Franklin Hiram King (F.H. King) was an American agricultural scientist who was born 8 June 1848 on a farm near Whitewater, Wisconsin. He received his professional education and training at Whitewater State Normal School and then at Cornell University. He was a professor of agricultural physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 1888 to 1902. While his interests varied F.H. King's work was mainly focused on soil physics and his career had the largest impact on the field of soil science. In the United States he has been called the father of soil physics. In 1902 F.H. King left Wisconsin to work for as the chief of the Division of Soil Management in the USDA Bureau of Soils in Washington, D.C. There his research found that the concentration of nutrients in soil solutions was correlated with crop yield - a stance that conflicted with the chief of the bureau - and King was forced to resign. King published those materials privately from the work he had conducted.
After his resignation from the Bureau of Soils King returned to Wisconsin where, for the last several years of his life, he spent his time conducting further research in agricultural physics. During this period he published several books, the most notable being Farmers of Forty Centuries, or Permanent Agriculture in China, Korea, and Japan , which contained his reflections on what is now known as organic farming or sustainable agriculture during a 9 month tour of Asia in 1909. The last chapter of the book was completed after his death in 1911 by his wife Carrie Baker King. Among these
accomplishments King was also known for his designing of the cylindrical storage silo and is commemorated at the University of Wisconsin - Madison by King Hall, renamed such in 1934, which now houses the Department of Soil Sciences. He is also commemorated by the F.H. King Students for Sustainable Agriculture, a student organization which grows crops that are then given to community residents in order to raise awareness of sustainable farming and gardening.
