54 [Senate 



man, as they are io the practical husbandman. The term science, i& 

 but another name for knowledge. It is, however, usually limited in- 

 connection with natural phenomena, to the systematic investigation of 

 the laws of nature. Of all men, the practical farmer is most inter- 

 ested in understanding and obeying these wise and salutary laws. 



The fact is susceptible of demonstration, that from a general igno- 

 rance of these laws, we have w^asted in the State of New-York, within 

 the last twenty-five years, the indispensable ingredients that go to 

 form both bread and milk for our children, which,, if placed in New- 

 York and Boston markets, would sell for one hundred millions of 

 dollars. 



The guano imported into Great Britain last year,, sold for $4,0007r 

 000. It is retailed in Western New-York by an exchange of four 

 pounds of flour for one of guano. 



To make an acre of wheat that will yield 20 bushels, the plants 

 must have twelve pounds of phosphorus. To purchase that amount 

 of a substance, which forms one of the constituents of the human brain, 

 at a druggist's shop, will cost $24. 



The fact is notorious that there are thousands^ if not millions, of 

 acres in this State which once bore 20 bushels of good wheat per 

 acre, that now yield not more than ten bushels. To make our twelve 

 millions of bushels of wheat a year, w^e annually consume about 

 7,000,000 pounds of phosphorus. It is the phosphate of lime con- 

 tained in grass and hay, derived from the earth, out of which all our 

 domestic animals form the solid, earthy portion of their bones. At 

 present prices the phosphorus and ammonia, annually thrown away 

 in the solid and liquid excretions of man and his domestic animals, are 

 worth some $20,000,000. 



A cargo of guano — phosphorus and concentrated nitrogen derived 

 from the fish on which sea-fowls feed — arrived in New-York a few 

 days since, which will sell at some $60,000 ! What consummate 

 folly to throw away the raw materials which form our daily bread ! 



In a work just published in this country, M. Boussingault states 

 that he has seen fields on the table lands of the Andes, which have 

 produced excellent crops of wheat annually^ for 200 years. Guano 

 is the fertilizer used on these fields. 



Recent experiments in Scotland have demonstrated the practicabi- 

 lity of growing 44 bushels of wheat on an acre having only 1 h per 

 cent, of organized matter in the soil. It must contain, however, to 



