Fertilizer
By Christina Tipton
History
Management of soil fertility has been the pre-occupation of farmers for thousands of years. The start of the modern science of plant nutrition dates to the 19th century and the work of German chemist Justus von Liebig, among others.
John Bennet Lawes, an English entrepreneur, began to experiment on the effects of various manures on plants growing in pots in 1837, and a year or two later the experiments were extended to crops in the field. In 1842 he patented manure formed by treating phosphates with sulfuric acid, and thus was the first to create the artificial manure industry. In the succeeding year he enlisted the services of Joseph Henry Gilbert, with whom he carried on for more than half a century on experiments in raising crops at the Rothamsted Experimental Station.
5 Facts
2) It can be harmful to people and animals if consumed
3) It usually contains nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium compounds that perform many functions
4) It can cause water pollution when it is washed off of soil into a water source
5) Many farmers today depend on fertilizers and would find it hard to grow their crops with out it
Where it is found
Biblical Integration
Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinda." And it was so