Deborah A. Johnson
Agriculture started from the beginning of time. From the first book of the bible, Genesis, makes reference to the “Garden of Eden.” Early man was a hunter-gatherer. Hunter-gatherers were people who lived off the land foraging wild berries, edible plants, as well as, hunting wild animals. But the question remains, “Why did mankind switch from hunting and gathering to farming?” Was it the fact that, in nature, mankind longed to gather possessions and it was difficult to hold on to possessions if there was constant migration following a particular herd, as such? The groups of hunter-gatherers were rather small in number because of the constant mobility. After the last Ice Age, climates, globally, became much milder and wild grasses that produced seeds sprung up to fill in the new niches. The hunter-gatherers soon discovered these seeds were good to eat and these fertile areas would entice these nomads to return back each season. With an abundance of food in these areas would lead to an increase in population, which, in turn would lead to an increase of food production. Thus agriculture was started with the domestication of species, both plants and animals.
Archaeologists discovered that farms began in the Near East, in particular, Jericho in Southwest Asia. Another theory is that these hunter-gatherers were into mood-altering religious rituals. They discovered plants that would alter their moods such as cannabis, coca leaves, and fungi. They also discovered fermentation of fruits, roots and seeds high in sugar yielded alcohol.
Although there is no clear explanation as to why humans began farming, it is clear to note that all over the world farming began. Although the resources in the different locations differed, certain components remained the same such as certain grasses were domesticated, sown and harvested, grains were able to be stored more easily than soft-tissue plants, and these grains were used to make bread and beer. Agrarian societies took up residence near rivers because of the need of water for both humans and plants. The rich silt deposits full of minerals is a natural fertilizer, as well, as a good supply of water for the crops made it an ideal place for early farming. Egyptians used the Nile River, the Chinese Empire along the Huang River, the Mesopotamian Empire along the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, the Harappa culture along the Indus River. These ancient societies realized that in order to have a healthy farm, there was a need to have compost pits, lots of domesticated animals for manure, and crop rotation. As populations grew, however, the rivers soon became unfit for human consumption, thus fermented drink helped to keep people from getting sick. From the heating of the water while brewing and the added alcohol made the unsanitary water safe for people to consume, including the children.
As farming grew, the labor was very intensive and many cultures incorporated slavery or serfdom to tend the fields. In the 1700’s there was an agricultural revolution, largely due to production of large crops such as potatoes and corn. Then in the 1850’s, the industrial revolution had a an impact on the agricultural field. Farming incorporated machines which increased the production yields of crops. most of the new machines used oxen and horses to power them and crop rotation was implemented (which actually had its start as early as the ancient Roman and Chinese people understood), along with better soil preparation. Later on, steam power replaced the animals and then came gas-powered machines. But still, there was never enough manure to satisfy the demand on food production and many people abandoned their farms and flocked to the cities. Now the food shortage was even more acute. The ideal yield for farmers was one acre of farming could feed ten people, but this was still not enough.
Then in 1898, Sir Walter Crookes, incoming president of the British Academy of Sciences announced, “England and all civilized nations stand in deadly peril.”
“As mouths multiply,” he said, “food sources dwindle.” the number of mouths had been increasing for some time thanks to advances in sanitation and medical care, from the installation of improved water systems to the introduction of antiseptics. These were great triumphs for humanity. But they carried with them a threat. While population increased, land was limited; there were only so many farmable acres on earth.
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Crookes concluded that the only possible answer to this dilemma was to create vast amounts of fertilizer by the thousands of tons. Was there a way to make this amount in factories? Could it be made synthetically?
“It is through the laboratory, “ he said, “that starvation may ultimately be turned into plenty.” “It is the chemist, he said, “who must come to the rescue...Before we are in the day of famine to so distant a period that we and our sons and grandsons may legitimately live without undue solicitude for the future.”
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Throughout history, the quest to find the best fertilizers in the world was in hot pursuit. Alchemists of the day realized there was a connection between certain types of salt with gunpowder and fertilizer. The Chinese alchemists called this particular salt
huo yao
. The Romans called it
sal petrae
. known as saltpeter, which became the West’s gunpowder. With the advent of gunpowder, it change the nature of war. Still there was not enough of it. Therefore, artificial means to produce saltpeter more rapidly than it occurring naturally in salt mines was the way to go. Trenches were built filled with a mixture of soil, manure, ashes, and garbage. It was moistened with sewage and urine. Still, this was not enough to feed the countries that ruled by gunpowder might. The quest for saltpeter meant the takeover of weaker nations by stronger nations such as the takeover of India by England.
In 1835, the Iquique people in the South American desert, in a place known as Tarapaca. The land was a total wasteland and the only means of survival for these people was that their village was perched on the richest fishing area of the world. Also, a whitish, rocklike crust was found in the desert. The Indians called this substance
caliche
. This was their source of saltpeter, or salitre, as they called it. This salitre is what chemists call sodium nitrate. But for the greedy European nations, this was still not enough.
Their attention soon focused on islands a few hundred miles north of Tarapaca. These islands are known as the Chinchas Islands, just off the coast of Peru. What lied on these islands was the world’s best fertilizer, known as
guano
. What was packed on these islands was the manure of seabirds. One U.S. expert estimated that this guano was thirty-five times more powerful than standard barnyard manure.
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So many ships from around the world flocked to this port to gather this precious guano. It was more precious than gold. Soil that was once poor in nutrients could be revitalized by this precious commodity and yield substantial crops. The country of Peru grew rich, but eventually, it stopped. The source had run out by the late 1850’s, but not before the Spanish conquistadores turned Peru into a slave nation. The quest to find guano worldwide took place and in 1856 the U.S. Congress passed the Guano Island Act, which meant any U.S. citizen could lay claim to any deserted island that had guano on it. Under this law, the United States made claim to ninety-four islands, rocks, and keys. Although none of these islands had the quality of guano found on the Chinchas Islands, it allowed the U.S. to lay claim to islands that would serve the purpose of setting up military bases for World War II.
Attention went back to the nitrate desert that lied between Peru and Chile. Thus, the nitrate war began in 1879. This area is called the Atacama. A third party in this game of war came from the country of Bolivia, which owned a strip of the desert between Chile and Peru and also had control of a shipping port, as well. Chile was the victor in this war and was about to become rich. The United States and Europe were dependent on the nitrate, not only to grow crops, but for explosives, as well. The nitrates from the Chilean nation helped to build the Panama Canal and to secure the United States Manifest Destiny. The two nations that were the biggest buyers of this nitrate were Great Britain and Germany, where their land was limited but their military might was strong. Great Britain had many colonies, many more than did Germany, so the Germans realized they had to come up with a way to get nitrates, so they turned to the scientists of the time.
At this time, Germany relied heavily on the imported Chilean nitrate, One scientist, by the name of Wilhelm Ostwald, focused on taking the free nitrogen from the atmosphere and fixing it chemically by persuading it to combine with hydrogen gas to make ammonia. His method was to find a balance between heat, pressure, and catalyst. He built a machine to carry out this process and a large German chemical firm, Badische Anilin- und Soda-Fabrik (BASF) was very interested. Basically, Ostwald was on a quest to turn atmospheric nitrogen into gold, as in profiting from this endeavor greatly.Unfortunately, Ostwald had the right idea but the wrong setup and he failed.
Several years later a scientist by the name of Fritz Haber began building a machine that was much more efficient at turning atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia. He had to figure out a way to make his experimental machine to a much larger scale whereby tons of ammonia would be produced. This was a daunting task because with the extreme heat and pressure needed to make the conversion, what large-scale material could hold this together. A team of scientists met to discuss the dilemma and one scientist by the name of Carl Bosch, who was an expert in metals took the challenge. After many failed attempts, Bosch was successful. Synthetic fertilizer was able to be produced on a large scale and this method was called the Haber-Bosch system which gave credit to the researcher as well as to the man who was able to turn the idea into an industrial reality. Then the Germans invaded France and World War I began and the side that would win the war would be the side that had the most fixed nitrogen, BASF, the company that funded the Haber-Bosch system now was in the defense business and Bosch didn’t like the idea. His goal was to produce ammonia for synthetic fertilizer in order to feed people. Now his technology was going to be used to kill people. Historians believe that World War I would have ended one to two years earlier if it wasn’t for the Haber-Bosch system of turning nitrogen into explosives.
With the effort to feed the world’s growing population, the quest to find the best fertilizer has led to many, if not all, of the wars. It has led to the discovery of gunpowder, which led to the making of bombs leading to mass genocides throughout history, including the rise of Hitler. It has taken science to new realms and possibilities, and we as humans have continued to pollute and destroy our planet.