Jean-Baptiste Van Mons

Jean-Baptiste Van Mons (1765, Brussels -1842) was a Pharmacien, Chimiste, Botaniste, Agronome. Polyglot and scientist of first reputation, it was a modern man, opened with the novel ideas. He maintained a correspondence with Alessandro Volta, the inventor of the galvanic Pile, diffusing as far as England the ideas of the famous Italian physicist, being made on the other hand on the continent the propagandist of the ideas of Jenner on the Vaccine, allures by the revolutionary ideal, his overflowing enthusiasm involves it to work out a news philosophical Chimie: he explains the world while resorting to two elementary principles, hydrogen and oxygen, preexistent with the creation, to which comes to be added the third and last element, the Calorique, being able to appear in the form of heat, of light or electricity, and which is for him " this emanation of the sun whose presence on the ground has is enough to organize the globe".

Chemistry

In the controversy of the time between the theory of the Phlogistique of Georg Ernst Stahl and the novel ideas of Lavoisier, Van Mons and German Gren whom a polemic with the large French chemist opposed Claude-Louis Berthollet, even raises to him of Lavoisier.

The reputation of Van Mons is such as the two parts admit its arbitration. Object of the litigation: the Lime (oxide) of mercury does it contain well Oxygène? The answer is affirmative. Exceptional qualities of experimentation of Van Mons enable him to take a decision and convince.

Pomology

Professor with Leuwen, it dedicated most of his life to the Pomologie. To trust of the four thousand varieties of Fruit trees of its exceptional garden, he devoted himself mainly to the creation of new varieties of Poire (such as Beurré Diel or Frederic of Wurtemberg).

The theory Van Mons on the reproduction of the fruit trees

According to Van Mons, all the fruits which we consume are artificial fruits. The goal of Nature, in a wild state, is simply to produce trees the operational possible with the most perfect possible seeds for the continuity of the species. The goal of the nurserymen is thus to go against this natural movement by weakening excesses of vegetation, to decrease the size and the number of seeds and to increase the quantity and the quality of the Pulpe.

Our fruit trees often have a tendency natural to turn over towards the wild state when their seeds are sown. This tendency is increased on seeds coming from fruits gathered on old trees. The seeds coming from young people cultivars of quality are thus ready to create new interesting varieties.

Throughout its career, Van Mons thus attempted to sow seeds resulting from the first fruits of young trees born of known sowings of pip of cultivars. Then to sow seeds of the first fruits (hardly walls) resulting from these sowings. Each time, it transplanted young sowings and cut their roots in order to disturb the growth and to cause transformations. It noted that progressively, these sowings produced fruits increasingly young person and with a quality improving with each generation. The fifth generation of pear trees put at fruit at the three years age. It noted that the pear trees are longest to improve and requires 5 generations, apple trees 4 and plum trees 3.

Pierre-Antoine Poiteau wrote in 1835 one entitled book: " On the theory Van Mons, or historical note on the means which Mr. Van Mons employs to obtain from excellent fruits of sowing ".

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