The Birth of Soil Science; Franklin Hiram King

When we talk about the major figures in agricultural development, our focus tends to be on researchers in the 20th and 21st centuries. Before that, soil science to that point had existed as it needed to; fundamentals of crop rotation manure, compost, and the basic tools known in agriculture for thousands of years stood as a framework for how farmers related to the soil beneath them. One of the earliest contributors to the development of soil science as a science beyond these basics outlined prior was Franklin Hiram King. His book, “Farmers of Forty Centuries, or Permanent Agriculture in China, Korea, and Japan”, published in 1913 was the antidote to the development of extractive farming practices which had become more common towards the late 19th and early 20th century and was a foundational text for folks like Russell Lord and many of the major players in the permanent agriculture movement of the early 20th century. King’s work flew in the face of science at the time, costing him a career he had spent a lifetime building, but which was imperative in order for him to continue to follow the thread of his research.

 

In this episode, we dive into the beginning of our new series exploring the origins and evolution of permanent agriculture and where the popular movements of today sprang from (permaculture, agrecology, organics, biodynamics). To understand these narratives, we go back to the beginning of American soil science and the father of the movement, Franklin Hiram King. King's life has largely been lost to history, but we take some time to unpack what we do know in order to contextualize how our understanding of ecology and soil health was born.

 

 

Check out the corresponding substack article for resources, citations, and more information! https://poorprolesalmanac.substack.com/p/franklin-hiram-king 

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