194 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



we had been informed. We bad also learned I 

 that a considerable quantity had already been 

 shipped to New York and Boston, and one 

 gentleman said lie believed a good portion of 

 it had been sent to England. 



In New York we w'ere offered the Chilian 

 guano, if we would take it in quantity, at $35 

 per ton. 



"VVe took samples of both' the Mexican and 

 Chilian guano, and made careful duplicate 

 analyses of them in the laboratory of Prof. 

 Carr, of this city, chemist to the New York 

 State Agricultural Society. The following 

 are the mean per centage results of the analy- 

 ses : 



Mexican Guano. * 

 Band, ----- 0.5 

 Organic matter, - - - 5.0 

 Phosphate of lime, - - - 26.0 

 Carbonate oflime, - - - 68.0 



99.5 



Chilian Guano. 



Water, ----- 4.0 



Sand, 2.4 



Organic matter, - ' - - 15.3 



Phosphate oflime, - - - 24.5 



Sulphate of lime, (plaster) - 9.5 



Chloride of sodium, (salt) 8.2 



Carbonate of lime, (chalk) 87.6 



99.5 



Ammonia, 1.00 

 Having obtained these results, we proceeded 

 once more to Newark, and there received the 

 following account of the modus operandi, 

 adopted in the factory : 



The bags are first marked "Chilian Guano; 1 ' 

 they are then moistened with w r ater, and laid 

 in a heap, in layers, with a quantity of Peru- 

 vian guano between each layer. 



The sugar-house scum is pounded line. — 

 Three barrowfuls, of "live half-bushels" each, 

 are then mixed with six barrowfuls of Mexican 

 guano. To this are added 1 \ bushels common 

 salt, 1 bushel plaster, 3 bushels Peruvian gu- 

 ano, and -I bushel of quick lime. When the 

 Peruvian guano and lime are added, "they 

 make it tremendously strong." In other words, 

 the lime sets free the ammonia of the Peruvian 

 guano, and gives the manufactured Chilian 

 guano a strong smell of hartshorn, which, to 

 the unreflecting, is a sure indication of a valu- 

 able guano. 



The floor, where the bags, icerc filled, was 

 covered with Peruvian Guano, in. order to 

 make the article look as like genuine guano as 

 possible. 



"What is Chilian guano, and why is this 

 name given to it instead of the better known 

 Peruvian guano? The only genuine Peru- 

 vian guano in this country comes through the 



hands of Barreda Brothers, and has their 

 mark upon it ; so that it would not be easy to 

 sell a spurious Peruvian guano. Chilian gu- 

 ano is subject to no such regulations, and the 

 books describe it, when " fine," — and the 

 manufactured article is made fine by grinding 

 — as a " very valuable variety, equal to that 

 of the very best Peruvian." The name, there- 

 fore, has been chosen with consummate cun- 

 ning. 



The Oxford (Me.) Democrat states that it 

 has received a circular containing an analysis 

 of " Chilian guano," made by Prof. Hayes, 

 " Assay er to the State of Massachusetts," and 

 which is <k Endorsed by Prof. Mapes." This 

 analysis represents the Chilian guano as con- 

 taining 27.9 per cent, of " azotized organic 

 matter and fixed salts of ammonia." This is 

 a much larger quantity than the sample we 

 analyzed contained. The actual quantity of 

 ammonia or nitrogen is not stated, and it is 

 impossible to judge correctly of the value of 

 the manure without it. Fermented saw-dust, 

 or peat may be termed " azotized organic 

 matter, with fixed salt of ammonia ;" and we 

 can see no use of such phraseology except te 

 deceive. 



Seeing it stated in the Southern Farmer, 

 that Chilian guano was about to be tried on 

 the Model Farm of the Union Agricultural 

 Society, at Petersburg, Va., we wrote to the 

 Superintendent, Mr. Nichol, for information' 

 in regard to it. He replied that it was ob- 

 tained from Messrs. ftowlett & Harday, of 

 Petersburg, who received it from Mr. S., of 

 Boston. The price was $40 per ton. Mr. T. 

 S. Pleasants, the guano inspector at Peters- 

 burg, informs us, that having made a chemical 

 examination of the Chilian guano, he told 

 Messrs. ft. & H. that " it was a fraud." Ob 

 this, Messrs. ft. & IT. wrote to Mr. S., who 

 replied that the opinion of Mr. Pleasants 

 " was very different from other gentlemen, 

 mentioning the names of Dr. Hayes, and the 

 Inspector at ftichmond, Dr. Powell." 



We have now presented the facts in regard 

 to this Chilian guano manufacture, so far as 

 we have been able to obtain them. Our read- 

 ers can draw their own inferences. Even wer> j 

 the article itself valuable, it would be a gross 

 deception to palm it off as genuine guano ; but 

 the article is comparatively worthless, as otfr 

 analysis fully proves. Thus a ton of it con- 

 tains 490 lbs. insoluble phosphate of lime, 

 which at two cents per pound — a high esti- 

 mate — is $9.80; 124 lbs. of salt, worth say 

 $1; 190 lbs. plaster, 50 cents, and 21 lbs. 

 ammonia at 12 cents per pound, $2.52. This 

 is $13.82 per ton. Allowing that non-azot- 



