I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



553 



the coprolites yield only 5 parts. A boiling 

 temperature, or prolonged digestion or even 

 infusion, gives a different remit, and this is 

 the reason why more than a dozen of the 

 best chemists in the United States have en- 

 dorsed the certificates obtained from Europe 

 calling coprolites guano, and recommending 

 these petrifactions as comparable with guano 

 in proportion to the phosphate of lime they 

 contain. I made the same mistake once in 

 comparing the phosphorite mineral of New 

 York with bones ; or rather, I endorsed the 

 opinions of some of these very gentlemen. 



Why is it that the Maryland State Agri- 

 cultural Society does not employ its own offi- 

 cer to estimate the relative value of the ma- 

 nures sold or offered for sale in Maryland ? 

 I mean the money value to the farmer, not 

 the commercial valne, which depends on the 

 supply and demand, but the estimate of the 

 actual value, and also the relative value of 

 each. The above may be considered an il- 

 lustration of my mode of estimating the re- 

 lative value of the pure phosphatic manures. 

 It will be noticed that it is not the province 

 of the State Inspector to recognize any such 

 distinction; and it will be remembered that 

 I was actually employed in this manner be- 

 fore my appointment as Chemist of the Ma- 

 ryland State Agricultural Society, and dur- 

 ing the infancy of the Society. In Eng- 

 land, Scotland and even in Massachusetts, 

 where this interest will not compare with a 

 tithe of that in Maryland, the chemist of 

 the agricultural society is expected to report 

 as above to the farmer or agricultural so- 

 ciety. If I am allowed a page in one of the 

 agricultural journals of Maryland, next 

 month, I will sketch the outline of what I 

 suppose the farmers should have, instead of 

 the garbled extracts from chemists that are 

 published. 



When Columbian guano was unsaleable, 

 and the agency was declined by one of the 

 best merchants in Baltimore because it 

 would not sell at $17 per ton, when other 

 chemists were hesitating, I pronounced it 

 by far the richest and most valuable source 

 of phosphates thus far discovered. Now 

 that it is exhausted, I make the same re- 

 mark with regard to Ncvassa guano, having 

 obtained my samples direct from State In- 

 specter, and under his official seal. I do 

 not accuse any one of fraud; but there are 

 several valuable manures now sold in Balti- 

 more at $40 per ton, that are not, on an 

 average, worth more than half the money. 



except according to the notion that a thing 

 " is worth what it will bring." Farmers 

 seem to forget what " poor Richard " said 

 about "paying too dear for the whistle." 

 A chemist may. be perfectly satisfied that a 

 manure is exceedingly valuable, and more 

 universally successful than any other. More- 

 over, he may be sure that it will pay better 

 at $20 per ton than any other on an aver- 

 age ; but if a certificate of this kind create 

 an enormous demand for the article, the 

 merchant must do one of three things, viz : 

 double the price, dilute the supply, or limit 

 his ci stomers. Under these circumstances, 

 cur Baltimore merchants usually do as far- 

 mers do when their crops are large or of 

 superior quality, while others fail, so as to 

 create a demand for good seed or even bread. 

 This is not considered fraud in either case, 

 and it may be questioned whether the chem- 

 ist has any right to limit the price of ma- 

 nures except in relation to the price of grain, 

 and that would be impracticable. 



I have endeavored to give a popular ex- 

 planation of the difference between coprolites 

 and guano; there are several other matters 

 of practical importance to the farmer, that 

 any one can understand who comprehends 

 the above. I have not attacked, nor will I 

 attack any one, but merely express my own 

 opinions; I do not seek controversy, nor will 

 I engage in it, as the statements I have 

 made do not rest on authority, but the proof 

 of their accuracy is in the hands of every 

 one who is willing to think for himself. 



"Be not like dumb, driven cattle. 

 Be a hero in the strife!" 



DAVID STEWART, M. D., 

 Chem. of Md. State Agri. Society. 



Valuation and Inspection of Guano and 

 other Fertilizers. 



NUMBER TWO. 



Written by Dr. Stewart, Chemist Mary- 

 land State Agricultural Society, for the 

 American Farmer. 



There are seven modes of estimating the 

 value of manures. The Inspector gives the 

 porportion of phosphoric acid iu guano, and 

 this fixes its relation to an arbitrary stand- 

 ard, called A or B— ^according to the laic — 

 but as no regard is had to the solubility of 

 the phosphoric acid in articles sold under 

 the name of guano, this must be an arbitra- 

 ry or unreasonable valuation — and the in- 



