1657. 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMEE. 



397 



■where. The farm is not only clothed with beautj', 

 yielding profit, but in conversing with his children, 

 young men and women, we found them obsci~vi7ig 

 and practical persons, with well-balanced minds, 

 and having been already engaged as teachers in 

 the district schools. 



I was pleased and instructed by my visit, and 

 soon found the secret of the practical character of 

 his communications to the columns of the Farmer. 

 When you have left that bed of machinery upon 

 which I saw you last, and are on your legs 

 again, I hope you, also, v.'ill find opportunity to 

 visit our mutual friend, and judge of his skill for 

 yourself. I am truly yours, Simon Brown. 



Joel Xocrss, Esq., Boston. 



For the New Eng'and Fanner. 



ABOUT GUANO. 



Mr. Editor : — In the June number of the JVew 

 England Farmer there is an article "about guano," 

 (signed John Briggs,) which conveys an impression 

 which I think is far from correct. The writer states 

 that the virtue of guano lies very much in the am- 

 monia contained therein. He assumes that all gu- 

 ano containing that element must betray it by its 

 smell, and that consequently all guano not having 

 the ammoniacal odor must be worthless, or to use 

 his own words, "not worth buying." I presume Mr. 

 Briggs has been led into this error by his experi- 

 ence with the Peruvian or Chincha Island guano. 



Ammonia may be so combined that its presence 

 cannot be detected by the smell, as in the case of 

 the Baker & Jarvis Island guano. The addition of 

 a little lime r#nd moisture will set the ammonia 

 free, the lime combining with the element before 

 in combination with the ammonia, for which it has 

 a stronger affinity. 



The analysis of the Baker's Island guano is as 

 follows, according to Dr. Hayes : 



100 parts consist, of moisture 2.60 



Humates of lime, ammonia and magnesia 10.42 



Ulmates of do. and vegetable fibers 2.77 



Bone phosphate of lime and magnesia 87.10 



Insoluble matter and sand 88 



103.77 



The excess of weight is due to lime added to 

 form bone phosphate of lime, by which the phos- 

 phoric acid of any guano is estimated. The phos- 

 phates of lime and magnesia which enter so large- 

 ly into its composition, make it a highly valuable 

 guano, particularly in New England, where lime 

 and magnesia (forming such essential component 

 elements of the different grains) form only about 3 

 per cent, of the constituents of the soil. The ammo- 

 nia acts as a stimulant ; and the Chincha Island gu- 

 ano, which has a very large percentage of this ele- 

 ment, owes its chief excellence to this, as will be 

 seen by the analysis : 



Ammoniacal salts 40 



Animal organic matter &\ 



Sulphate and muriate of potash and soda 114 



Phosphate of lime and magnesia 29J 



Sand 1 



Water 11^ 



100 



Ammonia acts on the vegetable as brandy or 

 other stimulant acts on the human system. It vi- 



talizes an exhausted soil, stimulating its electric 

 forces with almost miraculous energy, and hence 

 the wonderful results of the Peruvian guano. The 

 ultimate efi'ect, however, like all other stimulants, 

 is to leave the land more exhausted than before ; 

 as the vital powers of a sick man sink more hope- 

 less than ever when the stimulant ceases to act. To 

 renovate the prostrate energies of the patient, more 

 substantial nutriment is needed, and if the stomach 

 can bear it, recovery slow but sure is at hand. 

 Now, in the case of Baker's Island guano, it sup- 

 plies nutrition in the shape of phosphates, while it 

 has enough of ammonia to ensure a sufficient de- 

 gree of stimulus. I have seen corn and wheat grown 

 side by side, with Baker's Island guano and the 

 Peruvian, and that from the latter was the best, by 

 one- third. The great superiority, however, which 

 the Baker's Island possesses, will be found, if I am 

 not mistaken, in its more lasting effect. The sec- 

 ond and third years will show its effect to great 

 advantage, while it is the experience of all, that the 

 effect of the Peruvian guano does not appear after 

 the first year. A series of experiments is now 

 being made in different sections of the country, 

 which will give to agriculturists some valuable re- 

 sults. Plow Boy. 



For the New England Farmer, 



FRUIT-TEEE BOEERS. 



Mr. Brown : — I notice in your last number, in- 

 quiry was made in relation to the fruit tree borer. 

 My experience, though of but one season, may be 

 of some value. Last year, in March, and before 

 the snow was off the ground, I found the borer at 

 work in my little orchard, turning out his gimblet- 

 ings. I began immediately to follow him up by 

 various experiments of punching with wire, whale- 

 bone, <S;c., and cutting him out, or sometimes plug- 

 ging him in. In several instances during the sea- 

 son, I found nine and twelve in a tree, small ones, 

 I think in the month of July. I continued the war 

 of extermination until October ; then I raked away 

 the sand around all the trunks, cut off all the 

 small fibrous roots and suckers, cleared off all the 

 dead bark and other decayed matter, and taking 

 undiluted whale oil soap, rubbed it on with my 

 hand from the ground up as far as I could reach 

 among the hmbs, and so let it remain during the 

 winter. This spring my trees look beautifully, full 

 of foliage, abundant in blossoms, and a fair set of 

 fruit; bark perfectly smooth where the soap was 

 on, and the limbs clean and vigorous. Up to the 

 1st of June I discovered no insect except one nest 

 of caterpillars. The first borer between the first 

 and tenth, and more recently three or four more, 

 half-grown ones in the bark only ; the first was 

 about one-eighth, the last about three-eighths of 

 an inch long. They are now just beginning to 

 bore the wood, and rather concluding that soap 

 will destroy them, I have again applied it round 

 the trunk near the ground, about six inches up. 

 Some of my neighbors say these insects cannot live 

 without air ; and others, that common bar soap is as 

 good as oil soap. One thing is certain in my mind, 

 oil soap, undiluted, will not hurt the tree, at least, 

 the first year. 



guano. 



I have been often inquired of in relation to the 

 danger of using guano. On this subject, I would 



