his majesty George III. This honor came unexpectedly, and he could not withdraw himself at once from his profession, but began by degrees to resign his practice, and continued his favorite occupation, the improvement of agriculture, with the view of establishing an experimental farm. He paid great attention to the culture of herbage fodder, root crops, and especially potatoes; which latter root he most vehemently defended against its numerous adversaries and assailants.
Agriculturist His work on English husbandry appeared soon after, and was well received in Germany and in England. His fame as an agriculturist who applied science to practice, spread over all Europe. His plan of establishing a school was at last executed, and attracted many visitors of distinction. The king of Prussia Frederick William III was exceedingly anxious to have Thaer's services, invited him to reside within his kingdom, and granted him the following advantages: Nomination as a member of the Academy of Sciences; A grant of four hundred acres of land; The privilege of selling the land, and all the privileges attached to a landed estate belonging to a nobleman, in case he should buy another estate; Protection to his academy; Entire liberty of the press in regard to his Agricultural Journal; Permission to practice his profession as a physician; His nomination, as privy counsellor. These privileges and honors were too tempting. He accepted the king's offer, and left Celle for Berlin; took possession of the 400 acres; sold it immediately, and bought the present landed estates Moegelin, and obtained all the privileges of a nobleman.
It was in June, 1804, that he took possession of Moegelin. The loss of his flocks by rot and the French wars, were great calamities, especially in the commencement of his operations; but he conquered all difficulties by perseverance; and in 1806 the academy was opened. Twenty pupils inscribed their names immediately; the number increased with every year. He distinguished himself in the improvement of wool; his flocks were superior to any in Prussia. His written works increased his fame, and the sovereigns of Russia, Prussia and many others sent him their orders of knighthood. He purchased additional property for his younger son Albrecht Philipp Thaer, the later proprietor of Moegelin, who was entirely devoted to agricultural pursuits.
Death
In the year 1828, he had a severe attack of rheumatism, and his health began to decline; in 1827, his eyesight failed entirely. His sufferings were great, but he bore them with fortitude and resignation, and at last, on 28 October 1828 in Wriezen, death put an end to his pains.
Thaer is buried beside his consort, among the trees he planted in his garden, opposite their home, on the shore of a pond under the eaves of a chapel. His grave is marked by a pyramid.
Today, there is a grave memorial in Möglin in Brandenburg, Germany.
Work Albrecht Thaer was the first Agricultural scientist, who arranged the existing facts and theory of agriculture in a proper system. His works are highly valued among all agriculturists, and in his time referred to as a magazine of solid truths.
Thaer's Agricultural School The Albrecht-Thaer-Schule in Celle was founded by Thaer early 19th century. In 1802 Thaer had founded in Celle in the "Dammasch-Wiesen", the first German Agricultural Training Institute (today Thaer's Garden ). There among others he experimented with rotation to improve the yield. In 1804, he joined the Prussian service. In the same year he founded the first German Agricultural Academy (Agricultural Academy Möglin) in Möglin manor house. In 1819 the academy was renamed Royal Prussian Academy of agriculture. Among the professors were Georg Ernst Wilhelm Crome from 1808 until 1813, Franz Körte from 1814 to 1830, and Philipp Albrecht Thaer from 1830 until its inclusion in the Berlin Agricultural Training Institute in 1861.
In the year 1804, the King of Prussia had invited Thaer to settle in his dominions, and gave him the estate of Mogelin, situated about forty-five miles from Berlin, consisting of 1,200 acres, to manage as a pattern farm. He erected extensive buildings for himself, three professors, a variety of tradesmen, and the requisite agricultural buildings. The three professors were — one for Mathematics, Chemistry and Geology, one for Veterinary Knowledge, and a third for Botany and Entomology; an experienced agriculturist was also engaged, whose office it was to point out to the pupils the mode of applying the sciences to the practical business of husbandry.William Shaw "Preparing for publication a translation of Von Thaer's Principles of Agriculture" in: The Farmer's and General Fire and Life Insurance, and Loan and Annuity Institution, Volume 2 1850. p. 12
The course commerced in September. During the winter months, the time is occupied in mathematics, and the first six books of Euclid were studied: and in the summer, the geometrical knowledge was practically applied to the measurement of land, timber, buildings, and other objects. The first principles of chemistry were unfolded. By a good but economical apparatus, various experiments were made, both on a large and small scale. For the larger experiments, the brew-house and stilLhouse with their respective fixtures were found highly useful.John Claudius Loudon. An Encyclopædia of Agriculture. Lemma "Agriculture in Germany". Longmans, Green, 1825/1871. p. 91
Much attention was paid to the analysation of various soils, and the different kinds, with the relative quantity of their component parts, were arranged with great order and regularity. The classification was made with neatness, by having the specimens of soil arranged in order, and distinguished by different colours. Thus, for instance, if the basis of the soil is sandy, the glass has a cover of yellow paper; if the next predominating earth is calcareous, the glass has a white ticket on its side; if it was red clay, it had a red ticket; if blue clay, a blue one. Over these tickets, others, of a smaller size, indicate by their colour the third greatest quantity of the particular substance contained in the soil. This matter may appear to many more ingenious than useful, and savouring too much of the German habit of generalising. The classification of Von Thaer was, however, as much adopted, and as commonly used on the large estates in Germany, where exact statistical accounts were kept, as the classification of Linnaeus in natural history is throughout the civilised world.
There was a large botanic garden, arranged on the system of the Swedish naturalist, kept in excellent order, with all the plants labelled, and the Latin as well as German names. A herbarium, with a good collection of dried plants which was constantly increasing, was open to the examination of the pupils, as well as skeletons of the different animals, and casts of their several parts, which must have been of great use in veterinary pursuits. Models of agricultural implements, especially of ploughs, were preserved in a museum, which was stored as well with such as were common in Germany, as with those used in England, or other countries.
The various implements used on the farm were all made by smiths, wheelers, and carpenters, residing round the institution; the workshops were open to the pupils, and they were encouraged by attentive inspection, to become masters of the more minute branches of the economy of an estate.
The sum paid by each pupil was four hundred rix-dollars annually, besides which they provide their own beds and breakfasts. In that time in that country, such an expense precluded the admission of all but youths of good fortune. Each has a separate apartment. They were very well behaved young men, and their conduct to each other, and to the professors, was polite, even to punctilio.
Principles of Agriculture, 1809–12 Thaer's most quoted book is the four volumes Grundsätze der rationellen Landwirthschaft (1809–1812), which was translated into English in 1844 as The Principles of Agriculture by William Shaw and Cuthbert W. Johnson. The humus theory described in this work still received acceptance in the Modern Period (1800–1860).
Von Thaer's "Principles of Agriculture" contain the result of his experience through a series of years. The work embraces the theory of the soil, the clearing of land, plowing, manuring, and irrigation, hedges and fences, management of meadow and pasture lands; the cultivation of wheat, rye, corn, oats, barley, buckwheat, hops, tobacco, clover, and all the varieties of grasses; the economy of kine stock, breeding and feeding; the management of the dairy, and the use of manures, and the various systems of cultivation, keeping journals and farm records. In brief, it is a complete cyclopedia or circle of practical agriculture.Isaac Smith Homans. Hunt's Merchants' Magazine and Commercial Review, Volume 36, 1857. p. 272
Conception of the agriculturist Von Thaer's Agricultural School, Philipp Albrecht Thaer acknowledge in the 1850 programme of his agricultural school, that the object of his institution is to educate capable superintendents, or directors for large estates: but that he cannot call anyone a capable director, who has only the skill to carry out a mode of farming in an imitation or borrowed manner: that he understands by a capable director, a man who can, with a clear discernment, enhance the value of a landed estate entrusted to him so far as circumstances of condition and situation allow it.United States. Patent Office (1848; p. 313-6)
An effective director sets a clear and profitable objective with careful consideration of both internal and external factors. With skill and insight, they advance steadily, step by step, towards achieving high levels of culture and productivity. It is obvious that in this process, any unnecessary schemes or transitions should be avoided.