1855. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



333 



GUANO. 



We give below two articles on the subject of 

 guano — one from Prof. Nasii, and the other from 

 the Country Gentleman. If the charges intimated 

 in the articles are well founded, the name or 

 names of the persons implicated ought to be 

 made public instantly. We shall not hesitate to 

 give them publicity whenever they come to our 

 knowledge, accompanied by evidence that they 

 are correct. Prof. Nash says; — 



W« do not condemn the use of guano indis- 

 criminately. We have always, in measured tones, 

 commended its use on poorish, out-of-the-way 

 lands, beyond the reach of heavy manures. For 

 specific purposes, we have advised all farmers to 

 have it on their premises. This year, in view of 

 prospective high prices for produce, it may be 

 wise to apply it on all lands and for all purposes. 

 If any one fails to do it, and then should be 

 sorry, let him not lay the sin at our door. Neither 

 do we wage indiscriminate war with all dealers 

 in guano. Wliat we have said is, that in the 

 trade, somewhere between the birds' dung-hills 

 and our farms, there is prodigious rascality to 

 be looked out for, and that if wf escape this and 

 get the best article, still it will not pay, in the 

 ordinary course of inland cultivation, except in 

 those years when produce is uncommonly high. 

 Taking all that is sold under the name of guano, 

 and applying it to the general purposes of farm- 

 ing, it will return to the farmers, in the aggre- 

 gate and in the long run, but about half the pur- 

 chase money. We say in the af/gre(jate, because 

 it will be admitted that those who purchase a 

 spurious article are losers ; and we say in the] 

 lonjf run, because it is as clear as sunbeams, that' 

 when you take great crops from the land, with-| 

 out putting on more than 300 lbs. to the acre,' 

 whicli is 2.^ ounces (what you might well carry I 

 in a vest pocket,) to a ton of soil, you exhaust j 

 the land. If, then, you purchase a bad article, 

 you lose outrigh.t ; if you purchase a good one, 

 there are heavy drawbacks upon the apparent 

 profit. There are plenty of dung-making birds 

 in Peru, and we believe there are more in this 

 country ; not birds exactly, we should not dare 

 call them so, lest the real birds should pick our 

 eyes out; but something, without wings, not 

 having one upward tendency, wliich concocts and 

 sells to farmers more so-called guano tiian all that 

 is brouglit around Cape Horn. As proof in part, 

 we publisi) tlie fullowing from the Country Gen- 

 tleman, omitting names of persons, as that paper 

 has done, and also of places, whicli it has not. — 

 The Farmer, by J. 



Great Fraud ix Guano. — Every one acquaint- 

 ed with the guano trade of Great Britain, is 

 aware that adulteration is carried on fo an enor- 

 mous extent. The laws are stringent, and the 

 penalties in case of detection severe, yet the profits 

 are so large, and the difllculty of provinr/ the 

 fraud so great, that numl)ers of dishonest men 

 are willing to l)rave the chances of detection. 

 The agricultural press, when in the hands of 

 honest, independent men, untrammelled by busi- 

 ness connections, is the great safeguard against 

 these and otlier impositions; but, though thoj 

 British agricultural journals are mostly of a highj 



tone and character, their price prevents an ex- 

 tensive circulation ; and, indeed, comparatively 

 few farmers take any agricultural paper what- 

 ever. Under such circumstances, therefore, it is 

 no wonder that fraudulent manure dealers reap 

 a rich harvest. 



We have lung been convinced that there were 

 parties in this country engaged in manufacturing 

 various artificial fertilizers, Avhich are of little 

 value, and we have done our part towards ex- 

 posing their fraudulent practices. W^e Avcre also 

 aware that inferior guanos are often sold under 

 an assurance that they are equal or superior to 

 the best Peruvian, but we had no idea that there 

 was any one in this country engaged in the man- 

 ufacture of yuano. We are sorry to say we have 

 been deceived. Numerous as are our agricultural 

 papers, great as are their circulation and influ- 

 ence, they are Ibund insufficient to prevent un- 

 scrupulous men froto attempting to palm off on 

 the credulous farmers of oui broad domain a 

 comparatively wortliless article, at a high price, 

 under a, false name, and, what is more to be re- 

 gretted, it is one of the professed friends and 

 teachers of scientific agriculture that is engaged 

 in this deception. 



How we discovered this fraud, we are not at 

 liberty to state. Suffice it to say, that some six 

 weeks ago, we were informed that an article, 

 known as jNIexican guano, was taken to an estab- 

 lishment near , and there mixed with plas- 

 ter, salt, sugar-house scum, Peruvian guano and 

 quick-lime, the whole ground up together and 

 put in bags, marked "Chilian Guano." 



Following the directions of our informant, we 



proceeded to , and there found a large heap 



of about 250 tons of Mexican guano, and some 

 200 tons of the manufactured article in bags, 

 marked "Chilian guano," as we had been in- 

 formed. We also learned that a considerable 

 quantity had already been shipped to New York 

 and Boston, and one gentleman said he believed 

 a good portion of it had been sent to England. 



In New York we were offered the Chilian 

 guano, if we would take it in quantity, at $35 

 per ton. 



We took samples of both the Mexican and Chi- 

 lian guano, and made careful duplicate analyses 

 of them in the laboratory of Prof. Carr, of this 

 city, chemist to the New York State Agricultural 

 Society. The following are the mean percentage 

 results of the analyses : 



MEXICAN GUANO. 



Sand 0.5 



Organic matter 50 



I'hosphatc of lime '-6.0 



Carl)onat(i of lime tJS.O 



99.5 

 CHILIAN GUANO. 



WaUr -to 



San.i -i 



Ortrniiic matter 15-3 



I'hosiilr.Ur of lime 2-t-5 



SiUlihati- of liiiio, (plaster) 9.6 



Chlorlile of soiliam, (oommou salt) 6.2 



Carbonate of lime, (chalk) 37.6 



'J 0.5 

 Ammonia ^-^ 



Having obtained these results, we proceeded 

 once more to , aiul tliere received the follow- 

 ing account of the modus operandi, adopted at 

 the factory. 



Tiie bags are first marked Chilian Gc.vno ; they 



