The Price of Nitrogen at the End of the Nineteenth Century

Abstract The second half of the nineteenth century was marked by the concomitant and entangled processes of the rise of agricultural chemistry and that of the fertiliser trade. Yet, while the two were undoubtedly related, the work of agricultural chemists was not necessarily characterized by the uniform and unequivocal promotion of fertilisers. This article looks at some of the complex ways in which chemists participated in the development of the fertiliser trade by studying how their work was used to ascribe a commercial price to a chemical element. It analyses the contested development of the idea that nitrogen, in particular, could be given a price, and shows how the rise of this quotation lay at the intersection of scientific and commercial considerations. More broadly, it argues that the importance of the new artificial fertilisers primarily lay not so much in yield increases as in inaugurating a new regime marked by a more comprehensive quantitative assessment of inputs and outputs, thereby playing a key role in the industrialisation of agriculture.

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Quantitative assessment of ionic status of pond water for irrigation and aquaculture usage in the selected sites of Mymensingh areas, Bangladesh

Research in Agriculture Livestock and Fisheries ◽

10.3329/ralf.v6i2.43053 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 301-313

Author(s):

Taslima Akter ◽

Shampa Rani Ghosh ◽

Sitesh Chandra Sarker ◽

Md Mokhlesur Rahman ◽

KM Eadun Nabi

Keyword(s):

Water Samples ◽

Quantitative Assessment ◽

Ph Value ◽

Pond Water ◽

The Other ◽

Acceptable Limit ◽

Legal Limit ◽

Other Hand ◽

Agricultural Chemistry ◽

Inorganic Components

Ponds are considered to be self-contained, land lock ecosystem which is often teeming with rich vegetation and diverse organismal life. The pond water contains different organic and inorganic components. The experiment was carried out in laboratory, Department of Agricultural Chemistry, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh through collection of pond water from Gouripur and Muktagacha under Mymensingh division for assessment of major ionic status and suitability parameters for irrigation and aquaculture usage in quantitative way. Around 30 samples were collected from different location. On the basis of HCO3 ion, all water samples except 3 samples were not suitable for irrigation because this anion exceeded the acceptable limit (1.5 meL-1). On the other hand, HCO3 ion was not treated as problematic in all samples except 2 samples for aquaculture usages. The concentrations of Ca, Mg, Na, K, PO4 and SO4 were far below the recommended limit. Considering aquaculture usage, Cl ion was considered as hazardous in all the pond water samples because this anion was above the legal limit (<0.003mgL-1). pH value of pond ranged from 7.02 to 7.87 indicating alkaline in nature and were not problematic for irrigation and aquaculture usage. Among the major ionic constituents, the remarkable significant correlations existed between Ca vs Mg, Ca vs K, Mg vs SO4, K vs Na, Na vs SO4. Res. Agric., Livest. Fish.6(2): 301-313, August 2019

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Charles Liernurs pneumatische riool en het besturen van bodems

De Moderne Tijd ◽

10.5117/dmt2021.3/4.005.meij ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (3/4) ◽

pp. 311-327

Author(s):

Maarten Meijer

Keyword(s):

Nineteenth Century ◽

Final Section ◽

Dutch Society ◽

Urban Waste ◽

Content Type ◽

Sewage System ◽

Agricultural Chemistry ◽

The Difference ◽

Shed Light

Abstract Charles Liernur’s Pneumatic Sewage System and the Governing of Soils This article interrogates the epistemological conditions of Charles Liernur’s pneumatic sewage system in order to shed light on the changing relation between soils and Dutch society in the nineteenth century. The first section discusses the relation between hygienism, soil and sewage. The second section unearths how Liernur’s design related to the agricultural chemistry of Justus Liebig. Through the epistemologies and the mediating technologies that are operationalized by hygienists and chemists, soils are made governable. The final section of this article discusses the struggle to commercialise the urban waste collected by Liernur’s system, highlighting the difference between governable and governed soils.

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Everything Circulates: Agricultural Chemistry and Recycling Theories in the Second Half of the Nineteenth Century

Environment and History ◽

10.3197/096734002129342602 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 65-84 ◽

Cited By ~ 30

Author(s):

E. Marald

Keyword(s):

Nineteenth Century ◽

Agricultural Chemistry

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Spectroscopy and the Elements in the Late Nineteenth Century: The Work of Sir William Crookes

The British Journal for the History of Science ◽

10.1017/s0007087400012553 ◽

1973 ◽

Vol 6 (4) ◽

pp. 400-423 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Robert K. DeKosky

Keyword(s):

Nineteenth Century ◽

Chemical Element ◽

Operational Definition ◽

Late Nineteenth Century ◽

Late Nineteenth ◽

Definition Of

Two imposing related problems confronted the chemical spectroscopist of the late nineteenth century. First, he lacked a criterion for judging the validity of claims for elemental discoveries; indeed, he possessed no satisfactory operational definition of the chemical element. Secondly, he felt the need for correlating the spectra of the elements to a conception of their ultimate constitution.

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Before the “Black Box”: The Inputs and Outputs of Nineteenth-century Deep-sea Science

Science Technology & Human Values ◽

10.1177/0162243919881201 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 45 (4) ◽

pp. 596-617

Author(s):

Rodolfo John Alaniz

Keyword(s):

Nineteenth Century ◽

Deep Sea ◽

Black Box ◽

Scientific Practices ◽

Black Boxes ◽

Inputs And Outputs

Nineteenth-century investigations of the deep sea provide a case study for black box science. Naturalists were forced to theorize about a space for which they had no direct sensory observations. This study traces the emergence of bathymetry and deep-sea biology and then analyzes how men of science dealt with the uncertainty associated with their black box practices. I argue that these investigators created multiple types of black boxes based on their uncertainties and that these black boxes did not operate equivalently. Consequently, scholars should be aware of the different categories of black boxes when they describe scientific practices.

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The Guano Voyages

Rural History ◽

10.1017/s0956793306002044 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 18 (1) ◽

pp. 119-133 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

CELIA CORDLE

Keyword(s):

Nineteenth Century ◽

Rural History ◽

Agricultural Community ◽

Agricultural Chemistry ◽

Important Extension ◽

Naval Officers

This paper on guano stems from research into hop cultivation in Kent. Parliamentary Papers give fascinating accounts of voyages made during the nineteenth century to obtain this ‘wonder’ fertiliser. The efforts made on behalf of the agricultural community by naval officers and seamen were an important extension of rural history, and were considered vital at the time. The paper describes the effort that went into this cooperation between agriculture and the navy, as well as its global scope, at a time when agricultural chemistry was in its infancy. Although developments in chemistry would displace the need for guano within two decades, the desire for guano was then very striking. Naval personnel underwent considerable danger and physical hardship during these explorations to bring farmers the fertilisers that they wanted, and some features of this narrative are explored here.

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