CHAP. I. ANIMAL MANURES. 19 



GUANO, says Dr. Lindley, " the deposit of sea-birds on dry 

 islands in the Pacific, is the richest of all natural manures. 

 But it is enormously adulterated. There is perhaps no garden- 

 crop which this does not suit, if not applied too much at a time. 

 The liquid form is preferred by gardeners." 



I saw it once used very largely to Koses and Peach-trees in 

 the garden of the Agri-Horticultural Society, but with very per- 

 nicious effects, as several of the trees died in consequence. 

 The fault, however, I believe was not in the guano, but in 

 the injudicious manner in which it was applied. The roots of 

 the trees were laid open and exposed some little time, as is 

 usual in the Cold season, and then covered up again with earth 

 mixed with a large proportion of guano in a state of dry powder. 



Mr. Kivers says : " One pound of guano to twenty gallons of 

 water forms the very best species of liquid manure for pot 

 culture ; for the borders double that quantity will be better." * 



In the ' Cottage Gardener's Dictionary ' it is stated : " Plants 

 of various sorts, in pots, watered only with guano-water, half an 

 ounce to a gallon, have flourished astonishingly ; none have 



failed Mr. Eendle and other persons record, as the 



result of dearly-purchased experience, that where guano has 

 failed to be beneficial, or has been injurious, it has been applied 

 in quantities too powerful for the plants to bear. In a liquid 

 state, half an ounce per gallon, and given to growing plants once 

 a week, it never fails to be productive of vigour. When sown 

 as a top dressing it should be mixed with five times its weight 

 of dry earth, ashes, &c., and then scattered as thinly as possible." 



Baron Liebig recommends as a most effective method of 

 applying guano to " moisten it with water to which a little 

 sulphuric acid has been added, and mix it after twenty-four 

 hours with saw-dust, turf-dust, or mould, and strew this mixture 

 over the surface of the earth. "f 



And lastly, Mr. Solly gives this important caution: "In 

 using guano as liquid manure it must be remembered that the 

 solution formed by pouring water over it only contains the 

 ammonia and about one quarter of the phosphates, the rest of 

 the phosphates and the organic matter being almost insoluble 

 in water ; hence the residue is nearly as valuable a manure as 



* * Hose Amateur's Guide/ p. 171, 6th edit. 

 t ' Natural Laws of Husbandry, p. 260. 



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