John Augustus Voelcker CIE (24 June 1854 – 6 November 1937) was an English

agricultural chemist Agricultural chemistry is the study of chemistry, especially organic chemistry and biochemistry, as they relate to agriculture—agricultural production (economics), production, the food processing, processing of raw products into foods and beverag ...

and the second son of the German-born English chemist Augustus Voelcker (1822–1884). John Augustus (Jr.) succeeded his father as consulting chemist to the

Royal Agricultural Society of England The Royal Agricultural Society of England (RASE) promotes the scientific development of English agriculture. It was established in 1838 with the motto "Practice with Science" and received its Royal Charter from Queen Victoria in 1840. RASE is bas ...

and continued research on soil fertility. He headed a committee that examined issues in

Indian agriculture Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

in 1891.

Early life and career

John was the second of five sons of Augustus Voelcker and born at Cirencester. After school he studied chemistry under Temple Orme before joining University College where his chemistry teacher was Professor Alexander William Williamson. He was also a long distance runner and a member of the London Athletic Club. He won two medals at the 1881 AAA Championships. Voelcker then, like his father, studied chemistry in

Giessen Giessen, spelled Gießen in German (), is a town in the German state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 univers ...

and received a doctorate for work on the composition of

apatite Apatite is a group of phosphate minerals, usually hydroxyapatite, fluorapatite and chlorapatite, with high concentrations of OH−, F− and Cl− ions, respectively, in the crystal. The formula of the admixture of the three most common e ...

and natural forms of calcium phosphate. He then returned to England to work with his father's laboratory. After the death of his father in 1884, he continued the experiments at the Woburn Experimental Station. One of the key findings at Woburn was the finding that sulphate of ammonia use in acidic soils led to the loss of soil nutrients by the leaching of calcium sulphate from the soil.

Indian agriculture

In 1889, Voelcker was requested, on the recommendation of Sir James Caird, by the Secretary of State for India to examine improvements in Indian agriculture. He then spent a full year travelling around India and producing a 450-page report of recommendations. Voelcker's travels and enquiries led to his noting that Indian agriculture was highly varied across the country, defying generalization, and that some of the farming practices were as good as they could be. He called for a systematic study for the improvement of farming systems. The department of agriculture had been dissolved but Voelcker met a key person associated with it in the past, Allan Octavian Hume. Hume had been highly critical of British policy in India. Voelcker also met Robert H. Elliot who was against artificial fertilisers. With regard to

soil fertility Soil fertility refers to the ability of soil to sustain agricultural plant growth, i.e. to provide plant habitat and result in sustained and consistent yields of high quality.

, he noted that in areas where fuel was in short supply, that cattle manure was used for burning and not returned to the soil. He suggested that this could be ameliorated through the establishment of fuelwood plantations. It has been suggested that Voelcker's report was in many places a social critique, partly of imperialism. Following Voelcker's suggestion and in the face of impending famines, English chemist J. Walter Leather was appointed agricultural chemist. George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston read the report and took various measures to re-establish a department of agriculture to coordinate policy across the country. Curzon appointed

James William Mollison James William Mollison (1858 – 1927) was a British specialist in agriculture who worked in the Bombay Presidency, where he served as director of agriculture before being appointed as the first inspector general of agriculture in India. Molliso ...

from Bombay as the first Inspector General of Agriculture in 1901. For his contributions to Indian agriculture, Voelcker was made Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire in 1928. A mineral was named after him as Voelckerite but it was subsequently identified as being a form of

fluorapatite Fluorapatite, often with the alternate spelling of fluoroapatite, is a phosphate mineral with the formula Ca5(PO4)3F (calcium fluorophosphate). Fluorapatite is a hard crystalline solid. Although samples can have various color (green, brown, bl ...

Personal life

Voelcker was a devout Christian who attended St. John's Presbyterian Church at Kensington. He married Alice Westgarth in 1884 and they had three sons and three daughters.

References

External links

''Report on the improvement of Indian agriculture'' (1893)

Russell, E. J. and J A Voelcker (1916) Fifty years of field experiments at the Woburn experimental station. Longmans, Green and Co.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Voelcker, J. A. English chemists 1854 births 1937 deaths