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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



beloio the seed, or else (especially when the turnips 

 are grown on the ridge) to mix them with a con- 

 siderable pro;)ortion of dry ashes, and spread 

 them on the soil before the last ploughing. 



That a mixture of guano and superphosphate of 

 lime is a far preferable dressing for turnips, than 

 either of these valuable fertilizers applied alone, 

 seems to have been the result of many careful 

 trials made in other and widely different 

 localities : take, for instance, two series of trials 

 lately made in Scotland and in Ireland. In those 

 in Scotland {Quar. Jour. Ag. 1857, p. 667), in 

 one trial the whole field was manured with 20 tons 

 of farm- yard compost per imperial acre, and then 

 dressed with the following manures, at a cost of 

 26s. 6d. per acre. The results were, that on equal- 

 sized ridges — 

 Dissolved bones and Peruvian 



guano gave 6 tons 2 cwt. 



Steamed bones and guano. . „ 6 „ 3 „ 

 Steamed bones and guano. . „ 6 „ 1 „ 

 Dissolved bones alone .... „ 6 „ 7 ,, 

 Dissolved bones alone .... „ 5 „ ^7% „ 

 Steamed bones alone .... „ 5 „ 19 „ 



Leone guano alone „ 4 „ 7 „ 



Leone and Peruvian guano „ 5 „ 12 ,, 

 In another trial, at Borgue — 



Peruvian guano, 5 cwt. per Tons.cwts. 

 acre, produced of bulbs 20 12 per acre. 



Bolivian ditto, 5 do 19 15 „ 



Blood manure, 74 do., do. 18 5 „ 

 Dissolvedbones, 7jdo.,do. 17 15 „ 

 In some experiments made by Mr. Templeton, at 

 Clanboye, in Downshire {Irish Farm. Ga:.), with 

 Skirving's purple-top swede, he found that the 

 turnips from 24 tons of farm-yard manure per acre 

 produced the greatest weight of bulbs per acre ; 

 those from 12 tons of manure and 2^ cwt of 

 Peruvian guano the next greatest weight; those 

 from 12 tons of manure and 12 bushels of crushed 

 bones the next best ; those from 5 cwt. of Peru- 

 vian guano the lowest weight of all. 



It has been the practice v/ith many farmers to 

 mix the Peruvian guano with an equal weight of 

 common salt : this would seem to be especially a 

 useful addition to Peruvian guano, as a dressing for 

 mangel wurzel, and for its after-eifects on the bar- 

 ley crop. 



It is, of course, of the first importance to procure 

 the best Peruvian guano and superphosphate, and 

 I would earnestly warn my readers to be very 

 cautious in the use of any other. Professor 

 Cameron, in his valuable work on "The Chemistry 

 of Agriculture," p. 113, has given the analyses of 

 several varieties of guano known in commerce. 

 Let us only contrast the average composition of the 

 Upper Peruvian guano, with^that from the Kooria 

 Mooria Islands, which last variety I fear is likely 

 to prove of little average value : — 



Of the adulterated (and of course always the 

 dearest) guanoes, and their names and varieties are 

 legion. Professor Cameron too truly tells us that 

 the substances with which guano is adulterated are 

 sand, clay, powdered bricks, marl, chalk, limestone, 

 salt; &c., one or more of these being added to the 

 guano, very commonly to the strong- smelhng 

 Ichaboe or damaged Peruvian, the proportion of 

 course depending not only upon the conscience of 

 the compounder, but on the presumed gullibility of 

 the purchaser. So skilfully are these compounds 

 prepared, that the most experienced buyers are often 

 imposed upon, detection in very many cases being 

 very difficult by any except chemical means. 

 Several analyses of adulterated Peruvian guano 

 were during the past month communicated by 

 Professor Voelcker to the Royal Agricultural So- 

 ciety, see our jn'esent number, page 521. 



The same systematic frauds are carried on in the 

 adulteration of superphosphate of lime. In this 

 case the matter added is very commonly finely- 

 ground coprolites and some cheap salt, such as 

 sulphate of soda or common salt. There is only 

 one safe way of being secure from these robbers. 

 Let the farmer deal only with those makers — and 

 there are more than two or three such — who have 

 been long-established, and whose characters are 

 above suspicion. If the intending purchaser is 

 still in doubt, let him ask the opinion of such men 

 as Anthony Gibbs and Sons, Professors Way, 

 Voelcker, Anderson, Wilson, &c. Let the reader 

 submit to one of these gentlemen a list of makers, 

 and ask him to put a mark to the names of those 

 whom the marker knows to be trustworthy, and 

 then he may purchase with comfort. 



There is certainly a very general growing feeling 

 in favour of superphosphate of lime as a dressing 

 for turnips. The editor of the Quarterly Journal 

 of Agriculture, from the result of Scotch experience, 

 also inclines to this opinion. After observing 

 (volume for 1858, p. 322) that for some years the 

 Caledonian farmers have been profitably trusting 

 to Peruvian guano, he adds, that it has been found, 

 however, that the white crops on those fields on 

 which there has been a recent and several applica- 

 tions of guano are soft in the straw, and do not 

 yield according to bulk as well as they used to do. 

 (This softness of straw, however, has in my expe- 



