HOW TO ENRICH THE SOIL. 



203 



worst. Now, as a substance cannot thus 

 wholly change its nature in these different 

 countries without some good reason, we are 

 naturally led to inquire, what is the secret 

 of its success ? 



If we recall to mind the facts, that, in 

 Peru, guano is no sooner applied than the 

 land is irrigated, and that in England no 

 sooner is it spread over the land than a 

 shower commences ; and that this shower, 

 or something very near akin to it, keeps 

 itself up all summer long, in the latter 

 country ; and if we then recollect, that in 

 the middle states, five summers out of six, 

 any substance applied near the surface of 

 the ground is as dry as a snuffbox, for the 

 most part of the time, from June to Sep- 

 tember, we shall not be greatly at a loss to 

 know why so many persons, in this coun- 

 try, believe guano to be nothing more or 

 less than a " humbug." 



If any very good proof of this were 

 wanted, we need go no further than to 

 the exotic florists in our cities, who culti- 

 vate their plants in pots, for their experi- 

 ence. They are nearly the only class of 

 cultivators among us who are sturdy cham- 

 pions for the use of guano. The reason is 

 plain. They use it only in the liquid 

 state, and apply it so as to give the plants 

 under their care every now and then a 

 good wholesome drink, — a thorough soak- 

 ing of a sort of soup more relishing to 

 them, than any in M. Soyer's new cook- 

 ery book, to an epieure in a London club 

 house. 



Now it is quite impossible for an Ameri- 

 can cultivator to do anything worth mention- 

 ing, in the way of watering his trees or 

 crops with liquid guano ; partly because 

 labor is too dear, but mainly because the 

 air is so dry and hot, that in a few hours 

 the earth is drier than before ; and so all 

 good effects are at an end. What then is 



to be done, to enable us to use guano with 

 success ? 



We answer, in a few words. Use it in 

 the autumn. 



We know this is quite contrary to the 

 advice of previous writers, and that it will 

 be considered by many a great waste of 

 riches. But our advice is founded on 

 experience, — an ounce of which, in such 

 a matter as this, is worth a ton of theo- 

 ry drawn from observation in other cli- 

 mates. 



After having tried guano in various ordi- 

 nary modes, at the usual season, and with so 

 little satisfaction as to find ourselves among 

 the skeptics as to its merits for this coun- 

 try, we at last made trial of it in the au- 

 tumn. We spread it over the soil of the 

 kitchen garden, before digging it up at the 

 approach of winter, and, to our astonish- 

 ment, found our soil so treated more pro- 

 ductive, even in very dry seasons, than we 

 had ever known it before. We have also 

 recommended it as an autumnal manure 

 for enfeebled fruit trees, (turning it under 

 the surface at once with the spade,) and 

 find them wonderfully improved in luxuri- 

 ance and vigor. In short, our observations 

 for the past two years have firmly convinced 

 us, that in all parts of the country, where 

 the climate is hot and dry from June to Oc- 

 tober, guano should be used in the autumn. 

 Applied at that season, and turned under 

 the surface by the plough or spade, so as 

 not to waste its virtues in the air, or by 

 surface rains, its active qualities are gra- 

 dually absorbed by the soil, and, so far 

 from being lost, are only rendered more 

 completely soluble, and ready for feeding 

 the plants when the spring opens. 



Guano, applied as a top-dressing, or near 

 the surface, in the spring, is undoubtedly 

 a manure of little permanence, — generally 

 lasting only one season ; for it always 



