26 MAXURES 



per acre ; it is also largely used in manure mixtures for Tea, on 

 the growth of which it has a marked effect. It should not, how- 

 ever, be applied to soils above any water supply, as by polluting 

 the latter it has been known to be a cause of dysentery, etc. 



Bones. Both for field and garden crops, for fruit and other 

 trees, bones in some form or other are extensively employed as a 

 manure. When used in merely a crushed state their decomposition 

 is slow, consequently their fertilising properties are lasting ; reduced 

 to a powder or meal, and applied as a manure, the results are 

 observable in a much shorter time. The usual commercial forms 

 in which bones are applied to the soil are : J inch bones, bone- 

 meal, and bone-dust. Bones are considered to have the best 

 effects on soils that are deficient in lime ; they are commonly used 

 as a manure for rice-fields in Ceylon, and yield good results. 

 Soils rich in decomposing organic matters, such as leaf-moulds, are 

 greatly enhanced in fertility by an application of bone-meal. 



Guano. This valuable manure, obtained principally from 

 islands off the coast of Peru, and various other places on the coast 

 of South America, is usually the excrement of sea-birds. It has 

 been deposited there during the course of centuries and varies in 

 quality, that found in the regions which are liable to heavy rainfall 

 or shifting sands being of least value. The best guano is supposed 

 to be that which comes from Chincha Islands, where the supply is 

 said to have now become greatly diminished. The guanos of 

 commerce may be classified under two heads : (1) nitrogenous 

 guano, of which the " Peruvian" is a type ; (2) Phosphatic guano, 

 of which the u Bolivian " is an example, the latter being inferior. 

 The chief fertilising properties of guano having been ascertained 

 by analysis, various artificial manures are now r prepared as sub- 

 stitutes for it. Sometimes sulphate of ammonia is added to 

 nitrogenous guano, the mixture being then known as " Fortified 

 Peruvian Guano." Guano should always be mixed with about six 

 times its bulk of fine earth, loam or ashes ; the mixture may be 

 applied at the rate of about 4 or 5 cwt. per acre, according to the 

 nature of the crop. For pot-plants, guano may very advanta- 

 geously be applied in solution with water, the proportion varying 

 according to the size and variety of plant for which it is required. 

 About 1 oz. to two gallons of water may generally be used with 

 safety. 



Leaf-mould. Leaves, when thoroughly decayed and reduced 

 to a state of mould, form a sort of manure known as leaf-mould. 



