Johann Burger (agronomist)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Johann Burger (1773–1842)

Johann Burger (born August 5, 1773 in Wolfsberg , Carinthia , † January 24, 1842 in Vienna ) was an Austrian agricultural scientist .

Live and act

Burger, the son of a doctor, initially apprenticed to a surgeon, studied medicine in Klagenfurt and received his master's degree in 1794. After three years in the doctor's office of his father, who died young, he continued his medical studies at the University of Vienna and finished it in 1798 at the University of Freiburg i. Br. With the doctorate. Then he returned to his hometown Wolfsberg and settled as a general practitioner.

Like Albrecht Daniel Thaer , Burger also conducted intensive botanical studies in addition to his medical work. He grew flowers in his home garden. He found the way to scientific farming through Thaer's agricultural writings. In 1804 he leased a small farm near Wolfsberg. Here he devoted himself particularly to the cultivation of corn . He obtained seeds of this cultivated plant from many countries and examined the cultivation of the different varieties . He studied the entire corn literature and exchanged extensive letters with farmers at home and abroad. In 1809 he published a " Complete Treatise on Natural History, Culture and Use of Maize or Turkish Weitzens ". This first maize monograph was an unsurpassed standard work for decades and is today one of the "classics" of the specialist plant literature.

From 1808 to 1820 Burger worked as a professor of agriculture at the Lyceum in Klagenfurt . With the acquisition of a larger property not far from Klagenfurt, he expanded his experimental base. During the years of Napoleon's continental dam , he mainly dealt with the extraction of sugar from grapes, plums, corn and maple sap and published the results in two papers in 1811 and 1812. In addition, he sustainably promoted the activities of the Carinthian Agricultural Society. He supported their plans to introduce insurance against fire and hail damage.

In Klagenfurt Burger wrote his main scientific work, a two-volume " Textbook of Agriculture ". The first volume appeared in 1819, the second in 1821. In this book, Burger divides agricultural studies into five main areas: agronomy (location theory), agriculture (fertilizer theory), plant culture (general and special plant cultivation), animal husbandry and household theory (economy). Because of the linguistic clarity and the logical systematics, this work was one of the best textbooks of its time. By 1838 it had four editions. It was also highly valued in other European countries. There were editions in Polish, Russian, Swedish, French and English.

In 1820, Burger was transferred to Trieste as Gubernialrat and entrusted with the basic assessment for the tax cadastre . The same work was later entrusted to him for the Lombard-Venetian Kingdom. As a scientific result of this activity, Burger published the two-volume work " Journey through Upper Italy with excellent consideration for the current state of agriculture ... " in 1831/32 . The book, which has been reprinted twice, is considered a masterpiece of depicting agricultural conditions in a region.

In 1830 Burger took up residence in Vienna and organized the basic assessments for the tax cadastre in Lower Austria. At the same time he was an active member of the Agricultural Society in Vienna and its secretary from 1838 until his death. During the last years of his life he was mainly concerned with the culture of the grapevine . In addition to smaller articles in specialist journals, in 1837 he published a " Systematic Classification and Description of the Grape Types occurring in Austrian Vineyards ... ".

Burger, married since 1801 and father of seven children, was a tireless researcher who lived entirely for agriculture. He has made a great contribution to both scientifically sound and practical agriculture teaching. He is one of the most outstanding agricultural scientists in the first half of the 19th century.

Major works

  • Complete treatise on natural history, culture and use of maize or Turkish Weitzens . Joseph Geistingers Verlag Vienna 1809; 2nd edition IC Kummer Leipzig 1811.
  • Studies on the possibility and the benefit of sugar production from the juice of grapes in the Austrian states . Publisher Leon Klagenfurt 1811.
  • Experiments on the representation of the sugar from the sap of domestic plants . Publisher Gerold Vienna 1812.
  • Agriculture textbook . 2 vol., Verlag Gerold Vienna 1819 u. 1821; 2nd edition ibid. 1823 a. 1824; 3rd edition, ibid. 1830; 4th edition, ibid. 1838.
  • Journey through Upper Italy with special consideration of the present state of agriculture, the size of the population, land area, taxation and the purchase and lease value of the grounds . 2 vols., Verlag Doll Wien 1831 u. 1832; New editions under the title: The agriculture in Upper Italy, depicted on a trip from Trieste via Venice to Milan, and from then on to all regions of Lombardy. With historical, statistical, geographical and especially agricultural remarks . 2 vols., Verlag Braumüller Wien: first new edition 1843, second new edition 1851.
  • Systematic classification and description of the grape species occurring in Austrian vineyards, with the characteristic features of the genera and species, their scientific and local names and the special properties of the grapes and the wines made from them . Publisher Gerold Vienna 1837.

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Burger, Johann
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian agricultural scientist
DATE OF BIRTH August 5, 1773
PLACE OF BIRTH Wolfsberg , Carinthia
DATE OF DEATH January 24, 1842
Place of death Vienna