Chemical Manures. 311 



In consequence of the increasing scarcity and 

 the deterioration in quality of Peruvian guano, 

 chemists and capitalists have combined with each 

 other to seek for substitutes capable of yielding 

 similar results, and boldly claim to have succeeded. 

 Guano from the Chincha Islands formerly tested 

 as high as 18 per cent, of ammonia; but this 

 deposit has long since been exhausted, and the 

 cargoes now imported contain no more than from 

 4 per cent, to (in rare cases) 12 per cent. 



(The phosphates, which are of course zVzsoluble, 

 average about 20 per cent.). 



Sulphate of ammonia, nitrate of soda, and super- 

 phosphates (viz. dissolved bones, bone ash, and 

 rock phosphate), with potash, magnesia, &c., are 

 the fertilizers of the day, and immense quantities 

 are exported annually, their value being fully 

 appreciated by cultivators all over the world. 



Nowhere is this more the case than with the 

 English farmer, who, in the face of high rents, 

 yearly advancing wages, and increasing foreign 

 competing production, finds it imperative to get 

 the largest possible return from his land. That 

 the planters of India, Ceylon, and other fields of 

 agricultural enterprise would (and will eventually) 

 reap much larger returns by an increased adoption 

 of these chemical fertilizers, skilfully compounded 

 and prepared specially for the particular growth to 



