Rothamsted Experimental Station – 150 Years of Agricultural Research The Longest Continuous Scientific Experiment?

Abstract

In 1993, Rothamsted Experimental Station, the oldest agricultural research institute in the world, celebrated 150 years of experimental work on the production of farm crops. Most of the station's 'classical experiments', begun by its founder John (later Sir John) Lawes between 1843 and 1856, continue today and provide useful information for contemporary agriculture and ecology which Lawes could never have envisaged. These include development of a model for the turnover of organic matter in soil, assessments of the increasing pollution of soil by toxic metals and organic carcinogens resulting from twentieth century industrial activities, and insights into the ecological consequences of changes in agricultural policies. The experiments also provide many examples of the value of long term, systematic data collection and interdisciplinary research in agricultural production, ecology and environmental pollution. Facilities for this work became available through the scientific flair and foresight of Lawes, and since his death have been maintained and extended by generations of dedicated scientists.