Guano: its Use and Application. 169 



done, since he put on more than seven times the proper quan- 

 tity, beside the ashes, or at the rate of one hundred and fifty 

 cords of stable manure and two hundred and seventy bushels 

 of ashes to the acre. He should have used, at the utmost, 

 only eighteen ounces of guano. 



Second. — It was applied to the surface, or worked into an 

 mSh. or so of the surface. No one, without careful reflection 

 upon the manner in which manures are reached by the roots 

 of plants, would think of digging so small a quantity as one 

 ounce to the square yard into the whole depth of his soil. 

 He might well fear that it would all be lost. 



Experience in the use of plaister of Paris, however, proves 

 that a less quantity even, is not lost in the soil. The ordi- 

 nary amount of that substance, applied to lands away from 

 the sea, is one bushel, or seventy pounds, to the acre. That 

 quantity is found to be as efficacious, for the season, as a 

 larger amount. On corn and potatoes, it is ordinarily used in 

 and around the hills ; but careful and repeated experiments 

 have established the fact, that even this small quantity is 

 fully as effective, if sown broadcast over the entire surface, 

 and worked into the ground. The truth is, the roots of plants 

 pervade the whole soil, and their spongisles find in it all 

 which is valuable for their sustenance. 



There is this special advantage in mixing manures with 

 the whole soil, that, as the season advances, and the surface 

 soil becomes dry, the roots of plants descend in search of 

 moisture, and thus they then find abundant nutriment when 

 most needed. If, however, the manure is upon or near the 

 surface, the roots, in moist weather, are attracted upward by 

 it, and where drought ensues, either perish or are so parched 

 and impoverished, that the whole plant suffers. 



Who would be so inconsiderate as to mix stable manure, 

 equivalent to even so small a quantity of guano as one ounce 

 to the square yard, into some one or two inches of the sur- 

 face, or into and among his seed ? Why then need we be 

 surprised that our crops, instead of being invigorated and 

 increased, as they would have been by its judicious applica- 

 tion, are all burnt up '? 



Third. — All manures, to exert their full influence, need 

 moisture in proportion to their power. It is an old maxim, 



VOL. XII. NO. V. 22 



