I 



We have occasionaly received complaints from farmers of 

 having been deceived in the purchase of artificial manure, 

 with reqtiests that we should caution farmers of the danger 

 of spending their money for a worthless article. This impo- 

 sition we have much regretted, not only on account of the 

 actual transfer of the earnings of honest industry from the 

 pocket of the owner to that of the unprincipled speculator, 

 but because it created a prejudice against prepared manures, 

 which oil cities can furnish llie country, with great advantage 

 to both. About the middle of August, Thomas Bennett, 

 of Knowlesville, in this State, called at our office and exJii- 

 bited a specimen of" Prepared Guano," which he stated E. 

 T. KiRKHAM, the former owner of his farm, had purchased 

 in New York, from the use of which neither Mr. Kirkham, 

 nor himself could find the slightest benefit. To show tlie 

 correctness of his statement, as to the purchase, &.C., Mr. 

 Bennett left with us the following bill ; 



New York, Oct. 24, ISoO. 

 Mr. E. T. Kirkham, Knowlesville, Orleans CO., N. V., 



Bought of Kentish &. Co., No. 40 Peck Slip. 

 242 'bs. Prepared Guano, at 1 cent per lb. 2 42 



1 Barrel at 25 cents, 25 



Cartage, 25 



Rec'd Payment, * $2 92 



Kentish & Co. 

 The onty manvfacturers cf the Genuine '' Prepared Guano" in the 

 United Sta:es. 



In the number following, (September,) we published the 

 following article, intended as a caution to farmers, whose 

 interests of course it is our duty to guard : 



Prjpafed Guano.— We would advise our readers to be very cau- 

 tious in buying any of the nostrums for sale as '• Prepared Guano." 

 They are generally got up for the purpose of emptying instead of 

 filling the purses of farmers — and in this, appear to be quite suc- 

 cessful. We haye now before us a specimen, purchased at Peck 

 Slip, New York, and for which E. T. Kirkham, of Knowlesrille, in 

 this State, paid $1 per hundred pounds, which we should judge 

 would be about as valuable as coal ash.s. It appears to be com- 

 posed of the lime and refuse coke from gas works, and in a barrel 

 there would hardly be found a trace of ammonia. The purchaser 

 informs us that he has not perceived the slightest benefit from its 

 use. We may analyse this .article, and give its composition, and 

 the names of those who are thus engaged in plundering the public. 



This notice called forth the following not over courteous 

 letter, which, at the author's request, we publish. 



Peck Slip, New York, Sept, 22, 1851. 



Gentlemen : — In the Genesse Farmer of this month, you 

 have written and published a gross, outrageous, and scanda- 

 lous libel against me, evidently with the view of injuring 

 my cliaracter in the community, and of destroying my future 

 prospects ! Satan could not have exceeded it in malignity ! 

 As I know you not, and have never personally done you 

 any wrong, it is natural to conclude you have either been 

 handsomely 7)a/rf for this piece of dirty work, or else it has 

 been inserted to befriend snine one who deals in Imported Gu- 

 ano, or other manure. That a vile combination, and disre- 

 putable conspiracy of such a nature, amongst such men, 

 should exist, does not surprise me, because there are people 

 in creation who would not hesitate, clandestinely, to commit 

 any outrage, if it could be accomplished with impunity, in 

 order to rid themselves of a serious competitor. 



If there was a shadow of truth in what you state as facts, 

 there would be some trifling excuse for such gratuitous, un- 

 mitigated scoundrelism ; but it is, throughout, an infamous 

 fahehnodl My Prepared Guano does not contain an atom 

 of anything from Gas Works, notwithstanding your coarse 

 insinuations and assertions to the contrary ; and although 

 you affirm '• there is no Ammonia in it," it contains inore of 

 that fertilizing substance than any that is imported, but it is 

 fixed in the shape of nitrates, muriates, phosphates, and sul- 

 phates, and therefore wtiZ vo/a?i7f. The "article you have 

 before you" may be what you say it is, but then you or 

 your conspirator associates \\&\e procured it for the purpose. 

 If it be such a combination, you know it never came from me ! 

 The solitary barrel was probably purchased to give a coloring 

 to the transaction 1 The eagerness for my destruction, ap- 



parent in your paragraph, proves that the public good alone 

 was not your sole object. It has loo much the air of the 

 midnight robber who uses the bowie knife at once, that the 

 dead may tell no tales. There is not a shadow of the ordi- 

 nary decency or caution about it, observable among even 

 the black-7uail men. 



You unhesitatingly tell the world that " I am engaged in 

 plundering the public," which is a lie I No one can, with 

 justice, accuse me of even the shadow of a dishonorable act, 

 for gain or otherwise. If the succcess of my business depen- 

 ded on a single falsehood from me, it would not have suc- 

 ceeded ; nor should I have the approbatory and exten.iive de- 

 mand from all parts of the world, which I now enjoy in spite 

 of the dirty malice of those whose interests induce them to 

 oppose me, in the vile manner you have done. 



My Prepared Guano is what my Circular represents it to be, 

 and nothing less. On page 2, you will see the opinion, re- 

 specting its intrinsic utility, of Dr. J. II. Batne, President 

 of the Agricultural Society in Prince George's County, Md. 

 He IS a gentleman of the highest respectability, whose sci- 

 entific knowledge is well known, and whose integrity and 

 impartiality no one would question. I never saw him, and 

 therefore have not even the pleasure of his acquaintance. — 

 After reading what he in hia- candor has stated, you ought to 

 be somewhat ashamed of your open and direct assassin-like 

 attack on me. 



I have many approbatory certificates from parties I have 

 no personal knowledge of, except as purchasers and farmers 

 of undoubted respectability. I detest imposition, as much 

 as any one. Let any competent man of integrity, really de- 

 sirous of promoting the public ivelfare, call at my office for a 

 specimen of my Prepared Guano to analyse and" publish, lor 

 the information of the coramuity generally, and I will open 

 any barrel he may select for this purpose. He will find that 

 it not only contains ?nore Phosphate and Ammonia than the 

 Imported, but every other fertilizing principle that all kinds 

 of vegetation require. As the Ammonia is fi.ved, and the 

 absorbents constantly resaturate themselves from the soil 

 and the atmosphere, it thus becomes a permanent and durable 

 fertilizer, instead of a stimulus for one crop only, as is the 

 case with the Imported Guano. 



You will insert this, my answer, in your next publication, 

 unless you really are what you seem to be. 



Yours, respectfully, Charles A. Kentish. 



All we have to say in reply is, that we have not the 

 slightest pecuniary interest in the sale of imported guano, or 

 any pepared manure. Neither have we any relative or par- 

 ticular friend, that we know of, that could in the least de- 

 gree be affected by the business operations of Mr. K. — 

 We have never received one cent for praise or censure. 

 There is not money enough in New York city to purchase 

 three lines in the editorial pages of the Genesee Farmer. — 

 We labor for the agricultural interests of the country. Our 

 columns are open, and we invite discussion on all subjects 

 that affect this great interest. For ourselves, we stand rea- 

 dy to commend the good and condemn the evil, always en- 

 deavoring to give a reason for our opinion, and always giving 

 those who differ from us the benefit of our pages. 



As we intimated we should do, we have procured an 

 analysis of this article. Not having our own apparatus in 

 the city, we forwarded it to Professor Norton, the agricul- 

 tural chemist of Yale College, and the analysis shows the 

 correctness of our statement, that "in a barrel there would 

 hardly be found a trace of ammonia." The following is Pro- 

 fessor Norton's statement : 



Analytical Laboratory, Yale College, ? 

 New Haven, Conn., Oct. 7, 1851. ) 



Messrs. Editors : — I enclose the analysis of a sample of 

 prepared guano sent me by yourselves a few days .since. — 

 The mere inspection satisfied me that it was of no great 

 value, and the analysis more than confirms my opinion. — 

 The results are as follows : 



Water, - 4.35 



Alumina and Phosphate of Lime, 7.82 



Organic matter, 32..58 



Insoluble matter, 20.05 



Carbonate of Lime, 28.76 



Magnesia, Alkalies, and loss, 0.43 



100.00 

 This is indeed a prepared article. You will observe that 



