296 



TKSl SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



acid. Such a valuation is, however, totally 

 wrong, and liable to mislead farmers and pur- 

 chasers of this article. A hotel-keeper, who 

 would charge for the beef and for roasting it, 

 and finally for the resulting roast beef, would 

 act on the same principle as that by which the 

 money value of this article is estimated. 



If I make "the most liberal allowance," as 

 Dr. S. did, in estimating the money value of 

 this "fertilizer," allowing $25 for 2000 lbs. of 

 raw bones and $50 for 2240 lbs. of Peruvian 

 guano, I come to the following result : 



If 2000 lbs. of raw bones, containing 23.61 

 per cent, of phosphoric acid are worth $25, 

 then 1 lb. of phosphoric acid is worth 5.3 cents. 



Peruvian guano containing 14 per cent, of 

 phosphate acid and 16 per cent, of ammonia 

 is therefore worth. 



For its phosphate acid, - - $16 62 

 And for its ammonia, - - 33 38 



Total, - . - $50 00 

 And, therefore, 1 lb. of ammonia is worth 

 $9 31 cents. 



The above super phosphate of lime contains 

 in 2000 lbs., as per Dr. Stewart's analysis, 373 

 lbs. of phosphoric acid, which at 5.3 cents, are 



worth, $19 76 



And 90 lbs. of ammonia, at 9.31 cts. 8 38 



Total value, - - 28 14 

 This is the real money value of the article 

 as calculated from Dr. S.'s analysis, and if we 

 estima,te Peruvian guano at fifty dollars the 

 short ton, (its present price,) then at most the 

 article is not worth more than thirty-one or 

 thirty-two dollars per ton, a price very far be- 

 low that at which it is sold. You can buy the 

 materials of this manure and apply them to 

 your soil at a far less sum than the price for 

 which this manure is sold here. 



The value of all this class of manures should 

 be reckoned by this rule : Estimate the value 

 of the several constituents in the manure, and 

 then the cost of the labor of mixing them, (if 

 mixing is necessaay before using them) the sum 

 is the real value of the manure. This rule 

 holds good in all manufactured articles, and 

 why not in manure ? I do not deny but that 

 this manure may produce under any certain 

 conditions good crops, but that is no reason 

 why you should pay a sum for it far above its 

 intrinsic value. Thirty pounds of Peruvian 

 guano and seventy of bones or of good quality 

 Mexican guano would make one hundred pounds 

 of manure superior to " C. B. DeBurg's Super 

 Phosphate," and you can distribute these over 

 an acre much better by sowing them separately' 

 than if they are mixed before being used. 



When you can purchase the elements of this 

 manure then for about thirty- one or thirty- two 

 dollars, and have a more thorough mixture by 

 sowing them separately on your fields, why buy 

 this or any other similar artificial manure? 

 The valuation put on this manure by Dr. Stew- 

 art is entirely too high and is not warranted 

 by the analysis made by him. In relation to 

 the supply of Peruvian guano, I can confi- 

 dently inform you that the supply on hand is 

 probably sufficient for tlie demand this fall, and 

 it is arriving in large quantities every week. 

 There need be not the slightest fear of a scar- 

 city this season; and the dealers will be anxious 

 to sell now as the consumers were to buy last 

 fall. You can, therefore, suit your ow^n con- 

 venience as to the time when you will purchase. 

 This advice is difierent from that given by those 

 who sell guano. They are anxious to sell as 

 quickly as possible, by w^hich they will realize 

 their money or obtain their commissions; and, 

 therefore, they advise consumers to purchase 

 immediately. 



I am well aware, for the statements w^hich I 

 have made above, that, as heretofore, many 

 manure dealers and their adherents wall strive 

 to discredit my statements and do me all the 

 injury in their power whenever an opportunity 

 offers. Their efforts heretofore have resulted 

 in doing me no harm. The sufferers have been 

 those for whom I am appointed to labor. It 

 was a duty not less due to you for your disin- 

 terested services to the cause of scientific and 

 practical agriculture, that I should give jou 

 the above information, than it was to the agri- 

 cultural community that I should publsh it. 

 If any injustice has been done to any one by 

 the above connnunication, I will, with great 

 pleasure, make all suitable amends when made 

 sensible of my errors. 



James Higgins, 

 State Agricultural Chemist. 

 To G. D. CoAD, Great Mills, St. Mary's Co., Md. 



From the Southern Cultivator. 



WEEVIL IN GRAIN— HOW TO DESTROY. 



Messrs. Editors, — I read an article in one of your 

 numbers which sx)oke of keeping the shuck on 

 corn in order to prevent the weevil. Keeping the 

 shuck on the corn is the best mode of preserving 

 the corn sweet and clean, and it also prevents the 

 weevil : but wheat and other grain cannot be con- 

 veniently preserved in the shuck. I Avili give a 

 method by which the weevil may be prevented 

 from doing damage to wheat or other grain. It is 

 cutting the young (or growth of the same year) of 

 the sassafras, and placing a few branches in the 

 wheat. It will be preserved for three or four years 

 entirely clear of weevil. 



J. M. S. 



