GUANO : ITS NATURE AND USE. 



473 



Table HI. Comparative Effects of Guano 

 and other Manures on Tnrnips, Potatoes, 

 Wheal, Barley, Oats, Beans, and Hay. 



SWEDISH TURNIPS, 



Pioduce per acre. 

 Top-dressed with Tons. Cwt. 



i. Farm-yard manure 20 tons 18 11 



Guano 3 cwt 2.3 8 



2. Farmyard niauure 20 tons 16 18 



Guano* 2^ cwt 17 



Bones 32 bush 15 



YELLOW TURNIPS. 



Gnanot 5 cwt 32 



Rape dust 1.J cwt 24 



Bone dust 30 bush 17 2 



POT--VTOES.t 



1. Guano 3 cwt 18 9 



Rape dust 1 ton 12 6 



2. Guano 4 cwt 14 6 



Rape dust 1 ton 10 



Bone dust 45 bush 9 15 



3. Guano 4 cwt 13 14 



Rape du,st 1 ton 13 



Boue dust 45 bush 13 14 



11 



WHEAT. 



Bush. Lbs. 



(luano 1 cwt 48 



Rape dust 16 cwt 51 



Undressed 47^ 



Guano 3 cwt 30 



Undressed >■.... 24 



Guano 2 cwt 32 



Undressed 31 



Guano 1 cwt 46 



Nitrate of soda 1 cwt 51 



Undressed 44 



Guano \\ cwt 45 



Nitrate of soda 1^ cwt 41 



Undressed 39 



BARLEY. 



Guano 3 cwt 64 



Undressed 47 



0.4TS. 



Guano 2 cwt 70 



Undressed 52 



Guano 1 cwt 48 



Nitrate of .soda 1 cwt 50 



Undressed ....49 



BEANS. 



Guano 2 cwt 33 J 



Rape dust 16 cwt 35 



Nitrate of soda 1 cwt 33 



Undressed 29^ 



HAY. 



Tons. Cwt. 



1. Guano Ijcwt 1 18 



Nitrate of soda 1^ cwt 2 10 



Undres.sed 1 8 



2. Guano IJ cwt 2 2 



Nitrate of soda IJ cwt 1 17 



Undressed 1 10 



The various localities where these results were 

 obtained we omit to mention ; we also leave our 

 agricultural readers to make their own infer- 

 ences from the tables. 



Robert Montcith, Esq., and David Barclay, 

 Esq., M. P., have published the results of ex- 

 periments, made by themselves, very favorable 



* Mixed with 1 cwt. of charcoal powder, 

 t Mixed with 20 bush, wood ashes. 

 \ The manure was here applied to the potato cut- 

 tings. 



to the use of Guano. (Vide Monthly Journal 

 OF Agriculture, pp. 134 — 364.) 



What was declared as the opinion of a club 

 of English farmers in 1845, seems to be the pre- 

 vailing opinion in Great Britain, '■ that Guano is 

 an important auxiliarj' to the resources of the 

 farmer in obtaining luxuriant crops, and is the 

 cheapest and most important substitute fbrfanu- 

 yard manure, being found, in some instances to 

 produce as good crops at half the cost." (Vide 

 Monthly Journal of Agriculture, p. 241.) 



In the preceding tables of Prof Johnston, wo 

 observe some instances where Guano, applied 

 as a top-dressing to wheat and oats, had no bene- 

 ficial effect, and, in other cases, its benclit was 

 very partial. The excessive drouth of 1842 is 

 assigned as the cause of tl.ese failures, and u is 

 also probable that Guano is not so apt to have a 

 favorable intluence, if applied as a top-dressing. 



Omitting much that has been reported by En- 

 glish experimenters, we pass to what has been 

 done in the United States. Very few, if any, 

 accurate experiments has been made in this 

 country within our knowledge, and the larger 

 portion of what we shall use may be found in 

 detail at page 29 of the Monthly Journal 



OF AuRICULTURE. 



Twenty years ago. Governor Lloyd, of Mary- 

 land, reported " that the effects of Guano as ap- 

 plied to Indian corn were remarkably favor- 

 able." Mr. Mackenzie has published in the 

 Southern Planter that, after applying it in va- 

 rious ways to wheat, corn, and oats, " the money 

 and labor he has expended on Guanohave been 

 entirely thrown away." Mr. Tatum, of the 

 Farmers' Cabinet, gives an account of some tri- 

 als on the farm of Mr. Richie, near New-York ; 

 one of which he thinks shows, at any rate, " that 

 there is virtue in Guano." In this case it was 

 applied to oats. Mr. Stabler, of Maryland, has 

 reported very favorably of its effects on his 

 wheat and oats, and concludes that his crop of 

 1845 will twice overpay him for the Guano used. 

 In some experiments by Hon. Mr. Pearce, it was 

 applied to grass, wheat, oats, clover and corn. 

 With grass, wheat and clover, the effect was fa- 

 vorable ; with oats and corn,unfavorable. "So far" 

 he says, " I am much pleased with the Guano." 

 Dr. Dupuy and T. P. Pleasants of Petersburg, 

 Virginia, have published veiy encouraging ac- 

 counts of its ap[)lication to tobacco plants, cab- 

 bage plants, and other garden vegetables ; also 

 wheat, oats, and Irish Potatoes. They failed in 

 some instances, on account of the drouth of 

 last year. Mr. Pleasants say.s, " In fine, consid- 

 ering the character of the season, the results are 

 in almost every way satisfactory." More re- 

 cently, on page 413 of the Journal, he gives a 

 still more favorable account of these experi- 

 ments at Petersburg, and concludes, " I feel no 

 hesitiitiou in making another trial." Mr. Oddie, 



(9.17) 



