GUANO AND ITS SUBSlTrU'l'ES. 



lOr 



that feeds the luimaii family. AVith us, not one acre 

 in twenty of onr so-calloil improved laud is ever pro- 

 perly manured. Why tan not any given number of 

 iuhabitunts in the United States make and use as 

 much manure as is witnessed in Europe? We might 

 do it, \f tve would. 



Our twenty-six millions of people auwually waste 

 the elements of grain and clothing equal to ten dol- 

 lars a head, or to two hundred and sixty million dol- 

 lare a year. So long as public opinion tolerates this 

 saeriBce, a large majority will be compelled to culti- 

 vate poor laud for a living. How can it be other- 

 wise, so long as American soil pdrts with twenty 

 times more of the raw material of its annual crops 

 than is restored to it again? Economy of farming 

 is preeminently a national affair. If Congress and 

 State Legislatures say that our public policy shall be 

 to run into debt at home and abroad, and mortgage 

 the elements of fertility to pay the same, how are 

 these elemeuts of fertility to be retained on the land 

 that really needs them? The rottenness of our po- 

 litical economy corrupts our economy of farming, and 

 makes us the greatest land-killers in the wide world. 



GUANO AND ITS SUBSTITUTES. 



Is it necessary that millions of dollars should an- 

 nually be sent to a foreign land, in order that the 

 elements of fertihty should be returned to an exhaust- 

 ed soil? We think not, if as a nation and a people 

 we were to husband every source of fertilizing mate- 

 rial, and not despise the day of small things, in econ- 

 omizing manures of every description. 



Though the almost magical powers of guano have 

 been known for hundreds of years, it was not until 

 recently that pubhc attention was so strongly directed 

 to it as to insure its general use. A quarter of a 

 century ago, the lamented Skinner called the atten- 

 tion of farmers and planters to its power as a fertili- 

 zer, but to httle purpose. Guano, as most of our 

 readers -are well aware, is the dried excreta of sea- 

 fowls, deposited on the islands off the coast of Peru. 

 The supply is not inexhaustible, and at the present 

 increasing rate of consumption, another quarter of a 

 century will see but little left in its present locality. 

 Wherein is its great virtue as a fertilizer, and wherein 

 does it differ from common yard manure? A refer- 

 ence to the component parts of eacli, will aid us in 

 replying. Guano, as the average of analyses made 

 by Bertels, Oellaciier, and Ure, as given in Sol- 

 ly's Rural Chemistry, page 375, contains in 1,000 

 parts — 



Berlds. Oclla,-lM 

 Urate of nmm( 

 Ov.il.itc nf :,rai 

 Oxahilo of lim 

 Ph.isi.li.-ite <,f 1 

 I'liospliriti- nf rnnmouia Mv\ magiitsi.i -12 116 45 



i'lh.-hh:!',- ,.r h,ii.. 100 202 2M 



Mill' ■'.-.•!■.».,.. iiln 65 li2 ao 



I'l--^. . .^i. 1 4 — 



l'ni;...:;;il, > I ,, ,, , ,:,.u,ia _ 8 10 



L^uWl..ik' ul l.jiiu — 16 — 



Sulijhalo of [lotasli 42 40 60 



Sulphate of soda _ U 49 — 



Sulphate of ammonia — — 20 



Phospliate of soda 63 — — 



Humate of ammonia — 11 — 



Waxand resin 6 7 — 



Sand. Insoluljle residue 68 17 12 



Alumina 1 — — 



ffater ( „,, (43 85 



Organic matter J "'-' {93 186 



1000 1000 1000 



Let us notice the composition of the various kinds 

 of auimal excreta as given on pages 370 and 371 of 

 the work quoted above : 



" Fresh horse dung consists of 284 parts dry or- 

 ganic matter, IS parts inorganic matter, and 608 

 parts water. Of the inorganic matter about one- 

 ninth is carbonate and phosphate of lime, one-twelfth 

 alkaline salts, and the remainder silica (Zierl). Horses' 

 urine consists of 27 parts dry organic matter, 33 

 parts inorganic matter, aud 940 parts water. 



" Fresh pigs' dung, consisting of the excrement 

 and urine together, contains 93 parts dry organic 

 matter, 87 parts inorganic matter, aud 820 parts wa- 

 ter. Figs' urine contains .56 parts dry organic mat- 

 ter, 18 parts inorganic matter, and 926 parts water 

 (Sprrxg'ei,). The inorganic matters consist chiefly of 

 alkaline salts. 



'"Human excrement (according to Berzelius) con- 

 tains 227 parts dry organic matter, 100 parts inor- 

 ganic matter, and 733 parts water. Its constituents 

 are — 



All.umen 9 



EitracUve 27 



Mucus, fat, resin 140 



Bile 9 



Vegetable remains ?0 



Soluble salts 12 



Water 733 



100« 



"The inorganic matter contained in 1000 parts 

 consequently weighs 150, and contains 100 parts 

 earthy phosphates, 12 parts carbonate of soda, 8 

 parts sulphate and phosphate of soda, and sulphate 

 of potash. 



"Human urine (according to Berzelius) consists of 

 40 parts dry organic matter, 7 parts salts of ammonia, 

 11 parts inorganic matter, and 933 parts water." 



Thus we see that in the urine and foeces of man 

 and beast are contained nearly the same elements. 

 The general practice has been to husband the latter, 

 while the volatile parts of urine, which constitute its 

 chief value as a manure, are allowed to escape with- 

 out check or hindrance. We can well afford to imi- 

 tate the Chinese in their practice of economising ma- 

 nures. Rude as their implements of husbandly may 

 appear to us, still the practice and means of fertiliza- 

 tion which they use may teach us a useful lesson, if 



