AS A MANURE FOR POTATOES. 349 
power as a fertilizer appears to have been only 
known to a few of the continental chemists and 
men of letters. It is to the commercial enter- 
prise of later years, that this important addition to 
our manures has been obtained. To those who 
feel an interest in Guano, an account of its 
analyses by Dr. Ure, in the last number of the 
Pharmaceutical Journal and Transactions, will 
amply repay them by its perusal. 
My attention was more particularly directed to 
the use of Guano when engaged in some re- 
searches on the properties of manures in connex- 
ion with agricultural chemistry, and having found 
that a number of experimental trials had been 
made with it, in some of which its productive 
powers had been extolled, in almost unlimited 
terms of approbation; while, on the contrary, 
its value had been equally, and perhaps unduly 
depreciated, from its occasional failure. - I was 
unable to reconcile this discrepancy of opinion. 
In order to test its value as a manure, and to 
ascertain, by experiments made under my own 
observation, the correctness of the somewhat con- 
flicting statements which had been published, I 
prepared a portion of land in April, by spade la- 
3A 
