Albrecht Daniel Thaer

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. Johann F. Mayer, Albrecht Daniel Thaer (1800). Über die Anlage der Schwemm-Wiesen Albrecht Daniel Thaer (1800). Einleitung zur Kenntniß der englischen Landwirthschaft und ihrer neueren practischen und theoretischen Fortschritte. Albrecht Daniel Thaer (1804). Beschreibung der nutzbarsten neuen Ackergeräthe. Volume 2. Albrecht Daniel Thaer (1806). Vermischte landwirtschaftliche Schriften. Volume 3 Albrecht Daniel Thaer (1833). Grundsätze der rationellen landwirthschaft. 4 Volumes, (Volumes 3-4) Albrecht Daniel Thaer (1810). Annalen des Ackerbaues. Volume 12 Albrecht Daniel Thaer (1811). Annalen der Fortschritte der Landwirthschaft in Theorie und Praxis. Volume 2 Albrecht Daniel Thaer (1811). Handbuch für die feinwollige schaafzucht. Albrecht Daniel Thaer (1815). Leitfaden zur allgemeinen landwirtschaftlichen gewerbslehre. Albrecht Daniel Thaer (1826). Möglinsche Annalen der Landwirthschaft. Volume 17

Translations: Albert D. Thaër. Tr. by William Shaw and Cuthbert W. Johnson. The principles of agriculture. London, Ridgway, 1844. Albrecht Daniel Thaer, Augustus Olcott Moore. The Principles of Practical Agriculture Embracing ... A.O. Moore, Agricultural Book Publisher. 1858

About Albrecht Thaer Wilhelm Körte (1839) Albrecht Thaer: Sein Leben und Wirken.