422 MONTHLY JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE. 



according to quality. It varies in composition, and here, where we do not pos- 

 sess the science or the energy among agriculturists to provide for the scientific 

 analysis of it, it is probable we are shabbed ofl'with that of inferior quality. In 

 Maryland, owing to the forecast of Mr. Naill, of the Senate, an Inspector has 

 been appointed to examine that which is sold in the Baltimore mark-et. In the 

 House of Delegates of that State, Mr. Goad has moved to have an Agricultural 

 Chemist appointed, but it would probably be much easier to get a Drill-Sergcant 

 or a drummer and fifer to go through the counties, especially if dressed off' in 

 showy regimentals. The guanos of commerce have been analyzed in England 

 by Professor J. F. Johnston. He found in these — 



Kinds. Water. Ammoniiical matter. Earthy phosphates. 



Peruvian 7 to 9 56 to 66 16 to 23 



Chilian 10 to 13 59 te 46 22 te 30 



Bolivian 6 65 to 64 25 to 29 



Ichaboe 18 to 26 36 to 44 21 to 29 



Saldanha,ligt...............l7to27j 



Al^na Rp„ 5 ""~^ 22-37 70-20 



Aiaoaoay >23-93 23-16 43-15 



Halifax 24-47 20-61 22-67 



Bird's Island 25-49 ?iq,„oi 5 22-43 



14-18 ^lyto-Ji ^ J.. 3^ 



Patagonian, light 40-99 ^ 20 to 25 24 to 32 



dark 20-55 \ 



Guano is undoubtedly a powerful manure v/hen applied at the rate of from 300 

 to 500 pounds per acre, especially in wet seasons, and on moist soils. 



A New Plant, adapted to the United States, called the " Dyer's Buck- 

 wheat." — At the same meeting of the Society of Arts, a communication was read 

 from Mr. W. Taylor, F. L. S.,&c., on the Cultivation oi Polygonum tinctorium, 

 or Dyer's Buckwheat : 



" This plant," oliserves Mr. Taylor, " is a native of China, and was introduced into Eng- 

 1-and in 1776 by John Blake. It is u.sed in Ciiina and Japan for the purpose of dyeing a blue 

 similar to that of the finest indigo. The color is obtained from the leaves of the plant, 

 wjiich are dried, pounded, and made into cakes. With these cakes, Thimberg says, they 

 dye linen, silk and cotton. When the cakes are boiled, they add ashes, and the stronger 

 the decoction is made, the darker the color. The plant grows best in England on soils of a 

 medium texture, which must also be well manured before the seed is sown, which is best 

 sown in rows about the middle of April. Two pounds of seed to the acre is sufficient, but 

 tlie plants may be planted out in rows from the hot-bed, at the rate of 1G,000 to the acre, and 

 unless they are brouglit forward and planted out, they will not produce seed in England. 

 The plant can be prej)ared for the market in three ways, viz. : 1st. It may be cut in a green 

 state, and sold to the dyer, in which case an acre would produce 5 tons of leaves and stalks, 

 worth about £30. 2d. If cut and placed in vats, so as to precipitate the ' iecula or indigo,' 

 the acre would produce 3 cwts. of color, which at Is. per lb. would be worth £1G IGs. 

 3d. The plants may be cut up, dried, and packed in bundles ; the acre would then yield 3 

 tons of dyeing matter, and be worth about £21. The coloring matter may be extracted by 

 fermentation or scalding." Specimens of the plants and color were exhibited." 



Here is another opportunity for the active vigilance and enterprise of the 

 American Institutes to render, in all probability, an important service to the 

 country. Their ever-wakeful " Committees of Importation,'''' looking out for new 

 plants and new implements, (for which the whole habitable globe is explored 

 by European Societies,) will no doubt have ordered, through their alert agents 

 in England, a few of the seed of this ^^ J)yer''s Buckiuheat "; for if it can be ma- 

 tured to produce seed by the management described in England, it would doubt- 

 less succeed in all our Southern States. The preparation would seem to be very 

 simple — cutting, drying and packing — and if, instead of yielding from $100 to 

 an acre, as stated, it should produce even the lowest sum named, $80, it 



(822) 



