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MONTHLY JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE. 



ly supposed to have been only last year import- 

 ed into the United States, was received — two 

 barrels of it — and distributed from the office of 

 the old American Fai-mer as far back as the 

 Spring o/" 1825 — just tweut}- yeai's ago ! It was 

 on that occasion tliat the Editor of this, the 

 " Fanners' Library," by whom these two bar- 

 rels were distributed, published an account of 

 its use and value in Peru, together with a full 

 analysis of it by two eminent French chemists, 

 Fourcroy and Vaugelin, who were supplied 

 with specimens for that purpose by Bonplase 

 and Humboldt ; Humboldt, by the bye, sug- 

 gested the question, whether Guano might not 

 be considered as the product of the revolutions 

 of the earth, and to be classed with the forma- 

 tions of coal and fossil earth. Hence Guide 

 Ricci proposed to give it a place in our miner- 

 alogical systems, under tlie name of Ammouique 

 Uratee, (Urate of Ammonia,) or at at least to 

 consider it as a natural product ; and we know 

 that, however well it may be considered settled 

 that these immense deposits consist of the dung 

 of sea-birds, tliere are captains of ships who 

 have visited them, who yet feel strongly per- 

 suaded that Guano is a natural substance, thrown 

 up by some extraordiuaiy convulsion or quake 

 of tlie earth. Be tliat as it may, we refer, for 

 the present, to the sixth volume of the American 

 Farmer for the substance of all that has been 

 since published as to the mere vse of it in Pent 

 — tliough we shall give a higlily interesting 

 '•Memoir ox Guano — Its History and Uses 

 IX Peru : By \Villiam ^VALTOx," as soon as 

 we can find room for it ; and venture to say, that 

 though he may now think the threat of it a rank 

 offence, it will be read by none with more gusto 

 than by a certain esteemed friend and colla 

 borafeur, just referred to as being already sur- 

 feited. " Xoiis verrons." 



That memoir on Guano, too, is one of those 

 foreign essays, with which we shall test and, 

 as we believe, gratify the taste of our readers 

 for the literature, as well as the details of Agri- 

 culture. But to return to tlie use of Guano in 

 the United States. As far back as, and we be- 

 lieve coeval with, the importation already spoken 

 of. Commodore Stewart sent a quantity of it to 

 Col. Monroe, then President of the United States, 

 of v,-hich we have no report At that time, and 

 to the end of his patriotic life, we had tlie honor 

 to enjoy the confidence and friendship of Col. 

 Monroe, and we are by no means certain tliat 

 the two barrels which came into our hands were 

 not handed over by him for distribution. At all 

 events, it was given to tlie late Robert Smith, 

 President of the Marj-land State Agi-icultural 

 Society-, and to Govenior Lloyd, then the most 

 extensive and among the most enterprising and 

 intelligent Fanners in the Union. He reported 

 that the effects of it as applied to Indian com 



was remarkably favorable ; but no measures 

 were taken to procure any fartlcr supply, and 

 almost witli the smell was exhaled the remem- 

 brance of Guano, until some four or five years 

 since it was tried in Great Britain, on the small 

 scale of a few bags. The demand has gone on 

 increasing, with more diffused obscn-ations of 

 its properties, until, as the reader may perceive, 

 were it only on reading the following from 

 the Ne^v-York Express of this morning, the 

 Agricultural community is all alive about it. — 

 By the bye, without confining the observation 

 to Guano, how much quicker the English 

 Farmer is to " snuff oppression in every tainted 

 breeze," than his brother Jonathan ! How long 

 would English Farmers submit to a tax such as 

 is levied here, on bird's dimg, as a non-enu- 

 merated aiticle in the Tariff? — a tax ^vhich, as 

 will be seen by Mr. Bartlett's letter, threatens 

 to put an entire stop to the importation of the 

 article. The impon duty in England is nothing, 

 or next to nothmg ; and if our next Congress 

 should not be engrossed by that spirit which 

 has been aptly called the madness of the many 

 for the benefit of the few, the duty will be re- 

 pealed in this coimtry. 



"The Guaxo Trade excites great attention in 

 Liverpool. At a meeting of merchants on the 

 19tli of May, a letter dated the day previously 

 and ^vritten by Lord Stanley, stated ' that the 

 charge in question for taking Guano fi'om Malaga 

 Islands was originally enforced by the authori- 

 ties at the Cape, on the ground tliat the Guano 

 di.scovered in the bay was die property of the 

 Cro^^^l, and to remove all doubts ou the subject 

 he said an ordinance had been enacted by the 

 Legislature of tlie Colony, under v.hich the li- 

 cense fee had been demanded ; but in deciding 

 upon tlie coufii-matiou of tliat ordinance. Her 

 ^lajesty's Government would not fail to bestow 

 then' best attention upon die objections made to 

 the imposition of the charge.' It was men- 

 tioned incidentally at this meeting tliat upwards 

 of i.50,000 was involved in Liverpool alone, 

 upon the solution of this question, and that there 

 are several houses interested to the amount of 

 X'.2,U0O and £5,000. Eventually a deputation 

 was appointed to proceed to London to wait 

 upon Lord Stanley, with the view of impress- 

 ing his Lordship with the absolute necessity of 

 aboli.sliing the license fees, if the ti-ade is to go on. 



"A representation %vas made to the Colonial 

 Secretary to the effect that the Guano at Ichaboe 

 being exhausted, vessels in the trade now pro- 

 ceed to Saldanha Bay, but diej" were not al- 

 lowed to take a\s'ay the manure without a license 

 from the audiorities at the Cape of Good Hope, 

 for which they were required to pay at the rate 

 of i;Os. per registered ton of the vessel. This 

 imposition, it was alleged, amoimted to upwards 

 of 20 per cent, upon the .selling price of the ar- 

 ticle in this country, and, in consequence of its 

 being of an inferior quality, the importers were 

 not able to realize the costs; therefore, as a 

 means of relief, they desired the abolition of the 

 license monej'." 



The aggregate of all that we have seen goes 

 to show (and we had as well mention it here as 

 elsewhere) that die cUmate of England is better 



