John Hancock Klippart (1823–1878) was an American agriculturist and expert on wheat farming.
Biography Klippart was born in Canton, Ohio on July 26, 1823. He worked for the Ohio State Board of Agriculture and has been described as the most "informed individual" of his time on wheat culture. He published a large book in 1858 documenting information about wheat plants and farming.Libecap, Gary D; Steckel, Richard H. (2011). The Economics of Climate Change: Adaptations Past and Present. University of Chicago Press. p. 170.
Klippart was an early evolutionary thinker to have mentioned the concept of natural selection.Ewan, Joseph; Arnold, Chester Arthur. (1969). A Short History of Botany in the United States. Hafner Publishing Company. pp. 61-62. "In 1858, the year in which Darwin and Wallace described natural selection, Klippart of Ohio showed (independently of Darwin and Wallace) how natural selection operated within a cultivated species." According to science historian Conway Zirkle, "In 1858, Klippart showed how nature could displace one variety or species of wheat by another."Zirkle, Conway. (1959). Species Before Darwin. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. Vol. 103, No. 5. pp. 636-644.
He died at his home in Columbus, Ohio on October 24, 1878, aged 55.
Publications An Essay on the Origin, Growth, Diseases, Varieties, etc., of the Wheat Plant (1858) The Wheat Plant: Its Origin, Culture, Growth, Development, Composition, Varieties, Diseases, Etc., Etc. Together With a Few Remarks on Indian Corn, its Culture, Etc. (1860) The Principles and Practice of Land Drainage (1861)
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