42 



GARDENING FOR THE SOUTH. 



thiiily with a handful of guano. Cover this at least three 

 inches deep. On this you may plant your trees with 

 safety, and after the roots are covered a little more may 

 be sprinkled and the whole covered with soil. But the 

 great value of guano is in forming liquid manure, one 

 pound of guano to five gallons of Avater applied once a week 

 will add wonderfully to the growth of any plants watered 

 with this mixture. For very delicate plants twice the 

 above quantity of water should be given. If guano is not 

 to be had, the manure of fowls is a good substiture. This 

 liquid is especially valuable in the flower garden. It 

 must be poured upon the roots and not upon the leaves or 

 collars of the plants. On lawns, a pound sprinkled upon 

 each square rod will restore their verdure. A great ad- 

 vantage of applying guano is that no seeds of weeds are 

 jicattered in the soil. 



Night soil and chamber slops should be composted as 

 before directed with charcoal or the black mould from the 

 woods. 



Gypsum may be added to the mixture, all smell is 

 thus destroyed and an offensive nuisance is converted into 

 a valuable application to any crop. Where charcoal is 

 freely used this substance becomes perfectly inodorous. 

 Guano and poudrette are the best possible manures for 

 the cabbage tribe and other plants that need phosphates 

 and nitrogen. Both these manures are exceedingly pow- 

 erful but their effects do not last beyond one season. The 

 fertilizing properties exist in the right proportions to be 

 taken up at once by the plants, and nearly all their nutri- 

 tive properties are exhausted the season they are applied. 



The following table from Boussingault gives a compre- 

 hensive view of the proportion of azote or nitrogen con- 

 tained in the most common manures, and of their quality 



