SECRETARY'S REPORT. 87 



dcr the ground two or three inches and well mixed with the 

 earth." 



The return made by a farmers' club of Middlesex county, in 

 which the circular given above was taken up and carefully con- 

 sidered, contains the following reply on the subject of guano : 

 " J. P. B. applied 300 pounds per acre ; on the same land he 

 applied 20 loads of compost manure, and had one-sixth more 

 corn on the compost manure. J. H. got no pods on an eighth 

 of an acre of pease. J. B. M. sold $20 worth of pease from 

 one-sixteenth of an acre. He doubled his crop on guanoed 

 land, but found no effect on grass land. On poor sandy soil 

 E. W. B. found his corn, rye and grass improved ; guano saved 

 the corn. He got double the crop on grass land where guano 

 was applied in the autumn ; would always mix with charcoal, 

 plaster or muck, 60 pounds to the cord of peat muck. E. W. 

 found nearly a fourth more millet on seven-eighths of an acre, 

 where 25 loads per acre were applied, than where 300 pounds 

 of guano were applied. J. D. B. doubled his crop of potatoes 

 by the use of 300 pounds of guano per acre, applied on low 

 land in the hill." 



Another practical farmer of Middlesex county says : " Guano 

 has been used by some few individuals to a limited extent. 

 In several instances it has proved an unprofitable invest- 

 ment, on account of the want of knowledge how to use it, 

 having placed the seed in too near proximity to the manure, 

 which, being very powerful, destroyed the germ, or prevented 

 its growth. Light or sandy lands seem to be most benefited 

 by guano, or its effects are more perceptible on such ground 

 than on land in a high state of cultivation. It has been said that 

 the first crop obtained by using guano was the best, and that 

 the third or fourth season there would be but a very meagre 

 one ; but I think that statement remains to be tested. 



Different kinds ofland require different kinds of manure, as 

 is well known by most farmers. On cold, clayey soils, the 

 horse or stable manures seem to produce the best return, and 

 to leave the ground in a better state than some other kinds of 

 manure ; while on loamy, sandy, or gravelly soils, the barn 

 manure, formed into compost, is considered by most farmers as 

 best adapted to produce a crop. Much use is made of swamp 



