19G ON GUAAO, ANB ITS COMPARATIVE MERITS. 



was, til at at the time tlie Incas ajiplied the g'uano to their 

 soil, they had no domestic animals. The llama was the only 

 animal they had ; and therefore they could not raise farm- 

 yard manure. And, as a proof that even if they had such 

 manure, they could not convey it to the land, Mr, Maw 

 referred to his own experience in travelling- in Peru, and to 

 the time occupied by him in moving- from one part of the 

 mountains to another. He referred to the turnips which he 

 produced as evidence against Professor Johnston, that 5 or 6 

 cwt. of g'uano was not equal to 50 tons of manure. He 

 showed that the fold-yard manure was so rich that the fang-s 

 had g'one out to seek for food, and he thought they had 

 too much. Mr. Maw concluded bv stating- some interesting- 

 details respecting- the great growth of turnips without the 

 aid of guano or artificial manures. If the farmers would 

 only raise sufficient fold-3'ard manure for themselves, which 

 he thought they might do, they would have little occasion 

 for guano. But if not, they might put their hands into 

 their pockets as long as they could for the purpose of raising 

 their crops. He had himself this year large quantities of 

 turnips, rape, wheat, &c., and he had not used an ounce of 

 guano. He had led upwards of a thousand loads of fold- 

 yard manure to his fields, and he had now a thousand loads 

 in hand, which he doubted not he could make good use of in 

 competition with guano. 



H. S. Thompson, Esq., said he quite agreed with Mr. Maw, 

 that farm- yard manure was a very excellent thing. The 

 great object of guano was not, he conceived, to dispense 

 with the use of farm-yard manure, but to enable them to 

 carry out the cultivation of a Avider breadth of land than 

 could be adequately cidtivated without it. With respect to 

 the advantages of guano on present and subsequent crops, 

 he thought there were two things necessary to be considered. 

 The first was the nature of the season, and the next the 

 proper quantity of guano to be applied. By Professor 

 Johnston they had been furnished with instances in which 

 the application of a very large quantity of guano had been 

 detrimental at least to the first crop, while the application of 

 a smaller quantity had been highly beneficial. If more 

 guano were put on than could be taken u]i by the first crop, 

 of course there would be a portion left for the succeeding 

 crops. If they had a very dry season, and the plant did not 

 appear to derive the whole benefit which guano was capable 

 of supplying, it was manifest that much of its fructifying 



