Max Fesca (31 March 1846 – 31 October 1917) was a German specialist in

agricultural science Agricultural science (or agriscience for short) is a broad multidisciplinary field of biology that encompasses the parts of exact, natural, economic and social sciences that are used in the practice and understanding of agriculture. Professio ...

and

agronomy Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants by agriculture for food, fuel, fiber, chemicals, recreation, or land conservation. Agronomy has come to include research of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and ...

, hired by the

Meiji government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

as a

foreign advisor Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United S ...

from 1882 to 1894.

Biography

Fesca was born in Soldin,

Neumark The Neumark (), also known as the New March () or as East Brandenburg (), was a region of the Margraviate of Brandenburg and its successors located east of the Oder River in territory which became part of Poland in 1945 except some villages o ...

Province of Brandenburg The Province of Brandenburg () was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1947. Brandenburg was established in 1815 from the Kingdom of Prussia's core territory, comprised the bulk of the historic Margraviate of Brandenburg (excluding Altmark) and ...

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

(modern Myślibórz, Poland) as the son of a post office manager. From 1868 he studied agriculture and

natural science Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

s at the

University of Halle Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (), also referred to as MLU, is a public research university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg. It is the largest and oldest university in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. MLU offers German and i ...

, and moved in 1873 to the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

. His thesis in

agricultural chemistry Agricultural chemistry is the chemistry, especially organic chemistry and biochemistry, as they relate to agriculture. Agricultural chemistry embraces the structures and chemical reactions relevant in the production, protection, and use of Crop, ...

was based on the physical composition of

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

leaves. He then worked for three semesters as a teaching assistant at the University of Halle. At the end of 1874 he returned to Göttingen and qualified as an expert on soil sciences. In 1875, he made a research tour of

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

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, publishing a book on his return. By the summer of 1882 Fesca was a lecturer at the Agricultural Institute of the University of Göttingen.

Life in Japan

However, in late 1882, Fesca received an offer by the Japanese government to head the Agronomic Division by the Geological Research Institute of the

Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce The was a cabinet-level ministry in the government of the Empire of Japan from 1881 to 1925. It was briefly recreated as the during World War II. History The original Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce was created on April 7, 1881, initially ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

with a focus on improving on the techniques and

productivity Productivity is the efficiency of production of goods or services expressed by some measure. Measurements of productivity are often expressed as a ratio of an aggregate output to a single input or an aggregate input used in a production proce ...

of Japanese agriculture. He also taught courses at the Komaba Agricultural School (which later merged into

Tokyo Imperial University The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public university, public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several Edo peri ...

) in

Meguro, Tokyo is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in the Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. The English translation of its Japanese self-designation is Meguro City. The ward was founded on March 15, 1947. Meguro is predominantly residential in character ...

. Fesca found that the relatively low productivity of the Japanese farmer compared with German farmers was not due to small size of their land plots as was commonly suggested, but due to shallow

tillage Tillage is the agriculture, agricultural preparation of soil by mechanical wikt:agitation#Noun, agitation of various types, such as digging, stirring, and overturning. Examples of manual labour, human-powered tilling methods using hand tools inc ...

methods which required the extensive use of

fertilizer A fertilizer or fertiliser is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from liming materials or other non-nutrient soil amendments. Man ...

s that farmers often could not afford. This was compounded by a poor understanding of

crop rotation Crop rotation is the practice of growing a series of different types of crops in the same area across a sequence of growing seasons. This practice reduces the reliance of crops on one set of nutrients, pest and weed pressure, along with the pro ...

, and lack of heavy

draft animal A working animal is an animal, usually domesticated, that is kept by humans and trained to perform tasks. Some are used for their physical strength (e.g. oxen and draft horses) or for transportation (e.g. riding horses and camels), while othe ...

s to permit deep tillage. Fesca came to be regarded as the “father of modern Japanese agriculture" through his introduction of new farm implements, deep tillage methods, crop rotation and new seeds. During his time in Japan, he faced a constant uphill struggle against the ''Rōnō'' ("expert farmers"), a hereditary title granted by the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

to farmers with exceptional skill or local knowledge. While these farmers formed the backbone of traditional agricultural methods and their local knowledge was invaluable, their insistence on traditional time-proven methods formed a strong conservative resistance to the new western agricultural methods Fesca attempted to introduce. During his time in Japan, Fesca made a comprehensive survey of agriculture in the province of Kai (later renamed as

Yamanashi prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Yamanashi Prefecture has a population of 787,592 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,465 km2 (1,724 sq mi). Yamanashi Prefecture borders Saitama Prefecture to the n ...

), and also wrote a number of technical papers on the

land reclamation Land reclamation, often known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new Terrestrial ecoregion, land from oceans, list of seas, seas, Stream bed, riverbeds or lake ...

of wild grasslands in the

Kantō region The is a geography, geographical region of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. In a common definition, the region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures of Japan, prefectures: Chiba Prefecture, Chiba, Gunma Prefe ...

. In 1890, he published ''Beiträge zur Kenntniss der japanischen Landwirtschaft'', based on his experiences in Japan.University of Hokkaido Library
Agricultural conditions
. Fesca returned to Germany in 1894, receiving on the completion of his many years in Japan the

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese honors system, Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge feat ...

(4th class) and

Order of the Sacred Treasures The is a Japanese order, established on 4 January 1888 by Emperor Meiji as the Order of Meiji. Originally awarded in eight classes (from 8th to 1st, in ascending order of importance), since 2003 it has been awarded in six classes, the lowest tw ...

(3rd class), from

Emperor Meiji , posthumously honored as , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the List of emperors of Japan, traditional order of succession, reigning from 1867 until his death in 1912. His reign is associated with the Meiji Restoration of 1868, which ...

. On his way back to Germany, he visited

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

Malacca Malacca (), officially the Historic State of Malacca (), is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state in Malaysia located in the Peninsular Malaysia#Other features, southern region of the Malay Peninsula, facing the Strait of Malacca ...

, and

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

examining tropical agricultural practices. From 1894 to 1895, he lectured at his alma mater, the University of Göttingen. In 1897, he accepted a post as lecturer in

tropical agriculture Worldwide more human beings gain their livelihood from agriculture than any other endeavor; the majority are self-employed subsistence farmers living in the tropics. While growing food for local consumption is the core of tropical agriculture, ...

at the

Agricultural University of Berlin The Agricultural University of Berlin () was an agricultural university in Berlin, Germany. Established in 1881, it was closed in 1934, and incorporated as a faculty into the Humboldt University of Berlin. History Academic teaching in agricultur ...

and during the 1899/1900 winter semester, he lectured at the Agricultural University of Bonn-Poppelsdorf. From 1901, Fesca worked as a professor of tropical agriculture at the German Colonial School in

Witzenhausen Witzenhausen () is a small town in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis in northeastern Hesse, Germany. It was granted town rights in 1225, and until 1974 was a district seat. The University of Kassel maintains a satellite campus in Witzenhausen, which offer ...

. He lectured on crops, climate, soils and fertilizers as well as animal husbandry. From 1910 to 1914 he taught at the German Colonial Institute in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

. His last years were spent in

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden (; ) is the capital of the German state of Hesse, and the second-largest Hessian city after Frankfurt am Main. With around 283,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 24th-largest city. Wiesbaden form ...

. Fesca published numerous articles on tropical agriculture in the

scientific journal In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication designed to further the progress of science by disseminating new research findings to the scientific community. These journals serve as a platform for researchers, schola ...

''Tropical Plants''. He completed a three-volume textbook on crop production in the tropics and subtropics, ''Der Pflanzenbau in den Tropen und Subtropen'', shortly before his death in 1917.

Selected works

* Fesca, Max. (1894). ''Die Aufgaben und die Thaetigkeit der agronomischen Abtheilung der kaiserl. japanischen geologischen Landesaufnahme.'' Yokohama.Wenckstern, Frederich. (1895)
''A Bibliography of the Japanese Empire,'' p. 175.
/ref> * ___________. (1890–1893)
''Beiträge zur Kenntniss der japanischen Landwirtschaft,''
2 vols. Berlin: Paul Paley.

Notes

References

* Wenckstern, Frederich. (1895)
''A Bibliography of the Japanese Empire: To which is Added a Facsimile-reprint of: Léon Pagès, «Bibliographie Japonaise Depuis Le XVe Siècle Jusqu'á 1859».''
Leiden: E.J. Brill. {{DEFAULTSORT:Fesca, Max 1846 births 1919 deaths People from Myślibórz Scientists from the Province of Brandenburg Foreign advisors to the government in Meiji-era Japan Foreign educators in Japan German expatriates in Japan Agriculture in Japan Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun Recipients of the Order of the Sacred Treasure