HENDERSON'S HANDBOOK OF PLA.NTS. 



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era of commerce are Peruvian Guano and 

 Bone Dust, though there are numbers 

 of others, such as Fish Guano, Dry Blood 

 Fertilizer, Blood and Bone Fertilizer, 

 with the various brands of Superphos- 

 phates, all of more or less value for fertil- 

 izing purposea It is useless to go over 

 the list, and we will confine ourselves to 

 the relative merits of pure Peruvian Gua- 

 no and pure Bone Dust Guano at $65 

 per ton we consider relatively equal in val- 

 ue to Bone Dust at $40 per t6n, for in the 

 lower-priced article we find we have to 

 increase the quantity to produce the same 

 result. Whatever kind of concentrated 

 fertilizer is used, we find it well repays 

 the labor to prepare it in the following 

 manner before it is used on the land: to 

 every bushel of Guano or Bone Dust add 

 three bushels of either leaf mould, (from 

 the woods,) well pulverized dry muck, 

 sweepings from a paved street, stable 

 manure so rotted as to be like pulverized 

 muck,or,if neither of these can be obtained, 

 any loamy soil will do ; but in every case the 

 material to mix the fertilizers with must be 

 fairly dry and never in a condition of mud; 

 the meaning of the operation being, 

 that the material used is to act as a tem- 

 porary absorbent for the fertilizer. The 

 compost must be thoroughly mixed, and 

 if Guano is used, it being sometimes 

 lumpy, it must be broken up to dust be- 

 fore being mixed with the absorbent. 

 The main object of this operation is for 

 the better separation and division of the 

 fertilizer, so that, when applied to the soil, 

 it can be more readily distributed. Our 

 experiments have repeatedly shown 

 that this method of using concentrated 

 fertilizers materially increases their value, j 

 probably twenty per cent The mix- , 

 ing should be done a few months pre- \ 



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vious to spring, and it should, after being 

 mixed, be packed away in barrels, and 

 kept in some dry shed or cellar until 

 wanted for use. Thus mixed, it is par- 

 ticularly beneficial on lawns or other 

 grass lands. The quantity of concen- 

 trated fertilizer to be used is often per- 

 plexing to beginners. We give the fol- 

 lowing as the best rules we know, all de- 

 rived from our own practice in growing 

 fruits, flowers, and vegetables: Taking 

 Guano as a basis, we would recommend 

 for all vegetables or fruit crops, if earli- 

 ness and good quality are desired, the 

 use of not less than 1,200 pounds per 

 acre, (an acre contains 4,840 square yards, 

 and cultivators for private use can easily 

 estimate from this the quantity they re- 

 quire for any area,) mixed with two tons 

 of either of the materials recommended. 

 If Bone Dust is used, about one ton per 

 acre should be used, mixed with three 

 tons of soil or the other materials named. 

 When used alone, without being mixed 

 with the absorbent, it should be sown on 

 the soil after plowing or digging, about 

 thick enough to just color the surface, or 

 about as thick as sand or sawdust is sown 

 on a floor, and then thoroughly harrowed 

 in if plowed, or, if dug, chopped in with 

 a rake. This quantity is used broadcast 

 by sowing on the ground after plowing, 

 and deeply and thoroughly harrowing in, 

 or if in small gardens, forked in lightly 

 with the prongs of a garden fork or long- 

 toothed steel rake. When applied in 

 hills or drills, from 100 to 300 pounds 

 should be used to the acre, according to 

 the distance of these apart, mixing with 

 soil, etc. , as already directed. 



When well rotted stable manure is 

 procurable at a cost not to exceed $2 or 

 $3 per ton, whether from horses or cows, 



