1855. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



163 



tilizers in New England, remarking that the 

 supply was not abundant, being limited to the 

 peat beds, the wash from the hills, and the com- 

 post of the barn-jard. He said he did not believe 

 that lands ever "wore out," and referred to the 

 rich acres of England, which have been culti- 

 vated for centuries, as proof. If the right method 

 is only pursued. New England may be made what 

 it once was, a garden. It has been supposed 

 that there was something peculiar about New 

 England soils, — that they would run out after a 

 series of years, for certain crops, and then, after 

 the lapse of a few years, again produce those 

 crops. This, he thought, was owing to the cli- 

 mate. In the spring we have heavy rains, which 

 are succeeded by an aridity or dryness equal to a 

 desert. We have not the seasonable showers of 

 England. If we only had them, he believed we 

 could raise pine apples and other tropical plants, 

 for we have a temperature as high as if only 13 

 degrees from the equator. We should have es- 

 pecial regard to climate in selecting manures, and 

 get those which will maintain a certain tempera- 

 ture beneath the ground, and enable the plant 

 to throw out leaves early and abundantly, and 

 to sustain itself in time of drought by absorbing 

 the dew. We know that when a plant puts out 

 large leaves, it bears a drought remarkably well. 

 Another element essential to the growth of plants, 

 is the inorganic parts of rocks. The plant should 

 be able to find some decomposing rock in the soil. 

 But the spring time is too short to supply this 

 element, unless we resort to artificial means. 

 The gentleman spoke at some length in regard to 

 guano, referring particularly to a new kind 

 ■which has been introduced, the composition of 

 which he had studied, as well as witnessed its 

 operation to some extent. The guano heretofore 

 used has come from the west coast of South 

 America, where a rainless climate prevails, with 

 a temperature of 05 to 84 degrees. It is com- 

 posed of the bodies of seals and the droppings of 

 birds. Seals, which abound in that region, al- 

 ways take to the shore when sick, and their 

 bodies, with the excrements of birds, decomposed 

 at a high temperature, and in a compact state, 

 have produced a large amount of guano. It is com- 

 posed of 20 parts of humus, or "goino," [woody 

 and vegetable fibre, in a state of decay — Ed.] 

 20 of phosphate of lime, and a large amount of 

 sand and moisture make up the 100 parts. Its 

 ammonial ingredient has been deemed an essen- 

 tial in all manures ; but there is something else 

 besides ammonia required to produce a crop in a 

 New England soil. There is in it a principle like 

 yeast, causing it to ferment, and it therefore has 

 a life-giving energy in it. It can l)e used with 

 great success where irrigation can be resorted to, 

 as it requires a great deal of water to make it 



beneficial. It contains all the elements needed 

 for plants, but in a too concentrated form, and 

 unless circumstances are such that it can react 

 on substances in the, soil, cannot benotit tl 'm. 

 The new kind of guano is obtained on the Atlan- 

 tic coast, and is produced where rains fall fre- 

 quently. Although containing nearly the same 

 amount of ammonia as the Peruvian guano, its 

 fermentation is altogether different in consiquence 

 of the rains. Its composition is nearly that of 

 powdered bones, the proportion of phosphate of 

 lime being very large, amounting to from -10 to 

 60 per cent., while the "geine" arising from the 

 decomposition of animal matter, seldom exceeds 

 10 per cent. It always contains from 16 to 18 

 per cent, of water. It contains a valuable acid, 

 and a large amount of phosphate and carbonate 

 of lime, is open in texture, and readily dissolves. 

 It contains 40 to 50 per cent, of phosphate of 

 lime — an absolute necessity for the growth of 

 plants — while the Peruvian has only 20 to 20. 

 This phosphate of lime is an ingredient which 

 our New England soils are greatly deficient in. 

 The notion that large portions of ammonia are 

 requisite for plants, he considered fallacious, from 

 the fact that after the wood has been cut from a 

 piece of land, and it has been burnt over, it is fit 

 for a crop ; for every scientific man knows that 

 the more a piece of ground is burnt over, the less 

 ammonia is there, and in a piece of land thus 

 treated, there is less than in an old pasture. By 

 choosing alkaline manures, farmers are apt to 

 overburden the soil. Phosj)hate of lime is abso- 

 lutely essential, and there is no manure equal to 

 that of the barn-yard. The Atlantic guano is 

 well adapted to compost. One method of apply- 

 ing it is to spread it upon the snow in winter, to 

 be dissolved and mixed with the earth in spring ; 

 and this method has worked very well, so far as 

 known. 



Dr. Reynolds offered some excellent remarks 

 in regard to the importance of securing tlie liquid 

 manures of the farm, as they are reqviired to fur- 

 nish the nitrogen which forms the seed, while the 

 solids form the stem. He thouglit guano an ex- 

 cellent top-dressing, and recommended that it be 

 applied just as the frost is coming out of the 

 ground. 



Dr. Charles T. Jackson, the chemist and ge- 

 ologist, was next introduced, and made some very 

 interesting remarks. He said he was familiar 

 with the Mexican guano alluded to by Dr. Hayes, 

 and so far as regards the phosphate, it was a very 

 excellent article. Some of it contains no ammo- 

 nia at all, while other samples resemble very 

 much the Peruvian. The relative value of the 

 two he did not consider fully settled. He was 

 not projiari'd to abandon aunnonia as a useless 

 ingredient in guano, or manure of any kind. 



