1882.] COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS. 67 



dence in the absolute purity or genuineness of the article. It has 

 of course been a trying time for those engaged in the guano trade, 

 because of the anarchy which prevails lu Peru and makes ship- 

 ments almost impossible. At present it is impossible to say what 

 is to be the future of the guano trade. I learn that there have 

 been sales of thirty thousand tons to London capitalists for this 

 country, and that several cargoes are on the way. That will meet 

 the demand for the year to come, but beyond that nothing is cer- 

 tain. It is the opinion of those in a position to judge that the 

 guano supply in Peru is by no means exhausted, and under a 

 stable and enlightened government, such as its neighbor Chili 

 enjoys, Peru might supply Europe and America with guano for 

 years to come. 



I have dwelt at some length on Peruvian guano, and will not 

 stop to mention certain other places where guano of equally good 

 quality has been gathered, for the yield has been small and the 

 localities soon exhausted, or the quality of the deposits has become 

 so inferior as to make their working unprofitable. 



Of late an article has appeared in market called bat guano. It 

 is a cave deposit found in Cuba and other of the "West India 

 Islands, in Arkansas and Texas, as well as in some parts of 

 Europe, but the most of it has come to us from Samana Bay. As 

 the name suggests, it consists of the excrement of bats which 

 make the caves their resting places. Some small lots taken from 

 the surf:xe fresh were imported, showing 30^ of aiumonia largely 

 in the form of urate of ammonia, but the underlying material dis- 

 appointed expectations, averaging ^^ ammonia and 4 to 5^ phos- 

 phoric acid, and several cargoes have been rejected because they 

 were not much better than garden soil. Owing to the ignorance of 

 loaders the least valuable material has often been shipped, and even 

 when the content of nitrogen is considerable, much of it may con- 

 sist of the undigested cases of insects upon which the bats feed, 

 which though highly nitrogenous are probably quite inert as a 

 fertilizer. For these reasons the material do€fs not find much 

 favor with dealers. 



I have said that from 50 to 60^ by weight of guano is soluble 

 in water, and that for this reason real guano in only found in rain- 

 less climates. 



Now there are many secluded places, generally islands, which 

 are the favorite resorts and homes of vast flocks of birds which 

 live almost entirely on the fish of the surrounding waters, but 



