554 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[September 



spection only enables the farmer to guard 

 against the reception of one variety of dam- 

 aged and adulterated guano. As coprolites 

 and bones are not guano, they can be adul- 

 terated ad libitum —but if the bones of tur- 

 tles, or a petrifaction " as hard as marble"* 

 is ground and called guano, it must be in- 

 spected according to law and stamped or 

 stencilled by State authority, and delivered 

 to the farmer as guano. The name, guano, 

 sells it, and it cannot be sold under the 

 name of guano unless it is inspected, conse- 

 quently all this extra expense is put upon 

 the poor farmer, upon the same principle 

 that " American brandy is put up in French 

 barrels, exported and then imported again, 

 in order to obtain the Custom House vouch- 

 er for its French origin." This is " paying- 

 dear for the whistle;" but in this case the 

 expense falls on the consumer, whereas, in 

 the case of guano, it rests on the farmer 

 exclusively. 



If, as 1 suppose, the dealer is an honest 

 man, who adopts the name guano because 

 sustained by the best authority, as in the 

 case referred to, (coprolites,) then it is just 

 the case I want " to show up," as it exhibits 

 facts without attributing bad motives — espe- 

 cially if I proved that the article is neither 

 guano nor as good as guano ! ! 



Phosphoric acid, as it naturally exists in 

 guano, may be soluble in pure water — or it 

 may be comparatively insoluble, except the 

 water be acidulated, as, for instance, that of 

 bones and some varieties of phosphatic gua- 

 no — or it may be difficult of solution even 

 in acidulated water, except by the aid of 

 heat or prolonged infusion, as, for instance, 



* Since writing the above paper, I have re- 

 ceived two letters from Baltimore, with regard 

 to the article in the last American Farmer, head- 

 ed " Guano vs. Coprolites." The request is made 

 that I should distinctly state the names of those 

 articles now sold in Baltimore under the name 

 of guano that are not as soluble as guano and 

 that I pronounce to be coprolites. 



I will give a test by which any one can, with- 

 out chemical reagent or manipulation, see for 

 himself. With the aid of a good pocket lens, or, 

 still better, a microscope, the Sombrero guano 

 will be found compact and dense as one of the 

 secondary marbles, whereas Nevassa guano will 

 appear porous and evidently composed of "or- 

 ganic matter." I have proposed, however, under 

 these circumstances to examine all the varieties 

 of guano, or articles sold as guano, provided I 

 can secure samples of the State Inspector that 

 have never passed through the hands of inter- 

 ested parties, but sent to me directly by mail, 

 under the official seal of the State Inspector. 



that of coprolites or petrified excrements o* 

 animals, that are now ground and sold under 

 the name of guano — the Inspector being 

 sustained by the best authority for branding 

 them guano, and it being his duty so to do, 

 according to the law as it now stands — (but 

 this I explained in the last number of Ame- 

 rican Farmer) — and I will only mention 

 one more class in which phosphoric acid is 

 very insoluble, even when boiled in acidu- 

 lated water, viz : phosphate of iron and alu- 

 mina or earth, and mineral phosphates that 

 are sometimes ground and sold as manure, 

 and their value estimated, by the best author- 

 ity, by the proportion of phosphoric acid. 



Now, it will be observed that these four 

 classes embrace all phosphatic manures — 

 also the classification is rational and not ar- 

 bitrary and un reasonable, as are the distinc- 

 tions or classifications of the Inspector, and 

 which he is bound by law to adhere to. 



My fourth class is less than one-fourth 

 the value of the first, and the first is double 

 the value of the second, to any farmer. 



It matters not where the article comes 

 from, my classification by four numbers gives 

 the farmer a distinct idea of the relative 

 value of the article he buys; whereas the 

 present mode of inspection does not, as the 

 bag must be branded according to the ipse 

 dixit of some interested party, who sends it 

 to the Inspector under the most saleable 

 name — this being, of course, a double lie 

 when the article is neither guano nor from 

 the locality designated by the brand. 



It will be observed that I classify all phos- 

 phatic manures together and value them in 

 proportion to the solubility and the per cent, 

 of phosphoric acid that ihey contain. Two 

 items, just as two items are made the basis 

 of valuation in Peruvian "guano, viz : am- 

 monia and phosphates — the one worth 17 

 cents per pound, and the other 2 cents 

 in Peruvian ; the one worth 4 cents per 

 pound and the other 2 cents in phosphatic 

 guano. 



For instance — if any phosphatic com- 

 pound is founi to contain over one per cent, 

 of phosphoric acid soluble in pure cold rain 

 water, it is classed as No. 1, and marked A, 

 B, C, just in proportion as the quantity of 

 soluble acid varies, upon the same principle 

 that Peruvian guano is marked A, B, C, in 

 proportion as its quality varies. 



If any phosphatic compound is found to 

 contain less than one per cent, of phospho- 

 ric acid soluble in water, then brand it No. 



