100 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Feb. 



details, specifications, plans, directions, and an es- 

 timate of the cost of each design. 



Read carefully Downing's, Allen's and Wheel- 

 er's works on rural architecture. 



THE PROGRESSIVE FARMER. 



This is the title of a work prepared by Rev. J. 

 A. Nash, Instructor of Agriculture in Amherst 

 College, and member of the Massachusetts Board 

 of Agriculture. The following are the leading 

 heads of subjects which are discussed, viz : — Ag- 

 rkuUural Chemistry ; Geology of Agriculture ; 

 Vegetable Physiology ; Animals and their Products; 

 Manures and Practical Agriculture. Under these 

 general heads, particular subjects are treated in a 

 clear, comprehensive, and attractive manner ; such, 

 for instance, as the origin of soils ; amending 

 soils; chemistry of soils ; growth of plants ; sour- 

 ^^s of food to plants; animals, — kind to be kept, 

 general treatment of, and feeding ; milk, butter, 

 cheese ; relations of soils and crops to manures ; — 

 home resources for manures ; barn-cellar and pig- 

 pen manures ; night soils, sink drainings, com- 

 posting ; relation of soil to the atmosphere ; appli- 

 cation of manures ; deep plowing; profits of amend- 

 ing lands ; mixing soils and rotation of crops. The 

 arrangement and explanation of the chemical 

 terms, is excellent ; and the tabular views of ele- 

 ments, compounds, and salts, are made more easi- 

 ly understandable than we have ever seen in any 

 other book. We believe the work most admira- 

 bly adapted for use in common schools, and equal- 

 ly so to every young farmer in the commonwealth. 

 It has been submitted by the author to the State 

 Board of Agriculture, from which it was referred 

 to a committee who reported upon it as follows : 



That studies, of this description, might be at- 

 tended to with much benefit, under competent 

 teachers. The surprise is, that they have been 

 omitted so long, while so many, of less practical 

 utility, have been introduced. 



Probably, the want of text books adapted to 

 the understanding of the pupils, has been the 

 cause of this. 



The Committee have examined the Progressive 

 Farmer, a work recently published by Prof. Nash, 

 of Amherst, and think it better adapted to the 

 wants of the community, than any work of the 

 kind, that has come to their knowledge 

 J. W. Proctor, 



J. W. Proctor, '\ 



Edward Hitchcock, > Committee. 



Stephen Reed, ) 



The work is published by Saxton, the Agricul- 

 tural Book Publisher, N. Y., in his usual good 

 style, — large type, fine paper and handsome bind 

 ing, at 75 cents a copy, and is worth to most far- 

 mers three times as much. The omission of a good 

 alphabetical index is the only fault we have to 

 find with the work. In future editions (for they 

 will soon be demanded) we hope this valuable fea- 

 ture will be supplied. 



GUANO. 



With the nature and uses of this substance ev- 

 ery one is familiar. But where and how it is ob- 

 tained, and other facts connected with the sources 

 of supply, are not so well known — and as guano 

 has been productive of considerable public excite- 

 ment of late, a chapter upon the subject may not 

 be devoid of interest. 



It is a common impression that the discovery of 

 the fertilizing properties of guano has been quite 

 recently made, and that it is only within a few 

 years that it has come into use. This is by no 

 means the case. It has been used by the Peruvi- 

 ans ever since the discovery of America, having 

 been imported by them from the islands on the 

 coast. Humboldt was one of the first who car- 

 ried it into Europe and brought it into notice on 

 that continent. This must have been at least 

 thirty years since. It was at first introduced into 

 this country in 1825, but was not used to any ex- 

 tent, and was soon forgotten. It was not until it 

 was very extensively employed in England, that it 

 was again imported into this country. Even now 

 very little, comparatively, is used here, as will be 

 seen by the following statement of the imports for 

 three years : 



1849 21,313 tons. 



1850 11,740 " 



1851 23,153 " 



The importation of this article into England, 

 amounts at the present time to not far from 200,- 

 000 tons per year. 



Guano is found upon barren islands on the coasts 

 of Peru, Bolivia, Chili and Patagonia. It is some- 

 times met with on the headlands of the coast. — 

 Tliat from the coast of Peru and Bolivia is by far 

 the best, for the reason that rain seldom visits 

 those latitudes. That derived from islands farther 

 south being frequently saturated with moisture, is 

 partially decomposed, and has much of its fertiliz- 

 ing properties washed away. 



Guano consists of the excrements of sea-birds, 

 intermixed with the bones of fishes, the fleshy 

 parts of which have served them for food, the 

 shells of eggs, and the remains of the birds them- 

 selves — all of which are partially decomposed and 

 mixed together. It accumulates rapidly, first, be- 

 cause the swarms of birds of which it is the pro- 

 duct are numberless, and secondly, because it is 

 very rarely washed by rains. The cfuautity of the 

 deposits on some of the islands is almost incredi- 

 ble. It is stated by Mr. Wilson, formerly British 

 Consul at Peru, that on theChincha islands — not- 

 withstanding more than three hundred tons a year, 

 have been taken away for use in Peru for centu- 

 ries, and of late years many thousands of tons — 

 it is estimated that there is still remaining the 

 enormous quantity of 17,000,000 tons. An official 

 survey of several islands claimed by Peru was 

 made in 1847, from Avhich it was ascertained that 

 there were on them over 23,000,000 tons — enough 

 at the present rate of consumption to supply the 

 world one hundred and seventy years. 



In some places on the Chincha islands the guano 

 is two hundred feet thick, and it varies from that 

 thickness down to three or four feet. It occurs in 

 successive horizontal strata, each of which is from 

 three to ten inches thick. The lower strata is of a 

 dark brown color, growing lighter towards the 

 surface. No earthly 'matter is found in these vast 

 deposits. 



