MANURES. 65 



can you not haul a load of muck to your privy, piggery, or 

 barnyard? When you cannot, we recommend the use of 

 fertilizers. We have no doubt of their value ; and first among 

 them, by common consent, is guanOy or the droppings of sea 

 fowl, which has been accumulating for ages on certain islands 

 of the sea. In its pure state it is one of ihe most powerful of 

 fertilizers, and should never be ajiplied successively to land, 

 unless with barnyard manure or green crops plowed under, as 

 it will force such large crops as to exhaust the soil. The best 

 and safest way to apply guano, is to dissolve it in water, a few 

 pounds to a barrel of water, and apply it with a dipper, but 

 this cannot be done on any extensive scale, and it must usually 

 be sprinkled by hand. In either case, care must be taken that 

 it does not come in contact with the leaves or stems. If 

 applied before planting, a handful should be sprinkled over an 

 area of at least eighteen inches, around where the hills are to 

 stand, and dirt sprinkled over it. It is useless to drop a hand- 

 ful in a place or to leave it uncovered. Indeed it is positively 

 injurious when applied in this way, and many crops of Indian 

 corn have been spoiled, and guano broifght into disrepute by 

 such a course. Many fields, at a distance from the barnyard, 

 may be kept in a state of fertility by the application of guano, 

 alternating with the plowing under of clover or other green 

 crops. We cannot recommend the practice of sowing it broad- 

 cast and harrowing it in until it becomes much cheaper than ii 

 now is. Hen manure is of the same nature as Peruvian 

 guano, and when the droppings of the hens are absorbed in 

 peat or muck, an article is formed worth more, pound for pound, 

 than the adulterated guano of commerce. 



Fish guano is the product of the millions of fish that are 

 caught every year along our coasts, the oil being extracted 

 from them by steam ijig and pressure. It contains much phos- 



