FERTILIZERS. 267 



probably a very wet season will diminish the profit of its application. It is, therefore, some- 

 what uncertain in its effects, being dependant upon the season, and the first season is lost ; 

 much, if not all the ammoniated salts will escape by volatilization, or solution and drainage. 

 It is considered that the effects of guano scarcely extend to the third yeai'. In consequence of 

 its solubility and volatility, its application in divided doses will be the most economical : far 

 south, particularly, an application in the autumn, to winter grain, at the rate of about one hun- 

 dred pounds per acre ; the spring will be a proper time to top dress the crop with another 

 hundred weight of the guano. This mode of application, though attended with more labor, 

 will save the substance and promote the best results which can be obtained by its use. 



It is impossible to know what course American farmers should pursue in regard to the pur- 

 chase of guano ; there are contingencies which must be taken into the account, which can not 

 be controlled. When the choice is presented between the phosphate of lime and this substance 

 there is little occasion to hesitate ; the preference may be given to the fprmer because the con- 

 tingencies are far less, and inasmuch as this will remain in the soil a longer period, and the 

 ultimate results will equal at least those of guano. 



11. Of Fish as Fertilizers. 



On the seaboard, poor kinds of fish are caught for the express purpose of employing them 

 directly for manure. The peculiarity of fish consists in the rapidity of their decomposition ; 

 this rapid change is due to the nitrogen of their bodies, and the watery condition of their flesh. 

 To make the most of them, it is necessary to cover them in compost heaps, with absorbent po- 

 rous matters, which shall become imbued and at the same time fixed in the particles employed 

 to prevent the escape of the volatile matters ; farmers, however, have been unwilling to be 

 at much trouble and expense, and hence they are usually covered with the earth upon which 

 their remains are scattered. At present this kind of manure is confined to the seaboard and 

 the vicinity of the great inland bays. The conversion of fish into a species of poudrette would 

 render them portable, the interior of the country would, in that case, be benefited by the traffic. 

 There can be no doubt but that a profitable business might spring up by the preparation of fish 

 to be employed as manures. Plaster and lime might be employed to arrest the peculiar pu- 

 trefaction of masses of fish. We can not suppose that lime applied to a fish, prior to incipient 

 putrefaction, would cause the escape of ammonia ; if so the plaster or gypsum would arrest it 

 by absorption. The subject, however, requires experimental investigation : a cheap method 

 is the only one which can succeed. The application of fish over extensive fields, as usually 

 performed, taints the air to a great distance ; it is not, however, a miasma which occasions 

 sickness. A compost is made in Rhode-Island, which is called the fish pie. Fish are thrown 

 into a shallow pit, or a heap, and then covered with rock weed and loam or sand — peat would 

 be better : fermentation soon begins, or rather putrefaction ; the mass is stirred over and duly 

 mixed, and, if necessary, more porous earth added. This preparation is superior to the un- 

 cooked fish ; indeed there is no difference of opinion in regard to its value, while many dis- 

 crepant accounts are given of the efficacy of fish, covered and mixed directly with the soil upon 



