No. 129.] 273 



Some of these adulterated manures we fear reach our country, 

 as most of the guano which comes here is from England ; and 

 complaints are often heard that farmers among lis receive no bene- 

 fit from guano, and pay pretty dearly for it too. The same, no 

 doubt, happens with phosphate of lime ; and this, or some of it, 

 receives a pretty liberal dose of oyster shells or something else 

 more worthless, before its sale. Oyster shells are generally used 

 in England to adulterate phosphate of lime, and resemble it more, 

 perhaps, than anything else, and make the fraud less liable to 

 detection. The best way for our farmers, in case of phosphate of 

 lime, is to buy bones in their natural state, and break them up 

 into small pieces, or dissolve them in sulphuric acid, or oil 

 of vitriol, in the way Prof. Antisell has so wtII described; then 

 they will be sure of getting a pure article. As to guano, our 

 farmers cannot so easily protect themselves against fraud, as at 

 least nineteen-twentieths of what comes to America comes from 

 Europe, and no doubt most of it comes well adulterated; if thej 

 must and will liave the article, the only way to be safe is to have 

 it analyzed by a competent person before purchasing it. 



Mr. Mei"S. — The adulteration of manure is an atrocious crime. 



The s 1 that does it deserves to be prohibited the use of bread. 



There is another adulteration which our general Government has 

 done well to destroy; that is the adulteration of drugs. If Gov- 

 ernment should protect our farmers likewise, it would be in the 

 first order of its duty. 



Dr. Antisell remarked that the adulteration of guano in Eng- 

 land was extraordinary. It was found that when some justly- 

 suspicious farmer w^ent down the Thaaies to see the cargo of 

 guano, and was satisfied of its purity, he was, nevertheless, 

 cheated; for as the vessel came up, she was supplied with marl 

 and sand to mix with it, so that when she landed her cargo the 

 poor farmer paid his pound sterling for tons of English dirt 

 instead of foreign guano. This mixture of guano and dirt was 

 very deceptive, for the smell of the mixture was much stronger 

 than the true guano. To one load of guano tliey added two loads 

 of marl. A scientific analysis is first made of the cargo; this is 



[Assembly, No. 129. J 18 



