GENERAL MANURES ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE 293 



appear to have been long known to the natives of the dis- 

 tricts in which the deposits were found, but it was not 

 introduced into this country till about the middle of last 

 century. The effects produced by it must have appeared 

 very striking to the farmers of that time, who, it should be 

 remembered, were entirely unacquainted with the highly 

 concentrated special manures now in common use. 

 Wherever it was tried, it produced results which were 

 then regarded as simply marvellous. Eeports of its 

 efficiency spread rapidly, and it soon acquired a deservedly 

 great reputation throughout the country. Some of the 

 accounts which were circulated, however, appear to have 

 been much exaggerated. Farmers bought it eagerly, and 

 as the supply was limited, highly inflated prices were 

 realised. In order to cope with the extraordinary demand, 

 the shipments ;were greatly increased, and the then known 

 deposits were rapidly exhausted. 



Artificial Guanos. These circumstances naturally gave 

 rise to the practice of adulterating the genuine article 

 with worthless materials, and to the production of imita- 

 tions which often closely resembled it in composition. 

 The latter were at first sold as genuine, and afterwards 

 as " artificial guano." Some of those which contained 

 equal quantities of plant food were found to be not greatly 

 inferior in fertilising qualities. They can be sold at much 

 lower prices than genuine guano commands, and to repre- 

 sent the'm as such, is fraud. The name artificial guano is 

 still frequently applied to compound manures, town refuse, 

 and even to worthless materials. Pish and meat meals 

 are often described as guanos, but the nature of these 

 products is now well known and there is little danger of 

 anyone being deceived. The writer is accustomed to 

 regard with suspicion any fertiliser, other than the 

 genuine article, described as "guano." ,The name has 

 lost much of its old-time charm, and is not now commonly 



