Critical Turning Point cont...
In
1840 Justus von Liebig published his Agricultural Chemistry and within a year
the first artificial fertilizer factory opened at Deptford, south-east of
London, where a ‘Super-phosphate of Lime, Phosphate of Ammonia, Silicate of
Potash, etc’ was manufactured.
A
new age was born. Where previously farmers had relied on the recycling of
locally-produced waste to keep their land in good condition, they now could
access a range of specialized products designed for specific crops or soil
conditions. What on earth could go wrong?
Above image sourced from Wikipedia (Author: Materialscientist) under
Wikimedia Commons
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Justus_von_Liebig_NIH.jpg