His father, Johann Friedrich Thaer, was physician to the Court, and born in Liebenwerda, in Saxony; his mother, Sophie Elisabeth, was the daughter of J. Saffe, receiver of rents and taxes of the district of Celle.

Albert was the first born, and had three sisters, Christine, Albertine, and Wilhelmine, of which the first died in infancy, the second was married to Captain Schweppe, and the youngest to the well-known privy councillor, Doctor Jacobi.

This honor came unexpectedly, and he could not withdraw himself at once from his profession, but began by degrees to resign his practice, and continued his favorite occupation, the improvement of agriculture, with the view of establishing an experimental farm.

The king of Prussia Frederick William III was exceedingly anxious to have Thaer's services, invited him to reside within his kingdom, and granted him the following advantages: These privileges and honors were too tempting.

He accepted the king's offer, and left Celle for Berlin; took possession of the 400 acres; sold it immediately, and bought the present landed estates Moegelin, and obtained all the privileges of a nobleman.

[2] Thaer is buried in his garden, opposite the family dwelling, on the shore of a small clear pond, among the trees which he planted himself, "his children," as he called them.

No cold, huge block of marble tells you that here lies father Thaer; but above his grave rises a pyramid of flowers which with their fragrance arrest the attention of visitors, and point with their rich colored petals to the grave, where the man lies who loved them, and who spent his life among them, watching their mysterious habits, to catch a glimpse of the Great Mother's secret operations.

Among the professors were Georg Ernst Wilhelm Crome from 1808 until 1813, Franz Körte from 1814 to 1830, and Philipp Albrecht Thaer from 1830 until its inclusion in the Berlin Agricultural Training Institute in 1861.

In the year 1804, the King of Prussia had invited Thaer to settle in his dominions, and gave him the estate of Mogelin, situated about forty-five miles from Berlin, consisting of 1,200 acres, to manage as a pattern farm.

The three professors were — one for Mathematics, Chemistry and Geology, one for Veterinary Knowledge, and a third for Botany and Entomology; an experienced agriculturist was also engaged, whose office it was to point out to the pupils the mode of applying the sciences to the practical business of husbandry.

During the winter months, the time is occupied in mathematics, and the first six books of Euclid were studied: and in the summer, the geometrical knowledge was practically applied to the measurement of land, timber, buildings, and other objects.

A herbarium, with a good collection of dried plants which was constantly increasing, wa open to the examination of the pupils, as well as skeletons of the different animals, and casts of their several parts, which must have been of great use in veterinary pursuits.

[4] The various implements used on the farm were all made by smiths, wheelers, and carpenters, residing round the institution; the workshops were open to the pupils, and they were encouraged by attentive inspection, to become masters of the more minute branches of the economy of an estate.

[4] Thaer's most quoted book is the four volumes Grundsätze der rationellen Landwirthschaft (1809–1812), which was translated into English in 1844 as The Principles of Agriculture by William Shaw and Cuthbert W. Johnson.

The work embraces the theory of the soil, the clearing of land, plowing, manuring, and irrigation, hedges and fences, management of meadow and pasture lands; the cultivation of wheat, rye, corn, oats, barley, buckwheat, hops, tobacco, clover, and all the varieties of grasses; the economy of kine stock, breeding and feeding; the management of the dairy, and the use of manures, and the various systems of cultivation, keeping journals and farm records.

[6] While thus the agriculturist is led, as it were, from without to the internal economy of landed property, he must further-be so prepared, that he can judge not only of the soil on the same, and the materials contained in it, but also the given degree of richness, and the fit culture.

So, that the thought may be reduced to reality, he must be possessed of a rapid, sharp, sure perception and skill, and with an extensive knowledge of the particular business, instruments, and modes of operation, in the practice of his profession.

[6] To look through this system correctly and regulate it, the agriculturist needs only the aid of a properly arranged and carefully executed' mode of keeping accounts: for as, according to the expression of Thaer the elder, "Account-keeping is the A B C of every trade," so it is wholly and especially the alphabet of agricultural enterprise.

As it has been shown how the material and elements must act together, to educate a thorough and an able agriculturist it seems to us, also, that we have, at the same time, shown that while we have in view, as the immediate object of our school, this forming of thorough farmers, we must not limit the object within a narrow space; but make the training which accomplishes the general purpose, such as will enable a young man of a good preliminary education, sound parts and due application, to search still farther and acquire a high degree of information in this trade and science, by books and words.