GUANO. 



GUINEA GRASS. 



ingredients found in guano in nearly the ave- [ and, in order to give it a fair trial, I put about 

 rage proportions; and Mr. Johnston believes a pint to every alternate hill in each row. The 



it is likely to be at least as efficacious as the 

 natural guano, for all the crops to which the 

 latter has hitherto been applied. 



s. d. 

 315 Ibs. (7 bushels) of bone dust, at 2s. 9d. per 



bushel 0190 



100 Ibs. of sulphate of ammonia, containing 35 

 Ibs. of ammonia at 20s. a cwt. - - - 18 

 5 Ihs. pearl ash- - - - - -010 



100 Ihs. of common salt - - - - -020 



11 Ibs. of dry sulphate of soda - - -010 



531 Ibs. of artificial guano cost - - -210 



The quantity here indicated may be inti 

 mately mixed with 100 Ibs. of chalk, and will 

 be fully equal in efficacy, I believe, to 4 cwt. 

 of guano, now selling at 5. 



Sulphate of ammonia is now manufactured 

 largely at Glasgow, and may be had for less 

 than 20s. a cwt. 



In England the guano is entirely a new fer- 

 tilizer. About 20 casks were imported in 

 1840 by Mr. Myers, of Liverpool ; and in the 

 year 1841 one or two more cargoes arrived 

 'from the Pacific. The enterprise which has 

 thus led him to bring so many thousands of 

 miles this long-employed manure of South 

 America, is certainly highly to the credit of an 

 English merchant. That it promises well to 

 agriculture, no one will doubt who attends 

 carefully to its chemical composition ; and it 

 is more than probable that by avoiding the 

 application of it in quantities too small, and 

 by the use of the drill, a valuable fertilizer 

 will be added to the manures already in the 

 farmer's possession. But I would warn my 

 agricultural friends not to be led away by idle 

 assertions respecting its powers, such as 

 that a single cwt. is sufficient for an acre of 

 ground ; from 2 to 4 cwt. is the smallest quan- 

 tity that should be applied by the drill. Let 

 them beware, too, of adulterations ; the price 

 has already tempted the small dealers to mix 

 it with other substances. Forty thousand tons 

 were imported into England during the year 

 1842. 



From some recent notices of it in the Far- 

 mers' Magazine for December, 1841, 1 find that 

 Mr. Smith, of Gunton Park, Norfolk, applied 

 200 pounds to an acre, and on the same field, 

 on an equal space of land, 15 bushels of bone 

 dust. Both were drilled into the ground with 

 seed wheat. The bone dust gave 4 quarters 

 of wheat, the guano 6 quarters 2 bushels 1$ 

 pecks. 



Mr. Love, of Shoreham, Sevenoaks, observes, 

 "I mixed 14 pounds, in the first instance, with 

 2 bushels of ashes, and although the weather 

 was very dry, I could perceive a marked dif- 

 ference in the growth of the plants a few days 

 after they made their appearance. Encouraged 

 by my success, I then mixed 28 pounds with 15 

 bushels of ashes, and applied for turnips by 

 sowing broadcast on the land, and harrowing 

 it in lightly. As we had frequent showers at 

 the time, "the seed soon vegetated, and the 

 plants grew away from these manured with 

 dung and mould. In each case I applied it at 

 the rate of 2 cwt. to the acre." 



Mr. John Crane Nott, of Hollow, Worcester- 

 shire, remarks, " I applied it to my hop-grounds, 

 598 



effect was most extraordinary; those hills on 

 which the guano was applied were most luxu- 

 riant, while the adjoining ones, not so manured, 

 were sickly and weak. 



GUELDER-ROSE, COMMON or WATER 

 ELDER (Viburnum opulus). A hardy, beauti- 

 ful, and well-known shrub, almost a tree in 

 some soils, blowing its large round white flow- 

 ers, like snowballs, in June and July, whence 

 it is frequently called the "snowball tree." It 

 is commonly planted in shrubberies, along 

 with the lilac and laburnum, grouping ele- 

 gantly with the various' purple hues of the 

 former, and the "golden" chain of the latter; 

 but they are all mere summer beauties. The 

 guelder-rose thrives in every kind of soil, but 

 of course it prefers a good strong one. It may 

 be propagated by layers or suckers. 



The Mealy Guelder-rose, or Way-faring 

 Tree (V. Lantana), grows wild in woods and 

 hedges, on a chalky or limestone soil, and 

 sometimes to the height of 18 or 20 feet; the 

 branches have leaves with foot-stalks and 

 flower-stalks clothed with a starry, mealy pu- 

 bescence. The compressed berries are in an 

 early state red on the outer side, yellow on the 

 inner, finally black, with a little mealy astrin- 

 gent pulp. The berries attract birds. The 

 leaves turn of a dark red in autumn. This 

 shrub is scarcely worth cultivating for orna- 

 ment, nor is it of any particular use except 

 that the bark of the root serves to make bird- 

 lime ; but that of holly is much better. The 

 young branches and rind of the trunk may be 

 employed for bands and cords, being very sup- 

 ple and pliant. (Smith's Eng. Flor. vol. ii. 

 p. 107.) 



GUINEA-CORN (Holcus sorghum, J Ann."), an 

 exotic vegetable, growing on the coast of 

 Africa; its stalks are large, compact, gene- 

 rally attaining the height of 7 or 8 feet, and 

 producing abundance of grain. It may be 

 easily raised in sheltered situations, especially 

 in exhausted hot-beds and other loose soils, 

 where its seeds should be sown early in the 

 spring, as the large flowery tops appear in 

 June. In Tuscany, Syria, and Palestine, the 

 flour made of this grain is mixed with other 

 meal, and converted into bread; which, how- 

 ever, is generally brown, tough, and heavy. 

 Hence the former is better calculated for milk 

 porridge, that is equally wholesome and nutri- 

 tive. The juice exuding from the stalks of the 

 Guinea-corn is so agreeably luscious, that it 

 affords excellent sugar, by a process similar to 

 that adopted with the sugar-cane; the seeds 

 furnish nourishing food to poultry and pigeons, 

 as well as for horses and hogs. (Dom. Encyc.) 



GUINEA FOWL. See FOWLS. 



GUINEA GRASS. A valuable species of 

 herbage, thus denominated, as it was first dis- 

 covered on the coast of Guinea, whence it was 

 brought to Jamaica. In point of real utility, 

 this plant ranks, in Jamaica, next the sugar- 

 cane ; for the breeding farms throughout the 

 island were originally established, and are still 

 supported, chiefly by means of the Guinea 

 grass, which bestows verdure and fertility on 

 lands that would otherwise not deserve to be 



