74 



The introduction of guano Into the list of fertilizers has un- 

 doubtedly done much to excite the endeavors of those who 

 would imitate this highly stimulating manure ; and the inge- 

 nuity of man has been exhausted in endeavoring to supply the 

 farmer with homeopathic remedies for the diseases and weak- 

 nesses of his soil. Phosphates, chlorides, ammonia, nitrogen, 

 all salts and all gases, have been produced in every form sim- 

 ple and compound, to tempt the farmer away from his manure 

 heap, or to supply the place of such a heap, when its produc- 

 tion was an impossibility. That much benefit has been de- 

 rived from this there can be no doubt. The worn-out lands 

 of some portions of our own country, and the highly cultivat- 

 ed lands of Great Britain, have undoubtedly derived great ad- 

 vantages from guano, bones, the phosphates, and other con- 

 densed forms of manures. The precise nature of the benefit 

 of each one of these substances should be carefully investigat- 

 ed by the best experiments. The farmer should be enabled, 

 in some way, to know precisely what he may expect from an 

 investment in the expensive fertilizers so freely offered him — 

 whether it will be of temporary or permanent value, and 

 •whether of any value at all. 



While your committee present the recorded experience of 

 some of the best farmers in the county, in the use of some of 

 the condensed fertilizers of the day, they Avould urge the con- 

 tinuation of these trials upon the remainder of the list. Facts 

 ascertained with regard to bone separated by mechanical pro- 

 cess alone, and without any increased solubility by chemical 

 combination, may not be ascertained with regard to guano or 

 the superphosphates. It is important that the subject should 

 be thoroughly investigated — especially when we remember 

 that the good cultivator always returns to a well prepared ma- 

 nure heap, the product of his stable and farm yard, with a 

 confidence which chemistry and the guano islands have not 

 yet shaken. 



In conclusion, your committee would earnestly recommend 

 the continuance of experiments with bones as a fertilizer. Of 



