226 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



EXTRACTS FROM MR TESCHEMACHER'S 

 ADDRESS 

 Before the American Jnslilide, in October Inst. 

 We are happy to present to our readera the fol- 

 h^wing- extracts from Mr Teschemacher's address, 

 (copied from the American Agriculturist,) consti- 

 tuting that portion of it relalmg to his experiments 

 with Guano. We should have been glad to have 

 received the address (and expected it) long before 

 this, as we had learned it contnined other useful 

 information beside what is here given. We have 

 made one or two corrections by request of Mr T. 

 Experiments with Guano. 

 " In an address which I had the honor of deliv- 

 ering before the AIa«sacliusetls Horticultural Soci- 

 ety last year, I detailed a few experiments made 

 by myself with the new manure from the coast of 

 Peru, calleil guano, which is unquestionably the 

 dung of sea-birds that has accumulated there in 

 almost incredible masses, and which, owing to its 

 never having been washed by rain, not only re- 

 tains for ages its wonderful fertilizing power, but 

 possibly possesses them in a concentrated form. 



I think this is a fit opportunity to give the re- 

 sults of a continuation of some of these and other 

 experiments, premising that every operation has 

 been carried on by my own liands. JJut I would 

 previously remark, that about four or five years 

 ago, two cargoes of this manure were imported in- 

 to England ; the following season this number 

 was increased to six, and in twelve months of 

 1642 '4y, this importation had increased to above 

 40,000 tons, and that the sales in London alone 

 since last January, have been from 250 to 500 tons 

 weekly ; those in Liverpool probably exceeding 

 this amount. I should be quite willing to rest my 

 belief of its immense importance to agriculture on 

 these facts alone, even if I had not my own expe- 

 rience to confirm it, although I am aware that sev- 

 eral experiments have been made which have failed. 

 In all those which I have heard of, the failure 

 could always lie traced to some error in its appli- 

 cation ; some had applied too much, for it is ex- 

 tremely powerful, and had killed their plants — oth- 

 ers applied it in ground already highly manured ; 

 its cfTects were of course scarcely visible ; others 

 had applied it on dry soil at a dry season, when of 

 course there were no means of its reaching the 

 roots in n proper state. In Peru, it is always ap- 

 plied just previous to irrigation, for it never rains 

 on that coast. 



On the 12th of May, this year, I sowed several 

 hills of sweet corn on a poor, exhausted, sandy 

 soil, putting a tablespoonful of guano to each hill 

 of five seeds, without any other manure. I feel 

 sure that this quantity in sowing is two-thirds too 

 much ; one leaspoonful would suffice ; besides 

 which, it was not sufficiently stirred up with the 

 Boil, so that when the young tender sprouts first 

 germinated, they came nt once into contact with 

 this most powerful manure, and were considerably 

 injured, turning yellow, and several dying away. 

 Three or four, however, in each hill survived, and 

 soon began to grow^ of a dark green color. For 

 the first three weeks, I did not observe much dif- 

 ference between these and some adjacent hills in 

 the same soil, which I had sown ^Iso without ma- 

 nure, for the purpose of comparison. When about 

 one foot high, I stirred into each hill about three 

 teaspoonsful more of gu.nno, and watered all freely, 

 as the weather was very dry. On the 11th of Ju- 

 ly, the tassels appeared, which is about a fortnight 

 earlier than usual 



JAN. ir, 1844. 



table, I exhibited at the rooms of the Massachusetts 

 Horticultural Society, the largest produce of one 

 seed. It had three principal stems, two of which 

 had throe heads each, and one two heads, in all 

 eight beads, besides five suckers, each of which 

 showed the silk. The weight of this plant, the 

 roots being cut off, was 8 1-4 lbs. At the same 

 time, I exhibited the best produce of one seed out 

 of the hills without guano or manure. One stalk 

 showed one head, no sucker, and weighed 1 1-4 lb. 

 It is well known by cultivators of this corn, 

 that under the usual cultivation it seldom avera- 

 ges two heads to a seed. In my adoress before 

 mentioned, the view I took of the action of this 

 manure, and which I beg leave to state I deduced 

 theoretically, fnmi a consideration of the analysis of 

 its contents, was, that it would bo more valuable 

 in agriculture than in horticulture, for that it was 

 probable that it would diminish the size of the 

 flower, but that it would certainly increase the 

 produce of seed. I consider the above experiment 

 with sweet corn alone as considerably fortifying 

 these views, and I will mention but one other o°f 

 my numerous experiments : it is purely a horticul- 

 tural one, but it further supports the same theory, 

 which is very important to agriculture. 



In February, 1842, I repotted two plants, an old 

 woody one, and a young cutting of heliotrope, 

 which were in soil entirely exhausted, and in 

 which they had been about twelve months. The 

 exhaustion of the soil was proved by the leaves 

 turning yellow and dropping off as fast as they ap- 

 peared, as well as by the attenuated appearance of 

 the shoots. On repotting, I merely added a tea- 

 spoonful of guano to the same soil, and replaced 

 the plants in the same pots. In three months they 

 had both shot out most luxuriant branches, with 

 many clusters of flowers; and on the older and 

 more woody plant, each cluster produced a good 

 crop of seed, which this plant seldom produces, 

 even under good common cultivation. This seed 

 and luxuriance may therefore be fairly attributed 

 to the guano. In order to pursue this subject to 

 Its farthest limits, I considered it valuable to dis- 

 cover whether any of the ingredients, discovered 

 by ^chemical analysis of this manure, had .found 

 their way permanently into the seed of the sweet 

 corn, with a view of ascertaining its importance in 

 cultivation as an improver of tlie food either for 

 cattle or man. I therefore forwarded a portion of 

 jhe seed grown with guano and that grown with- 

 out on the same spot, to Mr A. A. Hayes, of Rox- 

 bury, to whose valuable discoveries and researches 

 on this subject, I have bef„re alluded, and likewise 

 to Dr. C. T. Jackson, who has also interested him- 

 self much in these matters.* 



I myself have repeated Air Hayes's experiments 

 with this corn, although I have not been able to 



■l 



Dr Jackscm I iiave not yet heard from, but the result 

 of Mr Hayes's experimenls on tlie i-orn 1 transmitted to 

 111"), 19, that the phosphates in ilie guanoed corn, are to 

 those m the corn without guano, as 6 lo 4 ; in oiher 

 words, the ^juanoed corn contains 50 per cent, more 

 phosphates than the otlier. Now, according to ihe most 

 recent physiolugical discoveries, it is agreed that wiih- 

 oul the pliosphates, neither Hush nor blood can be lornied, 

 and llierefore, tliat ihe value of food for cattle and man, 

 IS dependant on the quantity of phosphates it contains. 

 The facts may therefore he slated as follows : In a 

 po..r soil, with guano at the expense of about $3 per 

 acre, a crop of Indian corn may be raised at Icasi double 

 111 quaniity lo that raised on well manured land : and 

 this double quaniity will contain 50 per cent, more of 

 those ingredients (phosphates,) 



whioli are absolutely 



, ne.essary to the formatio'n of. tiesh and blood, than the 

 When fit for gathering for the other. 



separate the ingredients in the seed, so as to me 

 a delicate and certain comparison with those 

 seeds grown without guano. Yet, according 

 the judgment of my eye, there is certainly an 

 crease in the phosphates of the seed with gua 

 If this fact can be fairly once ascertained with c 

 ingredient, it may be fairly s»pposed to be the ci 

 with others ; and when the researches affecting i 

 riculture, now being pursued by numerous 

 men of science, shall have attained a greater 

 gree of precision and perfection, the importance 

 a knowledge of the ingredients contained in 

 various foods of cattle and man, will become qu 

 manifest. 



One other consideration has suggested itself 

 me as worthy of notice. In cultivation, the cho 

 of fine seeds has always been deemed of first-r 

 consequence. If the seed of this first year's si 

 ing with guano has really acquired any more va 

 able properties than that cultivated without, il 

 at least probable, from what we already know pr 

 tically of the laws of vegetation, that these pn 

 erties may be increased with another year's sii 

 lar treatment; I have, therefore, preserved som« 

 this guanoed corn as seed for the succeeding ve 

 when it will be again tried with the same manur 

 It is much to be regretted that an imported di 

 o*" 20 per cent, ad valorem is levied on guail 

 This has just been paid on a small quantity i 

 ported into Boston, a good portion of which has, 

 the liberality of Capt. John Percival, of the U. 

 Navy, been distributed among the members of i 

 Massachusetts Horticultural Society ; no dou 

 however, that on proper representation being nif 

 at Washington, an article of so much importin 

 to agriculture, will be admitted free. 



I will merely add to these statements, that I 

 quantity of guano I consider desirable for each I 

 of corn of five seeds, is less than one ounce, to 

 given in two applications. One quarter on sowi 

 must be well mixed with the soil, and three qui 

 ters stirred well into the hill when the planti 

 about a foot high, ahvays endeavoring to effect tl 

 latter operation just previous to rain. This woi 

 give about 70 lbs. to the acre, supposing it to cc 

 tain 1,100 hills at six feet apart. The price 

 England is £10 to £12, or $50 to $C0 per ton, 

 2240 lbs. ; hence the quantity to the acre wot 

 cost somewhat less than two dollars, and no oti" 

 manure is necessary. In England it has been ; 

 plied at the rate of 250 to 500 lbs. to the acre, 

 more than six times the quantity by the ab(;ve c 

 culation ; but there it is scattered broadcast as t 

 seed is sown, and of course the quantity used iiii. 

 be much greater, as all the ground is covered, 

 the method I propose, it is applied as it were si 

 ply to each plant. In England, nothing is cul- 

 vatcd in hills : it is either broadcast or in drills. 

 There is unquestionably much still to learn 

 this subject : I am sure I do not pretend to ha 

 more than raised the skin of the scientific pan 

 it ; but of the great value of guano on poor a 

 sandy soils, under proper application, there canr 

 exist a doubt. 



A remark has been made by some even of hij 

 authority in these matters, to the effect that havii 

 stimulated vegetation highly by these powerf 

 manures, should the application not be continue 

 the soil would become exhausted and barren. Nc 

 is this not true of any manure, of the best cultiv 

 ted field in the world ? Must not the farmer t 

 ways use manure, and does he not exert hirost 

 to make it as powerful as possible .' There is i 



