160 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



ruvian Government. From the annual circular of 

 Messrs. Seymour, Peacock, and Co., we glean the fol- 

 lowing particulars : According to the published docu- 

 ments, no guano can be taken from the Islands by the 

 new contractors until December, 1861 ; the exclusive 

 sales will therefore remain in the hands of the present 

 contractors until about May, 1862. The consumption 

 has considerably declined during the last few yeai-s, 

 the sales in Great Britain having been 214,707 tons 

 from July 1855 to June 1856, and but 149,000 tons 

 between July 1859 and June 1860. In Belgium, 

 during the same periods, the consumption declined 

 from 54,987 tons to about 35,000 tons; in Germany 

 from 33,994 tons to about 23,000 tons. The only 

 places supplied under the general guano charter in 

 which there has been an increased consumption are 

 Holland and the North of Europe ; but, allowing for 

 this, the total sales exhibit a decline of no less than 

 90,000 tons. On the other hand, the stocks have ac- 

 cumulated, and it is estimated that there is now 

 in store, afloat, and tonnage engaged, sufficient to sup- 

 ply more than the demand for the article up to the 

 expiration of the contract, unless an increased consump- 

 tion alters the basis of our calculations. The import 

 of guano for tlic first eleven months of last year was 

 108,594 tons, against 78,651 tons for the same period in 

 1859, and 309,557 tons in 1858. 



In Scotland artificial manures are most extensively 

 used, and 1860 having been a very prosperous year for 

 the farmer there, this will no doubt encourage their 

 use. In a recent statistical paper of the Highland So- 

 ciety, it is estimated that ^"'4,250,000 is annually ex- 

 pended in portable manures, of which guano forms the 

 large item of £'2,500,000. 



The imports of guano into the Clyde last year were 

 11,918 tons against 5,633 tons in 1859, and the pre- 

 sent stock on hand is 4,568 tons of all kinds against 

 2,8:^0 tons at the same period last year. The con- 

 sumption there goes on steadily, and prices have un- 

 dergone no change. The great difference in the re- 

 lative value of Peruvian and the lower qualities indicates 

 the strong bias in favour of the former. The annual 

 export from tlie Chinchas is now believed to exceed 

 4U0,000 tons ; so that at this i-ate the conthiuance of 

 supply becomes a matter of deep interest. The imports 

 from other deposits have fallen off greatly of late years, 

 and the low prices ruling in Great Britain in com- 

 parison with those in the United States and sugar- 

 growing countries will tend to divert the supply from 

 this country. The stocks of Peruvian throughout the 

 various ports are about the average of former years, 

 but of the other sorts they are much less. 



Mr. J. F. Boyd, in his "Review of the Trade in 

 Manures during 1860," states that Peruvian guano 

 is going out of favour in some parts of the country. 

 It is said to " exhaust" the land. There will probably, 

 however, be a good demand for it, and perhaps also 

 for really first-class corn manures this spring, very 

 little wheat having been sown last autumn. He adds 

 the remark that the theories of agricultural chemists 

 are by no means always in accordance with the obser- 

 vations of practical men. Manufacturers ought pa- 

 tiently to devote more attention to the collection and 

 systematizing of facts in relation to all the efi'orts of 

 the different I'ertilizers on difTerent soils, with a view 

 to a closer correspondence between theory and prac- 

 tice, and the consecjuent improved composition and 

 preparation of their goods. 



The use of coprolites, according to one dealer, has 

 been diminishing, the superiority of bone over mineral 

 manures being almost universally felt. The now pre- 

 valent practice of requiring an analysis has rendered 

 it incumbent on manufacturers to use less coprolites. 

 Another firm states, that being still the cheapest source 



of phosphates, a large trade has been done in them, and 

 some new pits have been opened in Cambridgeshire. 

 Many manufacturers have found the advantage of add- 

 ing about one per cent, of ammonia to their super- 

 phosphate, whether the latter be made from bones or 

 coprolites, or both. Coprolites are a little higher in 

 price than last January. The demand, languid during 

 the greater jiart of the year, became brisk after the 

 rise in bones. The value of phosphates, either in guano 

 or bones, is now more appreciated, too much ammonia 

 being rather stimulating than permanent. 



The circular of the London Manure Company states 

 that there is a growing desire to have manures of high 

 quality, more especially in superphosphate of lime, 

 and the use of bones and bone-ash in its manufacture 

 is considerably greater than in former years. In the 

 early part of last year the market was well supplied 

 with raw material, botli bones and bone- ash, but the 

 increased demand during the last three months has 

 caused a considerable rise, whioh will probably be 

 maintained for the present season. The imports of 

 bones from the River Plate last year were short. Tiie 

 imports into Hull from the Continent were also 

 7,767 tons less than in 1859, and 2,543 tons less than 

 the average import of the previous five years. This 

 short import arose partly from the large importation 

 of gi-ain, which engrossed freights. The stock held in 

 Hull is about 1,800 tons of bones, and 1,000 tons bone- 

 ash. 



The total imports of bones and bone-ash last year 

 were only 55,540 tons against 73,946 in 1859. And 

 yet bones are yearly getting into more favour. In 

 London there are only small parcels of town-collected 

 to be had, and the whole of the east coast must depend 

 on this description for some months. A demand having 

 sprung up in the United States, many cargoes were 

 directed there, which has caused an advance of 30 to 

 50 per cent. Tliis market has been quite cleared of 

 bones and bone-ash j the stock in Liverpool is small, 

 and there will be no arrivals of consequence in this 

 country for several months. Greater attention, it 

 seems, is now being directed to the imj)rovement of 

 pastures, and probably no money expended on the farm 

 yields a more certain return than the use of bones, and 

 those manures containing phosphates, to exhausted 

 grass-lands. 



The United States demand has mainly absorbed the 

 shipments of Sombrero phosphate. The imports of 

 direct cargoes, which have been suspended for some 

 months, will recommence shortly, and a great deal will 

 necessarily be used this spring. The stock in the mar- 

 ket is under 2,000 tons. 



The Spanish are coming more into favour ; but the 

 anticipations of large supplies of Estramadura phos- 

 phates 'have not yet been realized. It is not likely 

 much will be received until the railway from the neigh- 

 bourhood of Logrossac to the Tagus is constructed. 



The imports of nitrate of soda were 6,000 or 7,000 

 tons beyond those of 1859, and a decline in price of 

 2s. 6d. per cwt. has led to increased consumption for 

 manufacturing uses. 



Although the Italian revolution for a time inter- 

 rupted the supplies of sulphur, the imports were only 

 about 5,000 tons below those of 1859. The continu- 

 ance of high prices has rendered the use of Spanish and 

 Belgian pyrites very general for manure-acid, which 

 has become an immense trade. 



While Great Britain was the first to set the example 

 of testing ex[)erimentally and proving the value of a 

 due application of artificial manures to the soil, other 

 countries which have watched these results liave not 

 been slow to imitate her example. The Continent, 

 the United States and the Culonies are now giving 

 their attention to the very important subject. 



